Words to know before the curtain rises…

• Goal 1: Create a meaningful four quadrant vocabulary sheet for a theatrical vocabulary word.
• Goal 2: Share your vocabulary findings with the class.
• Goal 3: Write down the gist of everyone else’s vocabulary words.
• Bonus: Create a word wall poster for your word.

•
Instructions
• Choose one of the words or phrases.
Write it down – spelled correctly – in your journal.
• Write what you think you already know about it.
• Scenes
Words
• Acts
• Character List
• Stage directions
• Monologue
• Elements of Plot
• Play Dialogue

Directions
• Set up four quadrants on a blank sheet of paper with room to write your word in large letters in the middle.
•
•
Sections
Definition
Examples
• Illustrations
• Label the quadrants with the section titles. (If you see one with a / choose either.)
• Connections/Questions

• Word: Prologue
• Definition: introduction; speech or poem addressed to the audience at the beginning of a play
• Examples: In Romeo & Juliet a poem describes how their families hate each other
• Connection: Prologues help establish the
SETTING and CONFLICT
• Question: Level 4: Why do you think the playwright used a prologue to set the scene?

• Create your vocabulary sheet.
• Make sure you are thorough in each quadrant.
• Make the letters as big and legible as possible.
• Make your definition and example clear for a person who is not already familiar with the word.
• Find your examples in the literature book.

• Here are examples of examples for each word:
• Acts – Traditional tragedies have 5 Acts (matching the plot mountain) such as in Hamlet
• Scenes – Amount varyfrom play to play in Wicked Act 1 Scene 1 seems to show the death of the main character, but in scene two it goes back to her being in school
• Character List – In the play A Christmas Carol the cast list includes
Scrooge, Marley, and Mrs. Cratchit
• Stage directions – In the play Rhinoceros a famous stage direction is
“He becomes a rhinoceros, and the actor puts on a rhino mask.”
• Monologue – In the play A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche has famous monologues about her life
• Elements of Plot – In the resolution of Romeo and Juliet the main characters die.
• Play Dialogue – “I bite my thumb, sir,” is some of the early dialogue in Romeo and Juliet.

• Prepare to share with the class.
• If you are working with a partner or group, decide who is going to present what to the class.
• Finally, write down everyone else’s words and their basic meanings.