Group 1: Drama and
Fiction
By: Alec Hudd, Malak Kallel, Narankhuu
Ganbaatar
Terms of Focus
• Drama
• Comedy
• Tragedy
• Tragicomedy
• Theater of
the Absurd
• Fiction
• Novel
• Short story
• Novella
Drama
• Greek Verb “to do” or “to act”
• Drama is the major literary form that
presents characters directly to the
audience
o Mostly seen in plays
• Drama is used to move the audience and
their emotions
Comedy
• type of drama characterized by a light tone and
a happy resolution
• purpose is to amuse and engage the audience
• high comedy = based on verbal wit (repartee)
• low comedy = characterized by physical humor
• romantic comedy = love story w/a happy ending
• comedy of manners = love story w/ a more
sophisticated tone and worldly views
Tragedy
•
•
•
•
type of drama where the tone is serious and somber
effect is to involve and strongly move the audience
outcome of this type of drama is often disastrous for the protagonist and
those associated with him or her
3 type of tragedies:
o Classical - from ancient greece, center on a tragic hero who commits
an irreversible error of judgement due to pride, or hubris
o Senecan - plays with ghosts, grisly murders, revenge
o Domestic - center around mundane issues, such as financial debt and
marriage issues
Tragicomedy
• Plays that include elements of both
tragedies and comedies
• Typically begin with a tragic plot and
finish with a happy ending
o Some of these plays are called dark
comedies
Theater of the Absurd
• A type of drama that is used to question the
meaning of life
o A universe seen as godless and has overthrown the
ideas of a well-established setting, logical
dialogue, and a fully resolved conflict
• used to challenge the audience on
philosophical and stylistic beliefs
• does not follow the typical structure of a
play
Examples of Drama
• Romeo and Juliet (Tragedy)
• Hamlet (Tragedy)
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(Comedy)
• Antigone (Tragedy)
• Measure for Measure (Tragicomedy)
• Endgame (Theater of the Absurd)
Fiction
• any narrative, written in either verse or
•
•
prose, about invented characters and
events
focuses on a character or characters that
interact in a given setting
narrated from a particular POV and are
based on some sort of plot
Novel
•
•
•
•
•
extended narrative of varying lengths, but long enough
to be published separately
more complex
plot is typically more involved and multifaceted
has more complete description of social mileu
depiction of character’s feelings, motives, and
experiences is more complete
Forms of Novels
•
•
•
•
Novel of incident - main focus is on course and
outcome of events in the plot
Novel of character - main focus is on protagonist’s
thoughts, feelings, and motives
Realistic novel - depicts a fictional world that closely
resembles the events, social interactions, settings,
motivations, and feelings in everyday life
Romance - focuses on characters that are more likely
to be depicted as heroic or villainous
Short Story/Novella
•
•
•
usually written in
narrative prose
plot is less complex
and less developed
than that of a novel
emerged from early
oral storytelling
➢ falls between the
novel and the
short story in
length and
complexity
➢ flexibility in
categorization
Examples of Fiction
• Robinson Crusoe (novel of incident)
• Crime and Punishment (novel of character)
• Pride and Prejudice (realistic novel)
• Their Eyes Were Watching God (romantic novel)
• The Color Purple (epistolary novel)
• The Arabian Nights (short story)
• The Metamorphosis (novella)