Summer Reading | 9th Grade English | 10th Grade English | Creative Writing
DRAMA TERMS
1. Drama- A drama is a composition designed to show, by action on the stage, some interesting phase of human life. It is the form in which literature most closely resembles life. A play presents a story in the form of live conversation and action between persons on a stage. It differs from a novel or short story in that the author does not speak directly to the reader as s/he does in prose fiction.
2. Plot- The plot in a drama, as in a short story, refers to the plan by which the conflict or action is introduced, developed, and resolved.
3. Conflict- Conflict is the problem which must be dealt with by the characters. It usually follows the pattern of: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
4. Setting- The time and place in which the play unfolds. Through the stage directions given at the start of the play, we learn about the time period, the area, the city, or the room in which the action will take place.
5. Dialogue- The spoken words or conversation in a play. Because there is usually no narration in a play, the events and action must be revealed through the dialogue.
6. Characters- The people
who live, speak, and act within a play. Unlike the characters in a novel or
short story, the characters in a play are not usually described to us. We learn
about them from the way they speak and act, and from the way the other characters
in the play speak about and act towards them. There are usually three types
of characters in a play.
| a.) | the protagonist- The leading character in a play. | |
| b.) | the antagonist- The character(s) who opposes or goes against the ideas of the protagonist. | |
| c.) |
the minor characters- The other characters who side with either the protagonist or the antagonist; or they may be indifferent towards both. |
7. Act- One of the main divisions of a play in which some conflict or complication will occur.
8. Scene- A scene presents a single situation or episode within an act; it is one of the lesser divisions of a play.
9. Theme- Theme is the underlying thought or idea upon which a play is based. The theme shows the author's opinion of certain ideas or ways of life.
10. Mood- Mood is the creation
of a state of mind or feeling by the author's use of setting, events, or dialogue.