East Miss. Community College English Composition instructor Laura Vernon and I started a weekly radio drama called Hope for Tomorrow on the college’s radio station (WGTC- Mayhew) which can be heard anywhere with the Tune in Radio app. The script is written only a few days before each live broadcast at 8:30 a.m. every Tuesday. Laura and I portray characters; students and faculty members fill roles. Educational components are featured. Originally, the introduction included the line, “Hope for Tomorrow is the story of our characters’ contretemps…” The narrator says the title in a seductive style much like that of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. The storylines involve southern California and western Nevada. I plan to write a paper about the correlation between students’ performances in a live radio drama and academic success. [1.] Search for ________ and The Young and the ________ are titles of two television daytime dramas. A. Love; Old B. Self; Innocent C. Tomorrow; Restless D. None of the above Two former daytime drama actresses, Marcia McCabe and Lilibet Stern, who played in Search for Tomorrow and the Young and the Restless, respectively, have listened to our drama. No. 1 is C. [2.] contretemps (con-truh-TAHNS) A. an inopportune or embarrassing occurrence or situation B. a badly timed event C. a dispute or argument D. an unforeseen event that disrupts the course of things I love this French noun. Contretemps means against time (contre- against and temps- time). The word’s singular form and plural form are spelled the same; however, the former’s pronunciation is “con-truh-TAHN) and the latter’s is “con-truh-TAHNS.” All are correct. [3.] If you’re osculating, you’re A. performing. B. kissing. C. walking. D. running. E. fanning. We used this juicy gerund. A prudish character rings the doorbell at the apartment of the woman he loves, and quips, “I bet you and Caring (the character’s name is actually Corning) have been osculating in there!” B is the answer. [4.] evolved (e-VOLVED) A. resurrected B. eviscerated C. when someone is being self-applauding D. when something has developed gradually from a simple (even inchoate form) to a more complex form Inasmuch as Hope for Tomorrow is salted and peppered with humor, it has evolved from being a parody of the longtime TV daytime drama Search for Tomorrow, to becoming a serious piece of work. D is the answer. Editor’s note:Don Rodney Vaughan, Ph.D. | Journalism and Speech Instructor and General Manager of EMCC Radio, WGTC East Miss. Community College
