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0701.8.14 Explain the purpose and use of structural elements particular to dramatic literature (e.g., scenes, acts, cast of characters, stage directions) in plays that are read or viewed.
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SPI 0701.8.3 Distinguish among different genres (e.g., drama) using their distinguishing characteristics.

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A drama is a story written to be performed by actors, using speech and movements in front of an audience

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Short story?
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Speech?
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Informational text?

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Playwright -the author of a play
Actors -the people who perform
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Acts -the units of action
Scenes -parts of the acts

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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.

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Short stories
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Fiction or nonfiction
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Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction
Science Fiction
Etc.
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Dramas
 for the stage (play)
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For the movies
(screenplay)
For television
(teleplay)

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Characterization playwright’s technique for making believable characters

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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 and also carry the story forward.

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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:
Mrs. Brand (
Steve? What was that?
from her porch ).
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
There are two characters in the conversation—Steve and his wife, Mrs. Brand.
The name at the beginning of each line tells who is talking. When you read dialogue, you need to keep track of individual characters.
Their words are important clues to their personalities.

Mrs. Brand ( from her porch
What was that?
).
Steve?
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
 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.

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Mary. Yes, I agree with you.
(She really doesn’t.)
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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.

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Describe what dialogue looks like in a short story
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What does the dialogue reveal in a short story?
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What does dialogue look like in a drama?
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What does dialogue reveal in a drama?
(look back at notes)

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Create a Venn
Diagram that shows how short stories and dramas are alike and different.
Remember the roles of the group

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Reporters present the Venn Diagram to the class.
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Feedback – group to group

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0701.8.14 Explain the purpose and use of structural elements particular to dramatic literature (e.g., scenes, acts, cast of characters, stage directions) in plays that are read or viewed.
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SPI 0701.8.3 Distinguish among different genres (e.g., drama) using their distinguishing characteristics.

3.
4.
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List one thing that short stories and drama have in common.
List one way that short stories and drama are different.
What is one thing you learned today?
What is one question that you still have?
Turn in your exit ticket to Mrs. Walters on your way out the door.