Drama vs.

Short Stories
 Drama

l
l Whenwewereyoung,wealllovedtodressupin
costumesandoutfits,sayascowboys,orasDarthVader
fromStarWars
from ,orasDorothyfromTheWizardofOz
StarWars,orasDorothyfrom TheWizardofOz.We
sanganddancedordefeatedthebadguys.Wewerethe
characters,theheroesandvillains.
l Drama
l Dramaactingorsimplyreadingcharacterswords
actingorsimplyreadingcharacterswords
allowsustostepintocharactersshoesandactlikethem.
l Asweread,wecanvisualizewhattheyredoing,thinking,
l
andfeelingbecausewecanheartheirwordsaswe
interprettheiremotions.
interprettheiremotions.
 Drama

l ComesfromtheGreekWord,
Dran
Dran
l MeansTodoorToAct
l TheDoing/ActingMakesDrama
TheDoing/ActingMakesDrama
 PurposeandDefinition
l Adramaisastorywrittentobeperformedby
l
actors,usingspeechandmovementsinfrontof
anaudience
anaudience
 Purposeofothergenres
l Shortstory?
l
l Speech?
l
l Informationaltext?
l Informationaltext?
ElementsofDrama
l Playwright
l Playwrightthe
authorofaplay
l Actors
l Actorsthepeople
whoperform
l Acts
l Actstheunitsof
action
l Scenes
l Scenespartsofthe
acts
acts
 Genres
l Shortstories
l l Dramas
l
l Fictionornonfiction
l l forthestage(play)
l
l RealisticFiction
l l Forthemovies
l
l HistoricalFiction
l (screenplay)
l ScienceFiction
l l Fortelevision
l
(teleplay)
(teleplay)
l Etc.
l
 ElementsofDrama
l
l Plot l
l Therelatedeventsthat
l Characters
l takeplaceinadramaare
separatedintoacts
acts.Most
l Setting
l
playshavetwoorthree
l Acts
l
acts,buttherearemany
l Scenes
l variations.Withinanact,
thereareshortersections
calledscenes
scenes.Aplaycan
haveanynumberof
scenes.
scenes.
 StructureofaDrama
ChronologicalOrder
l Allthepartsofplot
l
l Exposition
l
l characters
l
l Internalandexternal
l
conflicts
l setting
l

l Rising
l
Action/Complications
l Climax
l
l FallingAction
l
l Resolution
l Resolution
 Structureofothergenres
l Shortstory?
l
l Speech?
l
l Informationaltext?
l Informationaltext?
 Characterization
l Characterization
lCharacterization
playwrights
techniquefor
making
believable
characters
characters
 Dialogue
l
l Anauthortellsastorymainlythroughanarratorandsome
descriptionanddialoguebetweencharacters.
l Aplaywrighttellsastoryprimarilythroughdialogueofthe
l
characters.

Dialogueisconversationbetweentwoormorecharacters.

l
l Dialogueinashortstory=partlyresponsibleforrevealing
acharacterspersonality
l Dialogueinadrama=totallyresponsibleforrevealingthe
l
characterssandalsocarrythestoryforward.
characterssandalsocarrythestoryforward.
 Monologue
l Playwrightsmayalsouseamonologue
l monologue,
whichoccurswhenonlyonecharacter
speaksforawhile.Thecharactermaybe
withothersonstageormaybealone.

Christinefrom
PhantomoftheOpera
 Inthewrittenformofaplay,dialogueappearswithout
PracticereadingthisdialoguefromThe
quotationmarks.Practicereadingthisdialoguefrom
MonstersAreDueonMapleStreet:
MonstersAreDueonMapleStreet:

Therearetwocharactersin
Mrs.Brand((fromherporch
fromherporch). theconversation
Steve?What
theconversation Steve
wasthat? andhiswife,Mrs.Brand.
Thenameatthebeginning
Steve((raisinghisvoiceandlooking
towardporch
towardporch).Guessitwasa ofeachlinetellswhois
meteor,honey.Cameawful talking.Whenyouread
close,didntit?
dialogue,youneedtokeep
Mrs.Brand
Mrs.Brand.Toocloseformy trackofindividual
money! characters. Theirwordsare
Muchtooclose.
Muchtooclose.
importantcluestotheir
l
l fromTheMonstersAreDueon
from TheMonstersAreDueon
MapleStreet
MapleStreet personalities.
personalities.
byRodSerling
byRodSerling
 StageDirections
Mrs.Brand((fromherporch
fromherporch).Steve?
l
l somelineshave
Whatwasthat? italicizedwordsand
phrasescontained
Steve((raisinghisvoiceandlooking withinparentheses.
towardporch
towardporch).Guessitwasa Thesearestage
meteor,honey.Cameawfulclose, directions.Theyare
didntit? notmeanttobe
spokenaloud.Forthe
Mrs.Brand
Mrs.Brand.Toocloseformymoney!
Muchtooclose. actors
actorsandfora
readeroftheplay
play
theyofferguidanceon
l
l fromTheMonstersAreDueon
from TheMonstersAreDueon whatishappeningand
MapleStreet
MapleStreet howtounderstand
byRodSerling
byRodSerling
themeaningofcertain
lines.
 StageDirections
l
l Yes,Iagreewithyou.
Mary.Yes,Iagreewithyou.
(Shereallydoesnt.)

Asareader,thestagedirection(Shereallydoesnt
l Asareader,thestagedirection(
l Shereallydoesnt.)
helpsyouunderstandMarysfeelingsaswellasevents
thatmayoccurlaterintheplay.Anactordelivering
thislinewouldshowthatMarydoesntmeanwhatshe
says.Theactormightpausebeforespeakingormove
inawaythatshowssheisnotsincere.Whenyouread
aplay,bealerttothestagedirections.Whenyou
watchaplay,payattentiontotheactionandto
specificactorsmovements.Theseareimportant
elementsofdramathatconveymeaning.
elementsofdramathatconveymeaning.
 GroupReviewDialogue
l Describewhatdialoguelookslikeina
l
shortstory
l Whatdoesthedialoguerevealinashort
l
story?(hint:lookbackatnotes)
l Whatdoesdialoguelooklikeinadrama?
l
l Whatdoesdialoguerevealinadrama?
l
(lookbackatnotes)
(lookbackatnotes)
 Review
1) Createsomethingto
showhowshort
storiesanddramas
arealike
2) Designsomethingto
showhowshort
storiesanddramas
aredifferent
aredifferent