The Elements of Drama

6th Grade Language Arts

Readers Journal

3rd 9 weeks

Essential Question

How does drama provide the reader a different experience than prose (short stories, novels) or poetry?

How is drama different from television?

Drama

Comes from the Greek Word, “Dran”

Means “To do” or “To Act” The Doing/Acting Makes Drama

Drama…

…is a story told in front of an audience

Elements of Drama

Playwright-the author of a play

Actors-the people who perform

Acts-the units of action

Scenes-parts of the acts

Dramatic Speech

Dialogue-conversation between or among characters

Monologue-long speech by one single character (private thoughts)

Conflict

The internal or external struggle between opposing forces, ideas, or interests that create dramatic tension.

Stage Directions

Found in brackets [ ] Describe scenery and

how characters speak C, Center Stage L, Stage Left R, Stage Right U, Upstage or Rear D, Downstage or

Front

Theatre

Where a play takes place

Set or Setting

Construction on the stage that shows time/place

Could be called Scenery

Props

Small movable items that the actors use to make actions look real

Characterization

Is the playwright’s technique for creating believable characters.

Indirect Direct the author tells

you directly about the characters behavior and feelings

Indirect Characterization

Indirect characterization is the process by which the writer shows the character's personality through his/her speech, actions and appearance.

When you watch a movie or television show, you can usually gather what type of person the main character is based on how he/she acts and reacts in different situations

Types of Drama

Drama is used to describe plays that address a serious subject.

Types of Drama

Comedy is a form of drama that has a happy ending. Humor comes from the dialogue and situations.

Types of Drama Tragedy is a form

of drama in which events lead to the downfall of the main character, often a person of great significance, like a king or hero.

Melodrama

a play in which the characters are types rather than individuals, the story and situations exaggerated to the point of improbability or sensationalism and the language and emotion over-emphasized

Farce

a comedy in which story, character, and especially situations are exaggerated to the point of improbability; the situation begins with a highly impossible, but when that is accepted everything that follows is completely logical.

Fast moving; uses such theatrical devices as duplications, reversals, repetitions, surprises, disguises, chance encounters, often many doors and closets.

Tragic Comedy

a play with the sincerity and earnestness of tragedy but without its inevitability of impending disaster, attitude of comedy but without its underlying spirit of humor; uses tense situations and moments of extreme conflict, but the tragedy is averted and transcended.