Survey of Drama Handouts
Dramatic and Literary Terms To Know
Allusion : A reference in one work to something from another work such as a famous person, place, event, or thing that is well known from literature, history, religion, myth, film, politics, or popular culture.
Antagonist: The character/characters who somehow prevent the protagonist from getting what they want- they work against the main character.
Beats: Units of meaning within the dialogue. They are sections of a scene or speech that show a character’s changing emotions and motivations, such as a character shifting from expressing affection to expressing rage.
Blocking: The physical positioning of the actors on a stage, moment by moment, throughout a play. Blocking can include all of the actors’ movements, gestures, and stationary positions. Blocking can be improvised by the actors or planned by the director. When a playwright wants to describe how they see their characters moving, they often leave blocking descriptions in the stage directions of the script in italics.
Breaking Character: To lose your focus while acting on stage and to start behaving as yourself and not as your character. This can happen by accident, or it can be planned by the actor, as way to make a specific point to audience about the play.
Characterization: The way a playwright defines an individual and sets them apart from other individuals in a story or play. Aspects of characterization include the physicality, (what they look like; how old they are), social status, personality/psychology, and morality that a playwright gives a character.
Climax: The highest point of suspense, emotion or interest in a play. It is often the most intense moment of the plot inwhich some event occurs or some new information is learned which then alters the course of the play. For example, the climax could be when the audience discovers the identity of the murderer in a mystery; the moment when the two lead characters in a romance realize that they are in love with each other; the great final battle between two opposing armies in an action/adventure story, etc.
Conflict: A struggle or clash between opposing characters or between opposing forces in a play. This is the main source of tension in a play or story that spurs action.
Cue: A word, action, sound, or other signal that tells an actor or a stage crew member to proceed with their next move, line, or task such as to bring up the lights, close the curtain, rotate the set pieces etc.
Cyclorama: An arrangement of cloth or other material that curves around the back end of a stage and slightly down the sides as well. It is usually neutral in color and is lit to represent the sky . Sometimes images are projected on to it to give the stage a background picture.
Deus ex Machina: A Greek theatrical term for a device that allowed an actor or puppet representing a god to be lifted onto the stage and resolve a difficult problem in a play. This term later came to mean an ending of play or story that is so unexpectedly neat that it seems contrived and unbelievable. The words Deus ex Machina literally mean “the god from the machine”.
Dialogue: The spoken words in a play between at least two actors.
Dramatic Question: A mystery or problem in a play which the characters and audience are trying to solve.
Exposition: Information that an audience receives at the beginning of play or story that lets them know basically what is going on; when and where the play is set; who is who; what the relationships between the characters are, and any important events that happened before the current moment in the plot .In some plays, the chorus or narrator assumes the function of communicating exposition directly to an audience.
Foil: Characters who strongly contrast each other thereby making their individual personality traits clearer to the audience. They are character opposites. Characters who foil each other help create tension and conflict in a play, often producing humor for the audience. Foils can be comic or tragic.
Fourth Wall: The invisible wall that exists between the audience and the actor, providing the audience with the sense that they are secretly looking in on the actor’s world. If an actor turns and speaks directly to the audience, the illusion of safety or disconnection that the fourth wall gives the audience is broken. We call this action, as you might guess, “breaking the fourth wall.”
Improvisation: To create actions, blocking, and dialogue that are not in the script or which have not been planned in advance. Actors often use improvisation to help them create more natural characters and to help them improve their sense of timing.
Inciting Incident: The event that sets the action of a play in motion.
Irony: A contrast between expectation and reality-- when what happens isn’t what you logically could have expected would have happened .There are three basic types of irony : Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic
1.Verbal Irony: When a speaker says one thing but feels or means the exact opposite.
2.Situational Irony: When something happens that is completely different from what one would normally expect to see happen or from what would seem appropriate under the circumstances.
3.Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something that a character does not know and therefore has a better understanding of what is going on in the plot than the characters do. For example, in Shakespeare’s play Othello, the audience hears the character Iago say in Act I, that he hates Othello and means to destroy him, so they know four acts before Othello does, that Iago is not really his friend and that he is dangerous.
Motivation: Something that causes a character to act in a certain way. Often characters are motivated by their desires or fears. However, a character may not always be consciously aware of their motivation. Figuring out what a character’s motivation is, is crucial for an actor because that helps them determine how to deliver their lines and react to other characters on the stage.
Personification: Describing a nonhuman object as if it were human.
Point of Attack: The moment in the plot in which the play actually opens. In older plays, this moment is often in the middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning.
Props: Short for “properties” which are any onstage objects used by the actors in their blocking and stage business.
Protagonist: The main character who drives the central action of a play.
Raked Stage: A stage that slopes upwards towards the back so that the front part of it is lower than the back part. Most theatres and sport centers have raked seating, ( think of the band room and the bleaches in the gym).
Resolution: The ending part of a play which follows the climax. This is the part of a play in which all of the loose ends of the plot are tied up.
Scapegoat: A person who is unjustly blamed or punished for the faults and sufferings of others. It is a term that comes from an ancient Jewish ritual in which a high priest would symbolically transfer all of the sins of his people onto a goat and then allow it to escape into the wilderness, carrying the burden of those sins with it.
