Group 1: Drama and Fiction

Group 1: Drama and Fiction By: Alec Hudd, Malak Kallel, Narankhuu Ganbaatar

Terms of Focus • Drama • Comedy • Tragedy • Tragicomedy • Theater of the Absurd • Fiction • Novel • Short story • Novella

Drama • Greek Verb “to do” or “to act” • Drama is the major literary form that presents characters directly to the audience • Mostly seen in plays • Drama is used to move the audience and their emotions

Comedy • type of drama characterized by a light tone and a happy resolution • purpose is to amuse and engage the audience • high comedy = based on verbal wit (repartee) • low comedy = characterized by physical humor • romantic comedy = love story w/a happy ending • comedy of manners = love story w/ a more sophisticated tone and worldly views

Tragedy • type of drama where the tone is serious and somber • effect is to involve and strongly move the audience • outcome of this type of drama is often disastrous for the protagonist and those associated with him or her • 3 type of tragedies: • Classical - from ancient greece, center on a tragic hero who commits an irreversible error of judgement due to pride, or hubris • Senecan - plays with ghosts, grisly murders, revenge • Domestic - center around mundane issues, such as financial debt and marriage issues

Tragicomedy • Plays that include elements of both tragedies and comedies • Typically begin with a tragic plot and finish with a happy ending • Some of these plays are called dark comedies

Theater of the Absurd • A type of drama that is used to question the meaning of life • A universe seen as godless and has overthrown the ideas of a well-established setting, logical dialogue, and a fully resolved conflict • used to challenge the audience on philosophical and stylistic beliefs • does not follow the typical structure of a play

Examples of Drama • Romeo and Juliet (Tragedy) • Hamlet (Tragedy) • Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Comedy) • Antigone (Tragedy) • Measure for Measure (Tragicomedy) • Endgame (Theater of the Absurd)

Fiction • any narrative, written in either verse or prose, about invented characters and events • focuses on a character or characters that interact in a given setting • narrated from a particular POV and are based on some sort of plot

Novel • extended narrative of varying lengths, but long enough to be published separately • more complex • plot is typically more involved and multifaceted • has more complete description of social mileu • depiction of character’s feelings, motives, and experiences is more complete

Forms of Novels • Novel of incident - main focus is on course and outcome of events in the plot • Novel of character - main focus is on protagonist’s thoughts, feelings, and motives • Realistic novel - depicts a fictional world that closely resembles the events, social interactions, settings, motivations, and feelings in everyday life • Romance - focuses on characters that are more likely to be depicted as heroic or villainous

Short Story/Novella • usually written in narrative prose • plot is less complex and less developed than that of a novel • emerged from early oral storytelling • falls between the novel and the short story in length and complexity • flexibility in categorization

Examples of Fiction • Robinson Crusoe (novel of incident) • Crime and Punishment (novel of character) • Pride and Prejudice (realistic novel) • Their Eyes Were Watching God (romantic novel) • The Color Purple (epistolary novel) • The Arabian Nights (short story) • The Metamorphosis (novella)

Group 1: Drama and Fiction