BELL RINGER
Read
over your four square
drama notes to study for quiz.
You may quiz your partner or
group members.
OBJECTIVE
Identify the elements of drama
Essential Question:
Can I apply the elements of Drama that I have
learned while reading?
We want to be able to recognize and analyze the
elements of drama in a play.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
STANDARDS
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RL.5-Analyze how an author’s choices concerning
how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the
choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice
to provide a comedic or tragic resolution)
contribute to its overall structure and meaning as
well as its aesthetic impact.
DRAMA
a genre of literature
 A play with characters
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STAGE DIRECTIONS
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Directions written in parenthesis in a script to
guide actors and directors
How to act, including emotions
 How to set the stage
 Can provide background information such as time,
setting, mood, weather, etc.
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Example: In the stage directions below, we are
informed as to how Gaston should act as he
rallies the village to attack the beast
(GASTON throws a torch into a haystack, creating an
instant bonfire. He begins to prance around it, warning of
the dangers of the horrible BEAST.)
DIALOGUE
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A conversation between two or more characters
 “dial” up a friend on the phone and talk to him/her
Example: In the dialogue below, Belle tries to convince Gaston she’s not
interested
GASTON: Hello, Belle.
BELLE: Bonjour Gaston. (GASTON grabs the book from BELLE) Gaston, may I have my
book, please?
GASTON: How can you read this? There's no pictures!
BELLE: Well, some people use their imaginations.
GASTON: Belle, it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to
more important things...like me! The whole town's talking about it. It's not right for a
woman to read--soon she starts getting ideas... and thinking.
BELLE: Gaston, you are positively primeval.
GASTON: Why thank you, Belle. Hey, whaddya say you and me take a walk over to the
tavern and have a look at my hunting trophies.
BELLE: Maybe some other time.
MONOLOGUE
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An uninterrupted speech given by one character
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may or may not be directed at another character
Often gives extra information about the plot or characters
Example: Lefou, Gaston’s sidekick, brags about Gaston to
everyone in the pub.
LEFOU: Who, you? Never. Gaston, you've got to pull yourself together.
Gosh it disturbs me to see you, Gaston
Looking so down in the dumps
Every guy here'd love to be you, Gaston
Even when taking your lumps
There's no man in town as admired as you
You're everyone's favorite guy
Everyone's awed and inspired by you
And it's not very hard to see why!
No one's slick as Gaston, no one's quick as Gaston
No one's next as incredibly thick as Gaston
For there's no man in town half as manly
Perfect, a pure paragon!
You can ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley
And they'll tell you who's team they'd prefer to be on!
SOLILOQUY
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An uninterrupted speech given by one character
where the character is talking to himself/herself
to his/her soul, as in “soul”iloquy
 Reveals innermost thoughts and concerns of the
character.
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Example: In the soliloquy below, Beast, sad and
defeated, talks to himself as he looks in the
mirror after he lets Belle leave his castle.
BEAST: I'm just fooling myself. She'll never see me
as anything...but a monster. (Another petal falls off
the rose.) It's hopeless.
ASIDE (BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL)
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A comment or look made by a character directly
to the audience where the other characters can’t
“hear” or “see” what is going on
Identified through stage directions
 Can be spoken or a wordless look
 Most of the time the other action freezes
 Breaks the “fourth wall” on the stage means it breaks
the invisible barrier between actors and audience.
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CLOSING ACTIVITY BALL TOSS REVIEW
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If the ball comes your way, define the term.
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Drama
Stage directions
Aside
Genre
Monologue
Soliloquy
dialogue