# data[].attributes.headline
Anne had gotten Janice a dreamcatcher for Christmas, but because Janice left on Christmas eve Anne never got the chance to. Janice opens the gift.

# data[].attributes.subject
Anne had gotten Janice a dreamcatcher for Christmas, but because Janice left on Christmas eve Anne never got the chance to. Janice opens the gift.

# data[].attributes.body
JANICE WIRTH "...Good dreams pass through the webbing, bad dreams are caught and dissolved by the early morning light. Usually given to newlyweds to hang over the window in their bedrooms or to the mother of a newborn baby, to ensure her baby will only have pleasant dreams." ... newborn baby....

JANICE starts to cry, slowly she lays her head down on the table and passes out.

# data[].attributes.headline
Barb told Janice that their mother had passed away, and she asks Janice to come back to Otter Lake with her, Janice refuses to go with her.

# data[].attributes.subject
Barb told Janice that their mother had passed away, and she asks Janice to come back to Otter Lake with her, Janice refuses to go with her.

# data[].attributes.body
JANICE WIRTH “Go back. Go back? Barb I can’t.”

BARB WABUNG “What do you mean you can’t? You owe it to her.”

# data[].attributes.headline
Barb and Janice talk about how Janice was not there for their mother when she died.

# data[].attributes.subject
Barb and Janice talk about how Janice was not there for their mother when she died.

# data[].attributes.body
BARB WABUNG "Even when she cried, she still loved you. I knew you wouldn't be back but I couldn't tell her that. Her whole life had been built on hope, even after you left she still hoped. And as her daughter, I had to help keep that hope alive.”

JANICE WIRTH “Barb please...”

BARB WABUNG “Last March when she sent you a birthday card, your polite little thank you card said it all to her.”

JANICE WIRTH “I was leaving on a business trip. I didn't have time....

BARB WABUNG “Neither did Mom. “

# data[].attributes.headline
Janice and Barb drink together, and Barb gives Janice a present from Anne, that she never got the chance to give her.

# data[].attributes.subject
Janice and Barb drink together, and Barb gives Janice a present from Anne, that she never got the chance to give her.

# data[].attributes.body
BARB WABUNG Your birthday present from March. Mom was hoping some day you'd show up and she could give it to you in person. That's the kind of mother she was. And, like everything else, that responsibility now falls to me.

JANICE WIRTH I don't like that attitude. Quit making me out to be a villain. I'm not.

BARB WABUNG Are you going to open the present or not?

JANICE WIRTH In a minute.

BARB WABUNG "In a minute!?" Your first present from your birth mother and you say, "in a minute?!"

# data[].attributes.headline
Barb calls Janice "Grace", and Janice feels uncomfortable that she did so, because Janice did not grow up being called by that name.

# data[].attributes.subject
Barb calls Janice "Grace", and Janice feels uncomfortable that she did so, because Janice did not grow up being called by that name.

# data[].attributes.body
JANICE WIRTH "No, it's not. My name is Janice. I didn't know about "Grace" until six months ago. I don't feel comfortable being addressed that way. It's like somebody calling you Susan or Victoria all of a sudden. It doesn't feel right.”

# data[].attributes.headline
Janice felt as if she did not belong on the reserve because she was so different from those who had grown up there. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Janice felt as if she did not belong on the reserve because she was so different from those who had grown up there. 

# data[].attributes.body
JANICE WIRTH “I wanted to belong here so bad. When I drove up that driveway, it seemed like I had prepared my whole life for that meeting. But from the moment I arrived, I knew I didn't belong. You didn't even like me.”

# data[].attributes.headline
Janice and Barb get into an argument about how Janice was not there for her mother and Barb claims that Janice was part of the reason she died.

# data[].attributes.subject
Janice and Barb get into an argument about how Janice was not there for her mother and Barb claims that Janice was part of the reason she died.

# data[].attributes.body
BARB WABUNG “When you left, you took her spirit, her will to live, with you. She was dead long before last Tuesday. It just took a while for her body to catch up. Drink up, Janice.”

# data[].attributes.headline
Barb and Janice apologizes to each other, Barb for putting the blame on Janice for Anne's death and Janice for abandoning her and her Anne on Christmas eve

# data[].attributes.subject
Barb and Janice apologizes to each other, Barb for putting the blame on Janice for Anne's death and Janice for abandoning her and her Anne on Christmas eve

# data[].attributes.body
JANICE WIRTH “Poor Barb. I'm so sorry for your face, Anne, everything.”

# data[].attributes.headline
Because Rodney asked Paul to pick him up from a bar late at night, and Paul crashed his car. Rodney blames himself for it.

