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10 Honors English/Kephart
Name: ___________________________________ Period: ______
Drama Elements
List
DO NOT LOSE!
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ANALYZING DRAMA
Drama is a story that is written as a script and intended for performance by actors.
Like other narratives, a drama portrays characters caught up in conflict. The struggles that characters face in a
drama spark a sequence of events, called the plot, which eventually reaches a climax, the point of highest
intensity in the action. The resolution, or settling of the conflict, allows the story to wind down and leads to the
drama’s conclusion. Character and conflict work together in a drama, or play, to engage readers or viewers. As
events unfold, characters react and change, revealing their personalities and motives.
Close reading: the detailed and careful analysis of a written work
Annotating (or explicating): interacting with, picking apart and marking up a text in order to better understand
it
BASIC ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
The playwright, or the author of a drama, works with various elements to create dramatic effect.
Term
Acts and
Scenes
Definition
The basic divisions of a drama (like
chapters in books or stanzas in
poetry)
More Information
Dramas may contain a varying number of acts, each of which
may contain a number of scenes.
Scenes often serve to shift the action’s setting or time or to
introduce new characters.
Stage
Directions
Notes that tell how a play should be
performed or staged
Stage directions often appear in italics or are set off by brackets
or parentheses.
Stage directions may include information such as:



Background about the setting or characters
Instructions that tell how the actors should move or speak
Details about scenery, lighting, and costumes
Sets
The defined area in which the
play’s action occurs; the physical
elements placed on the stage
A set may be realistic and look like an actual place, or it may be
more abstract.
Props
A movable object used to add
realism to the action in a play
Examples: a book, pen, or flashlight
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DRAMATIC FORMS
The ancient Greeks, who developed drama as an organized literary form, created two basic types of plays. There
broad categories still define drama today.
Term
Tragedy
Definition
More Information
A drama that traces the downfall of the main character,
who is often called the tragic hero
Example: Romeo and Juliet, Julius
Caesar, Antigone
Tragedies end in death, defeat, or exile.
Tragic Hero
Usually an important figure (such as a king or general)
who is admirable but is defeated by his/her tragic flaw
Example: Romeo in Romeo and Juliet
Tragic Flaw
The mistake or character defect that leads to a tragic hero’s
downfall.
Example: Romeo being too emotionallydriven in Romeo and Juliet
Comedy
A drama that has a happy ending for the protagonist
Comedies often feature events in which
the world’s order or balance is disrupted.
The ending restores order and may reward
the hero. Comedies often end in weddings
or other joyful events.
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE
Classic dramas, such as most ancient Greek and Shakespearean works, take place in five acts and thus are called
five-act plays. The acts typically follow this plot structure:
Act III: Climax
Act IV: Falling Action
Act I: Exposition
Act II: Rising Action
Act V: Resolution
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DRAMATIC DIALOGUE
Playwrights use types of speech to advance plot and reveal character.
Term
Definition
More Information
Dialogue
Characters’ speech
In most dramatic works, dialogue is the
playwright’s main tool.
Chorus
A group of actors on stage who observe and
comment on the action but do not participate in it.
The members of the chorus would most often
sing their lines, but sometimes their lines were
spoken aloud in unison instead.
The chorus provides background information and
reacts to events.
In some modern dramas, a single narrator may
replace the chorus.
Monologue
A long speech that one character delivers to other
characters on stage
Example: Mercutio’s “Queen Mab” speech in
Romeo and Juliet
Soliloquy
A speech in which a character, alone on stage,
“thinks aloud” and reveals private thoughts and true
motivations
Example: Brutus’s “serpent’s egg” speech in
Julius Caesar
Aside
A remark that a character makes to the audience but
that the other characters do not hear
Example: Trebonius’s aside that reveals his
intention to kill Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar.
LITERARY ELEMENTS (review)
The following terms are other essential elements of drama, with which you should already be familiar from our
work with other literary genres.
Irony: a literary technique that portrays the differences between appearance and reality, or expectation and
result
- Situational: an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the
audience
Example: Sarah studied all night for the Chemistry exam and still got a D.
- Dramatic: a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be
true
Example: In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows Juliet took a sleeping potion and isn't
really dead, but Romeo does not know.
- Verbal: words that are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant
Example: Looking outside at the pouring rain Fred said, “Today is a great day for the beach!”
Ambiguity: a part of the story (typically the ending) is left open to reader interpretation
- Example: In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether or not Caesar is truly “ambitious” is left open to
interpretation.