Social Techniques In Glenn Alterman's 'Coulda, Shoulda'

Kasia Szelag
English 244: Self Portraits
Take Home Essay Exam #2
Due Date: 11/12/15
Take Home Essay Exam #2 In looking at "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" by Glenn Alterman, we saw a short play about the struggle a playwright goes through in trying to turn biographical material into drama. Although as readers we do not have any information about Alterman's childhood or family that would help us trace a link between his life and this play. Therefore, we had to use context clues and social clues to find specific instances in the play that may have had some correlation to his life. To begin with, the scene opens on a stage that appears to be a small kitchen with Yetta and Cy who are husband and wife. They are engaging in a conversation with one another
Marty was wearing large children's pajamas, a pair of glasses, a black hat and he was carrying a pen and pad. The way Marty entered the scene was a unique way of his portraying his perspective, Alterman created an illusion for the audience. In that moment the reader becomes aware that Marty is a playwright who is struggling to finish the scene of the play. As the play continues, he begins to explain to his parents how the rest of the play is going to be and how both of their lives are going to end up. Both Yetta and Cy question Marty whilst getting angry at him because they feel embarrassed about how their lives will end up. Marty explains to mother, "Ma, this isn't "It's a Wonderful life." You can't always make things better. Now let's see, where were we?" (376). Through this quote we can see how Alterman is trying get the point across that not every family is perfect. The actions of the Yetta and Cy justify this because it's evident within this story that they are having a misunderstanding. Cy also mentions that him and Yetta fight almost every morning. So we can assume that there is a correspondence between the play and Alterman's life. Towards the end of the play it gets to the point where Marty's parents say things he doesn't want t to hear. By the end of the play his parents go into their room and he continues to write the play.
The characters within this play are Margarita(the swimmer) Simon(the brother), Aida(the mother), Eduardo(the father), and Abeula(the grandmother). Margarita Suarez, a nineteen year old girl has entered a contest to swim from San Pedro to Santa Catalina. The relationship between this family is vital to the play. Milcha Sanchez-Scott uses drama and humor to shape this play whilst the help of language, ethnicity, and her ability to capture the audience's attention at the right time. Sanchez-Scott also uses frequent references towards religion which is a link between her personal life and her work. While Margarita is swimming through the Pacific Ocean, her family is trailing behind her in a boat. During the beginning part of the play everything is calm and the audience begins to get to know a little about the family. The language the characters speak plays an incredible role within the play because it's mostly in English and Spanish, which gives the audience a sense of who the Suarez family really is. The language signifies that the characters are Cuban whilst providing the reader with enough information to understand the Eduardo and Aida Suarez's(Margarita's mother and father) daily life struggle and their stories of traveling to America. They fled Cuba to come to America for what most would call, the American dream.