Setting/ Set: Any and all aspects of a character’s environment, ( natural, human made, cultural, political etc.) The term “set” is also a way of describing the physical layout of a stage during a performance including any backdrops, colors, shades of light, and props.
Stage Business: A very detailed action that a character performs to enhance the scene or to add to the characterization of a character. For example, stage bussiness may include filling a pipe, setting a table, styling one’s hair, cooking a meal, playing cards, fidgeting with a part of one’s costume are all types of stage business.
Subtext: Any motivations, ideas, relationships, or conflicts that are driving the actions of the characters, but which are not actually stated by the characters. Subtext literally means “beneath or under the words/ writing” and it is this hidden information that is often the most important when it comes to understanding the true meaning that a playwright is trying to convey to an audience.
Symbol : A person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and something beyond itself as well. There are two kinds of symbols within a particular culture: Universal and Limited.
1.Universal Symbol: An object that has a certain meaning associated with it no matter where it appears within a particular culture. For example, a dove could represent peace in several different stories in the western world.
2.Limited Symbol: An object that has a certain meaning associated with it only in one specific context. For example, the Ring in the story the Lord of the Rings may represent destructive power, but that does not mean that every time a ring is mentioned a book, readers should automatically think of power.
Tone: The attitude that an author takes toward a subject, audience, or a character( such as ironic, tragic, humorous, questioning etc.).
Tragic Flaw: A term often used in classical theatre/literature to describe the main weakness in a character’s personality that brings about or almost brings about their own destruction. A tragic flaw could be vanity, jealousy, ignorance etc. but the number one flaw tends to be pride ,or in classical terms, hubris, a Greek words which means being so full of pride in your own abilities that you believe you can stand alone against the will of the gods and fate.
IN CLASS GREEK THEATRE WORDS
City Dionysia : Week long theatre competition held in the spring with 12 new plays a year
Theatron: “Seeing place”- the amphitheatre structure in which the audience sat— it is where we get the term “theatre”
Skene: “hut” - the one stone building that served as the background for every play – it is where we get the term “ scene” or “scenery”
Orchestra :” Dancing place”-- the dirt pit stage at the foot of the skene in which the chorus of 15 men sang and danced
Chorus: The group of men trained to perform the following functions in each play:
Sing and dance; add spectacle, change the mood of the play, convey the author’s message, serve as a group character, speak directly to the audience and give them the exposition of the play; serve as the “curtain” between acts—when they danced; the scene changed. The choreagus was the chorus leader.
Exposition: Background data given in the beginning of play/story to tell the audience what was going on in the plot
Act One/Beginning of Two Mother Hicks Reading Questions- ( up thru p.61)
1. Ricky Ricks and Girl appear three different times in act one in the same place. Find these three scenes and then answer the following
A. What is Ricky doing in each of these three scenes ?
B. What is Girl doing?
C. Compare your answers for A with B. From this information what can you say about Ricky’s character and personality traits vs. those of Girl ?
D. Why do you think the author paired these two characters up in each of these scenes?
2 A. What do we learn about Girl’s background in Act One?
B. Based on this information, find the two scenes in which Girl refers to her initialized cloth piece and write why do you think this cloth piece is so important to Girl?
3. Who are Hosiah and Alma Ward?
4. Describe their personalities and the different ways they react to Girl.
5 How does Girl react to them? Why?
6. What does Alma say that upsets Girl on p.34?
7 What does Hosiah say that upsets Girl on p.35?
8. When Girl finally meets Mother Hicks she comes to believe that there is a connection between them. What does Girl think this connection is and why does she think this?
9. Soon after meeting Mother Hicks, Girl decides to become something. What does she try to become and why does she want to be this?
10. We learn at the end of Act I that one of the characters has been following Girl . Who is it and why do you think this character follows her?
11.What happens to Girl at the very end of Act I?
12. Where is Girl at the opening of Act II ? Why is she here?
13. What does Mother Hicks always bring with her to the graveyard?
14. What does Mother Hicks reveal about these objects and the person they once belonged to?
15. How does Mother Hicks spend most of her time?
16. What does this suggest to you about her character?
17. What is Tuc’s background and how does it compare to that of Girl?
18. How does Tuc react towards Girl and why do you think he behaves in this manner?
Act II Mother Hicks Reading Guide (p.61 on):
1. Why does Alma tell Hosiah she is not giving up on finding Girl?
2. Why do you think Tuc lies to Girl about the fact that people are looking for her?
3. What does Girl say that angers Mother Hicks(p.68-69)? Why do you think she becomes so upset over this?
4. What does Mother Hicks reveal to Girl about Girl’s past?
5. What does Girl do when Mother Hicks shares this information with her? Why?
6. Explain this quote from Mother Hicks on p.71 “You never change do you? What did I ever do to you, except give you a place to put your hate?” What is she referring to when she says this and who is she talking to? How does this person respond ?
7. Only one of the townspeople (other than Tuc) seems unafraid of Mother Hicks during the search for Girl. Who is this character and what do you think this character might have in common with Mother Hicks that allows her to understand her?
