Drama

1. Drama A story written to be performed by actors in front of an audience and is told mainly through the speech and actions of characters Drama shares many of the same characteristics of fiction Major difference=it is addressed to spectators not readers—responses from ppl around us affect our own responses

2. Two Types of Drama • Comedy—work that is light and often humorous in tone, usually ending happily with a peaceful resolution of the main conflict. • Tragedy—work that ends in catastrophe—most often death—for the main characters.

3. Elements of Drama I. Stage Directions • typically printed in italics and enclosed in [brackets] or (parentheses) • Explain how characters should look, speak, move, and behave • Explain details of setting and scenery (lighting, props, sounds)

4. II. Characters—cast listed at the beginning of the play A. Tragic Hero—is the protagonist; usually fails or dies bc of a tragic flaw or a cruel twist of fate; often has a high rank or status; shows strength while facing his destiny B. Antagonist—is the force working agst the protagonist; can be another character, a group of characters, or something nonhuman, such as nature or society C. Foil—is a character whose personality & attitude contrast sharply with those of another character; highlights both characters’ traits

5. III. Setting • Time & place found in beginning of the play • More details may appear throughout the play, often at the beginning of acts & scenes

6. IV. Plot • A series of related events in which a problem. conflict is explored & then solved • The conflict may be a struggle between people, between ideas, etc • 5 stages of the plot V. Theme • Lesson learned, moral of the play

7. Dramatic Conventions I. Dialogue • Conversation among characters; text of the play; reveals what’s going on II. Soliloquy • Is a speech given by a character alone on stage • Lets the audience know what the character is thinking or feeling

8. III. Aside • Is a character’s remark, either to the audience or to another character, that others on stage do not hear • Reveals the character’s private thoughts IV. Dramatic Irony • When the audience knows more than the characters • Helps build suspense V. Comic Relief • Is a humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood • Serves to heighten the seriousness of the main action by contrast

9. VI. Acts (written in large Roman Numerals—I., IV.) • Major divisions of the play • Indicates a change of location or the passage of time • Each Act has a climax, emotional peak VII. Scenes (written in small Roman Numerals—i., iv.) • Minor divisions of the play • Indicates a change of location or the passage of time

10. The Language—poetry • Blank verse—the form of poetry that most resembles natural speech; unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter • Iambic pentameter—a type of meter that has five unstressed syllables, each followed by a stressed syllable • Sonnet (Shakespearean)—lyric poem of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter; consists of 4 quatrains and 1 couplet (abab cdcd efef gg) Breaks in this blank verse (such as a sonnet) emphasize something important.

11. Allusion and Word Play Allusion—a biblical, historical, mythological, etc. reference Pun—a play on words; jokes that result from multiple meaning words or rhyming sounds