Drama vs. Short Stories
Drama
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When we were young, we all loved to dress up in
costumes and outfits, say as cowboys, or as Darth Vader
from Star Wars, or as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. We
sang and danced or defeated the bad guys. We were the
characters, the heroes and villains.
Drama—acting or simply reading characters’ words—
allows us to step into characters’ shoes and act like them.
As we read, we can visualize what they’re doing, thinking,
and feeling because we can hear their words as we
interpret their emotions.
Drama
 Comes
from the Greek Word,
“Dran”
 Means “To do” or “To Act”
 The Doing/Acting Makes Drama
Purpose and Definition

A drama is a story written to be performed by
actors, using speech and movements in front of
an audience
Purpose of other genres
Short story?
 Speech?
 Informational text?

Elements of Drama
Playwright-the
author of a play
 Actors-the people
who perform
 Acts-the units of
action
 Scenes-parts of the
acts

Genres

Short stories
Fiction or nonfiction
 Realistic Fiction
 Historical Fiction
 Science Fiction
 Etc.
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Dramas
for the stage (play)
 For the movies
(screenplay)
 For television
(teleplay)

Elements of Drama
Plot
 Characters
 Setting
 Acts
 Scenes

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The related events that
take place in a drama are
separated into acts. Most
plays have two or three
acts, but there are many
variations. Within an act,
there are shorter sections
called scenes. A play can
have any number of
scenes.
Structure of a Drama –
Chronological Order

All the parts of plot

Exposition
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characters
Internal and external
conflicts
setting
Rising
Action/Complications
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution
Structure of other genres
Short story?
 Speech?
 Informational text?

Characterization
 Characterization-
playwright’s
technique for
making
believable
characters
Dialogue
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An author tells a story mainly through a narrator and some
description and dialogue between characters.
A playwright tells a story primarily through dialogue of the
characters.
Dialogue is conversation between two or more characters.

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Dialogue in a short story= partly responsible for revealing
a character’s personality
Dialogue in a drama = totally responsible for revealing the
characters s and also carry the story forward.
Monologue

Playwrights may also use a monologue,
which occurs when only one character
speaks for a while. The character may be
with others onstage or may be alone.
Christine from
Phantom of the Opera
In the written form of a play, dialogue appears without
quotation marks. Practice reading this dialogue from The
Monsters Are Due on Maple Street:
There are two characters in
Mrs. Brand (from her porch).
the conversation—Steve
Steve? What
and his wife, Mrs. Brand.
was that?
The name at the beginning
Steve (raising his voice and looking
of each line tells who is
toward porch). Guess it was a
meteor, honey. Came awful
talking. When you read
close, didn’t it?
dialogue, you need to keep
track of individual
Mrs. Brand. Too close for my
money!
characters. Their words are
Much too close.

from The Monsters Are Due on
Maple Street
by Rod Serling
important clues to their
personalities.
Stage Directions
Mrs. Brand (from her porch). Steve?
What was that?
Steve (raising his voice and looking
toward porch). Guess it was a
meteor, honey. Came awful close,
didn’t it?
Mrs. Brand. Too close for my money!
Much too close.

from The Monsters Are Due on
Maple Street
by Rod Serling
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some lines have
italicized words and
phrases contained
within parentheses.
These are stage
directions. They are
not meant to be
spoken aloud. For the
actors—and for a
reader of the play—
they offer guidance on
what is happening and
how to understand
the meaning of certain
lines.
Stage Directions
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Mary. Yes, I agree with you.
(She really doesn’t.)
As a reader, the stage direction “(She really doesn’t.)”
helps you understand Mary’s feelings as well as events
that may occur later in the play. An actor delivering
this line would show that Mary doesn’t mean what she
says. The actor might pause before speaking or move
in a way that shows she is not sincere. When you read
a play, be alert to the stage directions. When you
watch a play, pay attention to the action and to
specific actors’ movements. These are important
elements of drama that convey meaning.
Group Review Dialogue
Describe what dialogue looks like in a
short story
 What does the dialogue reveal in a short
story? (hint: look back at notes)
 What does dialogue look like in a drama?
 What does dialogue reveal in a drama?
(look back at notes)
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Review
1)
2)
Create something to
show how short
stories and dramas
are alike
Design something to
show how short
stories and dramas
are different