# data[].attributes.subject
Because Rodney asked Paul to pick him up from a bar late at night, and Paul crashed his car. Rodney blames himself for it.

# data[].attributes.body
RODNEY “The car accident, when Paul died. She never blamed me for that.”

TONTO “Why should she? Wasn't your fault.”

RODNEY “He was coming to pick me up at the bar. I phoned him, remember? He wouldn't have been on that road if it hadn't been for me.”

# data[].attributes.body
Janice refused to return to Otter Lake after her biological mother’s death, she declined to return because she was taken from her family at as a baby and Janice did not see much of a connection between her and her biological family, due to her having been raised by a Caucasian family.

# data[].attributes.body
When Janice sent her thank you card, she ignored the fact that Anne wanted to have a connection with her in any way that she could.

# data[].attributes.body
Barb and Janice speaking to each other about how Janice had run away from Otter Lake when their mother needed her most connects to when they begin to fight about how Janice was not there for Anne, This scene builds up to Janice lashing out and punching Barb for blaming her for running away while Janice was still learning how to cope with learning that her mother was not an alcoholic and she was taken away from her for no reason.

This scene is connected to characterization, it shows how Barb still holds resentment against Janice not only for running away but also for how she had to keep their family together after her father, Paul, died in a car accident.

# data[].attributes.body
When Janice was taken away from her biological family, she not only lost her culture, but her feeling as if she does not belong on the Otter lake reserve. Even though she wanted so badly to belong there.

# data[].attributes.body
Because Janice did not grow up being called "Grace" the name her biological mother had given her, she does not feel comfortable being called it.

# data[].attributes.body
If Janice had never been taken away from her biological family and raised with the name Janice, instead of Grace she would still have a connection to her to her mother who had given her the name.

Janice not feeling comfortable being called "Grace" is characterization. We learn that the reason for Janice not liking the name "Grace" is because she was never called by it growing up.

# data[].attributes.body
A part of the reason Janice felt as if she never belonged in Otter Lake, is because she was taken at such a young age, she never got the chance to practice Ojibwe culture due to this, she not only lost her place in the Otter lake community, she lost the name her mother had given her, "Grace".

Janice feeling as if she never belonged in Otter Lake is a major theme in Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth because multiple issues stem from Janice feeling different than the others at Otter Lake. The main problem that started from this event was Janice running away from her biological family on Christmas Eve.

# data[].attributes.body
Janice running away from her family on Christmas Eve created a disconnect between Barb and her sister, which caused Barb to blame her for the death of her mother.

# data[].attributes.body
When Janice opened the gift her mother, Anne had meant to give her before she died, Janice realized how much her mother truly cared for her, and how she regrets leaving her mother on Christmas Eve.

# data[].attributes.body
Barb and Janice finally reconcile with each other, they accept the fact that neither were at fault for Janice having been taken away at such a young age and Barb accepts that Janice was not to blame for the death of Anne.

# data[].attributes.headline
Janice and Barb visit their mom's grave and Janice makes amends with their mom. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Janice and Barb visit their mom's grave and Janice makes amends with their mom. 

# data[].attributes.body
JANICE WIRTH Hello Anne. Wherever you are, I hope you're feeling better than I am. The last time you saw me, I was a mess. Confused. In great emotional pain. Now it's physical pain. I don't know which one is better,

(pause) Yes I do. The physical pain will go away. The emotional pain will take longer. If at all. I'm sorry I left the way I did. It must have been a horrible Christmas for you. But you must understand I didn't walk out on you. I walked out on me. To everybody I was Grace, but to me I'm Janice. I don't know if I can ever be the Grace you wanted, or the Grace Barb wants. I don't know anything any more. I'm hungover. I've met Amelia Earhart. And I'm standing at your grave, a woman I barely got to know. What a town this Otter Lake of yours. I guess the reason I'm here is to seek forgiveness for the bad thoughts I had, about you. I couldn't help it. I needed a reason, some excuse for what happened to me, what I went through. You were all I had. Growing up in the home I did, looking the way I do, the schools I went to, the jokes I heard. I had to blame

somebody. I feel so ashamed. You were so kind to me, so nice. And all I wanted was evidence, proof to justify my anger. And there you were, so sweet and accepting. My whole life fell away. Everything I had wanted to believe was gone because of you. That made me even more angry. I hate myself now. I'm tired of being angry. I'm tired of mistrusting you. I'm tired of everything. I just don't want to fight it any more. I'm sorry. You deserve better.

