english creative writing what is dramatic? tutor dr. jack shu

English Creative Writing

What is dramatic?

tutor

Dr. Jack shu

Elements of Drama

ActionCharacter’s ConflictTension

The Given Circumstances

ie the context, the background, the setting, etc Environmental facts and background:

geographical, historical, economic, social, political, religious, etc

Previous action:

exposition, scattered clues Protagonist vs antagonist

Dramatic action

Through action—what the characters do and try to achieve in the whole story

Scene action—what the characters do in one scene overall, e.g. Michael does his best to finish his first-day work

Unit actions—what the characters do in one scene that make up the scene action, e.g. Michael turns into a woman, catches a taxi, talks to the director, etc

The protagonist’s predicament(the character’s struggles/conflicts)

Drama is

a representation of the will of man in conflict (i.e. two forces in opposition)

--Ferdinand Brunetiere

Predicament/Struggle/Conflict

There are 3 types of conflicts:

“Human” vs Self “Human” vs “Human” “Human” vs Nature

Tension

The tension of the Task, ie dramatic action The tension of the Relationship The tension of the Mystery, usually related

to some supernatural forces or strange things deliberately unexplained

--adapted from John O’Toole

Tension is the felt force resulting from a conflict.

Character

Wants

(what are desirable) What are the super-objectives of the main

characters? What do the main character want to happen

in the scenes they appear in? Are there conflicts or tensions between what

different characters want?

Character

Moral stances

(what are correct) How do culture, morality and upbringing

shape the main characters’ behaviours? How does the main characters moral stance

encourage, justify or constrain the fulfilment of their wants?

Identifying existing conflicts and creating new conflicts

Between Michael and his agent, George Between Dorothy/Michael and the director,

Ron Between Dorothy/Michael and the actor,

John Between Michael and his roommate, Jeff Between Michael and his “girl friend”,Sandy

Before you improvise the scene, you should set the followings:

The given circumstances, i.e. previous action, time, space, etc;

The characters’ moral stances / wills / wants, i.e. the reasons for the upcoming conflict (try to base on the existing relationships);

The characters’ dramatic actions; Then you improvise the lines and physical

actions.

Example

Scene title: The attractive “Dorothy” Place & time: The TV studio, break time Conflict: John tries to woo Dorothy (because

he thinks she deserves) but Michael tries to escape (because he wants to keep the job).

Actions: John asks Dorothy out for dinner. Michael (in Dorothy’s disguise) tries every means to turn him down.