Drama vs.

Short Stories
Drama

When we were young, we all loved to dress up in
costumes and outfits, say as cowboys, or as Darth Vader
from Star Wars, or as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. We
sang and danced or defeated the bad guys. We were the
characters, the heroes and villains.
Dramaacting or simply reading characters words
allows us to step into characters shoes and act like them.
As we read, we can visualize what theyre doing, thinking,
and feeling because we can hear their words as we
interpret their emotions.
Drama
Comes from the Greek Word,
Dran
Means To do or To Act
The Doing/Acting Makes Drama
Purpose and Definition
A drama is a story written to be performed by
actors, using speech and movements in front of
an audience
Purpose of other genres
Short story?
Speech?
Informational text?
Elements of Drama
Playwright-the
author of a play
Actors-the people
who perform
Acts-the units of
action
Scenes-parts of the
acts
Genres
Short stories
Fiction or nonfiction
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction
Science Fiction
Etc.
Dramas
for the stage (play)
For the movies
(screenplay)
For television
(teleplay)
Elements of Drama
Plot
Characters
Setting
Acts
Scenes
The related events that
take place in a drama are
separated into acts. Most
plays have two or three
acts, but there are many
variations. Within an act,
there are shorter sections
called scenes. A play can
have any number of
scenes.

Structure of a Drama
Chronological Order
All the parts of plot
Exposition
characters
Internal and external
conflicts
setting
Rising
Action/Complications
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution

Structure of other genres
Short story?
Speech?
Informational text?
Characterization
Characterization-
playwrights
technique for
making
believable
characters

Dialogue
An author tells a story mainly through a narrator and some
description and dialogue between characters.
A playwright tells a story primarily through dialogue of the
characters.

Dialogue is conversation between two or more characters.

Dialogue in a short story= partly responsible for revealing
a characters personality
Dialogue in a drama = totally responsible for revealing the
characters s and also carry the story forward.
Monologue
Playwrights may also use a monologue,
which occurs when only one character
speaks for a while. The character may be
with others onstage or may be alone.

Christine from
Phantom of the Opera
In the written form of a play, dialogue appears without
quotation marks. Practice reading this dialogue from The
Monsters Are Due on Maple Street:

Mrs. Brand (from her porch).
Steve? What
was that?

Steve (raising his voice and looking
toward porch). Guess it was a
meteor, honey. Came awful
close, didnt it?

Mrs. Brand. Too close for my
money!
Much too close.

from The Monsters Are Due on
Maple Street
by Rod Serling
There are two characters in
the conversationSteve
and his wife, Mrs. Brand.
The name at the beginning
of each line tells who is
talking. When you read
dialogue, you need to keep
track of individual
characters. Their words are
important clues to their
personalities.
Stage Directions
some lines have
italicized words and
phrases contained
within parentheses.
These are stage
directions. They are
not meant to be
spoken aloud. For the
actorsand for a
reader of the play
they offer guidance on
what is happening and
how to understand
the meaning of certain
lines.

Mrs. Brand (from her porch). Steve?
What was that?

Steve (raising his voice and looking
toward porch). Guess it was a
meteor, honey. Came awful close,
didnt it?

Mrs. Brand. Too close for my money!
Much too close.


from The Monsters Are Due on
Maple Street
by Rod Serling
Stage Directions
Mary. Yes, I agree with you.
(She really doesnt.)
As a reader, the stage direction (She really doesnt.)
helps you understand Marys feelings as well as events
that may occur later in the play. An actor delivering
this line would show that Mary doesnt mean what she
says. The actor might pause before speaking or move
in a way that shows she is not sincere. When you read
a play, be alert to the stage directions. When you
watch a play, pay attention to the action and to
specific actors movements. These are important
elements of drama that convey meaning.
Group Review Dialogue
Describe what dialogue looks like in a
short story
What does the dialogue reveal in a short
story? (hint: look back at notes)
What does dialogue look like in a drama?
What does dialogue reveal in a drama?
(look back at notes)
Review
1) Create something to
show how short
stories and dramas
are alike
2) Design something to
show how short
stories and dramas
are different