Created By:Adi Demi Nugraha

INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA

Definition of Drama

Drama is a literary composition involving conflict, action crisis and atmosphere designed to be acted by players on a stage before an audience.

Definition of Drama

Drama is defined by Aristotle as “a criticism of life, on a stage, with action, characters and dialogue.” The Greek word for “deed” or “action” is dram.

Drama is a composition in prose form that presents a story entirely told in dialogue and action and written with the intention of its eventual performance before an audience.

Types of Drama

Tragedy Comedy

A type of drama in which

the characters experience

reversals of fortune,

usually for the worse.

Catastrophe and suffering

await many of the

characters, especially the

hero

A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the better. Things work out happily in the end. May be romantic - characterized by a tone of tolerance and geniality - or satiric. Satiric works offer a darker vision of human nature, one that ridicules human folly

TRAGICOMEDYTragicomedy is a play that does not adhere strictly to the structure of tragedy. This is usually serious play that also has some of the qualities of comedy. It arouses thought even with laughter.

Types of drama

FarceMelodrama

A light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick events are used for humorous effect. It is the situation here which provides the humor, not the cleverness of plot or lines, nor the absurdities of the character

A drama, such as a play, film, or television program, characterized by exaggerated emotions, stereotypical characters, and interpersonal conflicts

Romantic Melodrama Satire Melodrama

An extended fictional prose narrative about improbable events involving characters that are quite different from ordinary people.

A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. A literary mode based on criticism of people and society through ridicule

Types of Drama

Elements of Drama

 PLOTPlot is the form and structure of the action and the arrangement of incidents of a story or play. Plot is only that aspect of the story which takes place on stage and which is revealed to the audience through the dramatic actions and dialogue of the characters

Natural Plot is a chronological sequence of events arrangement where actions continuously take place as an end result of the previous action

Episodic Plot – each episode independently comprises a setting, climax, and resolution; therefore, a full story in itself is formed.

Natural Plot Episodic Plot

Types of Plot

CHARACTERA character is a person, animal or entity in a story, scene or play with specific, distinguishing attributes. The hopes and struggles of characters provide the principle material from which plots are made. Drama/theatre concerns itself with characters in action, and characters carry out the action of the plot. The protagonist is the main character in the plot who propels the action forward. The antagonist is the chief opponent to the protagonist. Related characters assist in the development of the plot and central characters.

Three Major Characteristics of Drama

1. It has a direct, immediate impact Advantages:

Simultaneous impressions occur Performance can be more expressive than

a reader’s imagination Disadvantages:

Limited to one viewpoint—objective (dramatic)

Writers try to overcome this by using the soliloquy and the aside to accomplish what the omniscient viewpoint achieves in the short story genre

2. Drama effectively commands the spectator’s attention Advantage: The playwright’s power extends

beyond words alone Disadvantage: The materials one can use on

stage are limited

3. The experience of watching a play is communal• Advantage: Impact is intensified.• Disadvantages: There is a need for brevity, swift movement of plot, and intermissions

Setting

Setting identifies the time and place in which the events occur. It consists of the historical period, the moment, day and season in which the incidents take place. It also includes the sceneries in the performance which are usually found in the preliminary descriptions.

•Theme is considered as the unifying element that defines the dramatized

idea of the play. It is the over-all sense or implication of the action. It defines the problem, emphasizes the ethical

judgment and suggest attitude or course of action that eliminates the

crisis is an acceptable way.

THEME

Style refers to the mode of expression or presentation of the play which points

out the playwright’s position or viewpoint in life.

STYLE

Points Of View A. Omniscient – a story told by the author, using the third person;

her/his knowledge, control, and prerogatives are unlimited; authorial subjectivity.

B. Limited Omniscient – a story in which the author associates with a major or minor character; this character serves as the author’s spokesperson or mouthpiece.

C. First Person – the author identifies with or disappears in a major or minor character; the story is told using the first person “I”.

D. Objective or Dramatic – the opposite of the omniscient; displays authorial objectivity; compared a roving sound camera. Very little of the past or the future is given; the story is set in the present.

SymbolSymbol – a literary symbol means more than what it is. It has layers of meanings. Whereas an image has one meaning, a symbol has many.

A. Names used as symbols.

B. Use of objects as symbols.

C. Use of actions as symbols

Irony

Irony is a term with a range of meanings, all of them involving some sort of discrepancy or incongruity. It should not be confused with sarcasm which is simply language designed to cause pain. Irony is used to suggest the difference between appearance and reality, between expectation and fulfillment, the complexity of experience, to furnish indirectly an evaluation of the author’s material, and at the same time to achieve compression.

A. Verbal irony – the opposite is said from what is intended.B. Dramatic irony – the contrast between what a character

says and what the reader knows to true.C. Irony of situation – discrepancy between appearance and

reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between what is and what would seem appropriate

Important TermsMonologue – an extended speech

by one character.Soliloquy – an extended speech

by one character, alone on stage. Soliloquies are used to express the private thoughts of one character.

Aside – a character’s direct address to the audience, which is not heard by the other characters.

Monologues, soliloquies, and asides are dramatic techniques that provide direct insight into motives, attitudes, and overall tone.

These techniques function like a fictional narrator.

Thanks for Your Attention