8. What has happened to Jake and Howie Hammond?
9. How does Girl react to Jake’s explanation of what has happened to his family? Why do you think she responds this way?
10. When Girl returns to Mother Hicks what request does she make?
11. What happens to Girl’s treasured cloth piece at the end of the play?
12. What do you think the playwright was trying to tell you about Girl or the meaning of this play by having this happen to the cloth piece?
Reading Guide: Raisin in the Sun
Act I , scene ii
1. What is the Younger family doing when scene ii starts?( p. 54-55)
2. Who is Joseph Asagai and where is he from?( p.56-57)
3. What is Ruth’s secret that caused her to faint at the end of scene i? (p.57-58)
4. How does Ruth seem to feel about this? Why?
5. What does Travis do that upsets Bennie, Mama and Ruth? (p.58-59)
6. Why do you think this upsets Ruth so much?
7. Why did Bennie want Asagai to go away to Canada earlier that year?( p.61)
8. What has Asagai brought Bennie for presents? (p.61-62)
9. What does he accuse her of doing to her appearance? (p.61-62)
10.What do you think he means by this?
11.When Bennie first met Asagai what did she tell him she was looking for? (p.62)
12. How does he respond to this? (p.63-64)
13. What idea about their relationship causes a disagreement between Bennie and Asagai?(p63-64)
14. What nickname does Asagai give Bennie?(p.65)
15.What does this name mean and what do you think it suggests about Bennie’s personality and Asagai’s feelings about her? (p.65)
16. What arrives in the mail for the Younger family?( p.68-69)
17. Why do you think Mama suddenly becomes upset when she looks at this item?(p.69)
18. Why has Walter been so upset lately?(p.70-74)
19. What does Walter think life is really about? (p.74)
20. Why does Mama believe he and Bennie are completely different from her generation? (p.74)
21. What has Ruth been thinking about doing that worries Mama?(p7.5)
22. Why do you think that she has been considering doing this?
23. How does Walter respond to Ruth’s announcement? (p.75)
24. Why do you think he does this?
Raisin in the Sun Reading Guide
Act II, scene i
1. What are Bennie and Walter doing at the beginning of Act II? (76-79)
2. Why do you think they both become so involved in this activity? What are they gaining from it?
3. Who is George Murchison and what is he like as a character?
4.What has Bennie done to her appearance? (80)
5. How do George and Ruth react to this change and why do you think they react this way? (80)
6. What do George and Bennie argue about in this scene? (80-81)
7. How does Walter react to George? (82-83)
8. Why do you think he reacts this way?
9. Why does Walter become upset on p.84?
10. Why does George compliment Bennie on p.85?
11. What do Walter and Ruth talk about after George and Bennie leave? (88-89)
12. What changes Walter’s mood back to a hostile one? (89)
13. What did Mama do with the insurance money and why did she do this ? (91-92)
14. What is the problem with what she bought for the family?(93)
15. How does Ruth react to Mama’s gift? (93-94)
16 How does Walter react and why do you think he reacts this way?
Act I Crucible Reading Guide
1. What is upsetting these characters at the beginning of Act I?
2. What offense does Parris question Abigail about (what is he afraid the girls were doing in the woods)?
3. What happen to Abigail’s family (20)?
4. What is Abigail’s main concern throughout this act?
5. What secret scandal are John Proctor and Abigail hiding?
6. On whom does Abigail blame all of her problems and unhappiness?
7. For what reason has Reverend Hale from Beverly been called to Salem?
8. What are some Parris’s main concerns in this act?
9. How much of Salem does Putnam and Parris believe is corrupt and “unmindful” of the ministry (29)?
10. Compare the response of Rebecca Nurse to Betty with that of the other characters.
11. What does Rebecca say to Parris when she leaves his house that offends and bothers him(40)? What do you think this may foreshadow about the coming acts?
12. From the exchange between Proctor, Parris, Corey and Parris, what are some of the issues that the townsfolk have been arguing over long before the girls became ill?
Crucible Reading Guide Act II
1. Describe John and Elizabeth Proctor’s relationship.
2. What is the source of conflict/tension between them?
3. Where has Mary Warren been all week(52) ?
4. Why is Elizabeth suddenly afraid of Mary (52)?
5. What is Elizabeth trying to get John to do(53-54 )?
6. Why does John lose his temper on pages 54-55?
7. What news does Mary bring of Goody Osburn and Sarah Good?
8. What are the judges using as “proof” of witchcraft (57-58)?
9. How did Mary “save” Elizabeth’s life (59)?
10. What does Elizabeth think Abby wants(61)?
11.Why has Rev. Hale come to visit?
12. What are some of the issues about Proctor’s behavior that cause Rev. Hale to question Proctor’s Christian character?
13. Look at Hale’s comments at the bottom of p.71 about why we cannot” cling to old respects and ancient friendships”. What do you think he means by this and what does that mean about who might be accused of witchcraft in the town now?
14. What evidence is used to arrest Elizabeth?
15. What has happened to Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey (the wives of Francis and Giles)?
16. At the end of the act John insists that he and Mary are going to do something that terrifies Mary. What is he planning on doing?