# data[].attributes.body
Janice apologizes to her mother for running away from her on Christmas Eve, Janice realizes how, while she has made a mistake by running away but also how it was not her fault, due to the trauma she has endured because she was taken away from her mother.

# data[].attributes.body
Because of the racism Janice was subjected to while she was growing up, and her having grown up in a different environment. She blamed Anne for what happened to her.

Barb and Janice visiting the grave of their mother is a plot development and characterization for both Janice and Barb. For Barb, she begins to cope with the death of her mother and she realizes that she can not blame the death of her mother on Janice because she had run away from Otter Lake on Christmas Eve. For Janice, this scene shows how much she has grown as a person since the beginning of the play, at the beginning she did not want to even return to Otter Lake, but by the end of the play, she is apologizing to her dead mother for not being there for her on Christmas. This scene is plot development because Janice apologizing to her mother shows how she resolved the problems between not only her mother but Barb also.

# data[].attributes.body
The dreamcatcher connects back to Janice's birth, with the note said to hang the dreamcatcher in the window to catch the nightmares of the baby.

Janice opening Anne's birthday present, a dreamcatcher is characterization. Janice regrets having left Barb and her biological family on Christmas Eve because she was scared that she did not fit in at Otter Lake and how she felt so different from Barb.

# data[].attributes.body
Rodney, Barb and Tonto breaking into Janice's apartment to try to get Janice to return to Otter Lake and Janice not wanting to come with them, connects to Janice feeling as if she never belonged at Otter Lake, because she never grew up in an Ojibwe household.

Barb attempting to bring Janice home with her to Otter Lake to get Janice to see their mother's grave is not only plot development, but the scene also shows the setting of where the play is taking place. We find out that Janice lives in Toronto when she asks Barb "Do you come to Toronto often?". We also find out where Barb wants to take Janice when Barb mentions how different Otter Lake is from Toronto. This scene is plot development because the action of Barb convincing Janice to return to Otter Lake begins their story, and you can start to see Barb and Janice's issues surrounding their mother, Anne.

# data[].attributes.body
As Janice and Barb drink, they begin to communicate about how they both feel about their mother, and about how Barb is still traumatized from their mother's death, this shows because Barb was too emotional to step into her mother's room to get Janice's gift.

# data[].attributes.body
This scene connects back to when Janice left on Christmas Eve, she left because she was scared her having been found by her biological family happened so fast, that she ran away. Now, Janice is trying to overcome her trauma of being taken and have a relationship with Barb.

This scene shows the characterization of Janice and Barb. It shows how Janice truly tries to be there for her sister, and how she cares for her mother, even though she still feels a major disconnect between her old family, due to her having grown up with them. For Barb, her not being able to enter Anne's room shows how she is still grieving the death of her mother; but she is trying to move on.

# data[].attributes.body
Barb blaming Janice for Anne's death stems back to when Janice ran away on Christmas Eve, Barb claims this action killed her because their mother wanted so badly to be a mother to Janice, even though these two events were most likely just coincidences.

Barb and Janice arguing about their mother's death is characterization and plot development. For Barb, we learn about the root of her issues with her sister; how Barb blames her for the death of her mother because Janice left on Christmas Eve, how Barb hated Janice before she had ran away because her mom would realize Janice was not the daughter she wanted. This scene is also plot development because when Janice punches Barb in the face is the climax of the play.

# data[].attributes.body
Barb and Janice apologize to each other, which connects to their prior arguments about their mother and how Janice ran away.

This apology is characterization for both Janice and Barb, while Barb realizes that Janice was not the reason for Anne's death, and Janice regrets running away on Christmas Eve.

# data[].attributes.body
If Rodney did not feel as if he had killed Paul due to the car accident, he may have never helped to get Janice back to Otter Lake. He claims that he felt as if he needed to get a part of Barb's family back because he took Paul away from her and Anne.

# data[].attributes.body
This scene connects back to the beginning of the play when Rodney makes up a lie about how Tonto has night blindness to get Janice to let Rodney, Tonto and Barb stay the night at her place. Because Paul had died while driving with night blindness.

Rodney revealing the fact that he blames himself for the car crash that killed Paul, Barb's father, to Tonto is a characterization of Rodney. He shows remorse for Paul's death and feels as if he needs to make it up to Barb, so he helps Barb get her sister back in any way that he can.

# data[].attributes.body
Characterization is how a character is described and portrayed or why they may do a certain action.

# data[].attributes.body
Theme is the main idea of a story, the message that the author is trying to send through the writing of the story.

# data[].attributes.body
Plot development is the main events in a story, it is how each events lead to another.

# data[].attributes.body
The setting of a story is where the story is taking place.