Identify types and features of
a play synopsis
Your analysis will be tested with this
activity for you are about to match the
following different plays to its
corresponding place on the table given
below and explain why you chose it to
belong there.
 Play is a literary form of writing for
theatre, which narrates a story
with elements of conflicts,
tensions, and actions through
dialogues of characters. For
dramatic significance, it is divided
into acts and scenes. The writers
present their feelings, emotions,
and ideas through their characters
and make them speak.
 A synopsis is a brief summary that
gives audiences an idea of what a
composition is about. It provides an
overview of the storyline or main points
and other defining factors of the work,
which may include style, genre, persons
or characters of note, setting, and so on
 Tragedies – these plays focus on a tragic hero (or couple,
as in Romeo and Juliet) whose downfall is brought about
through weakness or misfortune of some kind. This kind of
play ends with the death of the central character but also
involves the death of a number of other characters.
 Comedies – this kind of play involves humour and often
confusion, disguise,mistaken identity etc. Unlike our
modern idea of comedy, some ofShakespeare’s comedies
can be quite ‘dark’ but the main thing is that they end
happily and there are no deaths at the end.
 Histories – this kind of play is based on historical
events and characters, often on kings or important
figures from Roman history. These plays often have
tragic elements too.
 Romances – these are some of Shakespeare’s later
plays (sometimes called ‘Last Plays), and often involve
magical worlds and happenings, mysterious events
and moral lessons contained within a ‘happy’ ending.
A small number of his plays, however, do not fit easily
into these categories.
 PLOT
 CHARACTER
 THEME
 LANGUAGE
 RHYTHM
 SPECTACLE
The arrangement
of events or
incidents in the
story.
 PLOT
 CHARACTER
 THEME
 LANGUAGE
 RHYTHM
 SPECTACLE
The reason the
playwright wrote the
play. The
examination of
“patterns of life” (6)
can be didactic or just
a slice of life.
 PLOT
 CHARACTER
 THEME
 LANGUAGE
 RHYTHM
 SPECTACLE
The agents of the
plot.
 PLOT
 CHARACTER
 THEME
 LANGUAGE
 RHYTHM
 SPECTACLE
The heart of the
play. Plot, character,
language, and
spectacle all have their
individual rhythms in
time.
 PLOT
 CHARACTER
 THEME
 LANGUAGE
 RHYTHM
 SPECTACLE
Everything that is seen
or heard on
stage. Actors, sets,
costumes, lights and
sound.
 PLOT
 CHARACTER
 THEME
 LANGUAGE
 RHYTHM
 SPECTACLE
“Vivid characters” (6)
facing and overcoming
recognizable obstacles
need to express
themselves in
“heightened language.”
 Comment your outputs on the recent
activity done earlier on our Facebook
group page.
 Watch the video below to be used for
an activity soon.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8
1wjUl3BvU