Mastering Arabic Through Literature ─ Drama: Al-rubaa

In an innovative approach to teaching Modern Standard Arabic, this new content-based book aims to bolster study for advanced high students in both linguistic skills and literary appreciation. Learners will read original one-act plays in Arabic by four great but very different playwrights: Tawfiq al-Hakim, Salah Abdul Sabur, Saadallah Wannus, and Abdel Karim Berrechid. The book's main aim is to allow students to understand the content as a basis for studying, evaluating, and appreciating these authors' plays. Creative reading tasks and exercises focus on the writing and literary styles of the four writers, while grammar is reinforced through text analysis and writing assignments, with an emphasis on building vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, as well as on developing a deeper understanding of cultural and historical issues. With an integrated skills approach, al-Rubaa contains not only reading but also writing, listening, speaking, and performance activities.
The plays included in the book are:
- Tawfiq al-Hakim, "The Council of Justice"
- Salah Abdul Sabur, "A Night Traveler"
- Saadallah Wannus: "The Elephant, O King of The Age "
- Abdel Karim Berrechid: "Imru' al-Qays in Paris"

Iman A. Soliman is the executive director of CASA (the Center for Arabic Study Abroad) at the American University in Cairo, and an instructor in the university's Arabic Language Institute.

Saeed Alwakeel is an associate professor of modern literature and literary criticism at Ain Shams University, Cairo, and an instructor in the Arabic Language Institute of the American University in Cairo.