Drama Project

Mariam Abdelwahab Period 73/25/09

Definition of Drama

dra·ma Pronunciation: drä-mə, dra-ma Function: noun Etymology: Late Latin dramat-, drama, from Greek, deed, drama,

from dran to do, act Date: 1515 1 a: a composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or

character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue and typically designed for theatrical performance

Drama

In the next few slides are examples of dramatic stories.

Some stories are more dramatic that others.

For example “Romeo & Juliet” has more of a dramatic effect than “Marty”, yet they are both dramas.

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous tragic stories in history.

It is about the strong love of two young people, in the middle of their feuding families.

Their love must overcome the hardships of not being able to be in love. Facing the catastrophe of death of their loved ones, and death of themselves.

West Side Story I am not one hundred percent

sure that West Side Story was meant to replicate Romeo & Juliet.

But after comparing and contrasting the two, they are very similar.

Some examples of similarities would be:

Maria and Tony have love at first sight Bernardo is Maria’s cousin, and plays

a role like Tybalt Tony and Maria secretly meet at night Doc is like the friar Tony tries to settle things between

the sharks and jets, much like Romeo Rif and Bernardo die; Mercutio and

Tybalt Tony is told that Maria is dead

Marty The story of Marty has more of a

mild drama. It is about a man, who is in his

thirties that hasn’t gotten married yet.

He is constantly questioned and shamed from family and friends for that.

The short round man finally decides to go out.

He meets a young woman that is referred to by the other men as a “dog”.

He brings her home, but his mother doesn’t seem excited like she should be.

The story ends with him leaving his friends who are making fun of her, to go call her.

Foil Characters

A foil is a character who provides a strong contrast to another character. A foil may emphasize another character’s distinctive traits or may make another character look better by comparison.

There are many examples of foil characters in Romeo & Juliet

Ex: Ex: Gregory and Sampson; Benvolio and Tybalt; The servant and Romeo, and Benvolio; Nurse and Lady Capulet; Mercutio and Romeo; and Tybalt and Capulet.

Shakespeare’s Plot Tragedy

Act 1- Exposition Act 2- Rising

Action Act 3- Climax Act 4- Falling

Action Act 5 –

Resolution

Soliloquies & Monologues

In a monologue, the character speaks directly to another character or to himself or herself.

In a soliloquy a character speaks his or her innermost thoughts when no other characters are on stage.

Ex:Ex: In Act 1, Scene 4 Mercutio has a monologue to Romeo, trying to cheer him up.

Ex:Ex: After Mercutio is killed, Romeo has a soliloquy to himself about his inner thoughts. Mercutio’s death by Tybalt, who is almost related to Romeo now. And his love for Juliet.

Asides

In an aside, a character says something to the audience that the other characters are unable to hear. Ex:Ex: Juliet.: O Romeo,

Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?Deny thy father and refuse thy name;Or, if thou will not, be but sworn my love,And if I’ll no longer be a Capulet..Romeo: [Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

Prologues

An introductory section of a play, a speech, or another literary work.

Romeo & Juliet begins with a prologue.

The prologue gives the information about who, when, where and what the scene will be formed around.

Chorus

The chorus is portrayed by one actor, who speaks the prologue and epilogue to the play. Commenting on a play’s action and describing events not shown on stage.

The chorus speaks directly to the audience, unlike the other actors who engage in dialogue.

3 Types of Irony

Irony is a contrast between appearance and reality.

1. Situational Irony- The outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is expected. ExEx: Juliet was supposed to wake from her sleep, and meet once again with her love, Romeo. But they both end up dying.

2. Verbal Irony- Occurs when a person says one thing and means another. Ex:Ex: When Juliet is crying, the nurse thinks she is crying for the death of Tybalt, but she is really crying for Romeo.

3. Dramatic Irony- Exists when the reader of audience knows something that a character does not know. Ex Ex: After Juliet drinks the poison, the audience knows that she is only in a temporary deep sleep. But the nurse starts talking to her, then pulls the bed curtain and finds Juliet laying there, believing that she is dead.

Stage Directions

Stage directions are the written instructions that explain how to perform a play, including how the characters should look, speak, move, and behave.

They also specify details of the setting and scenery. Example of Stage Directions in “Marty”

[Fade in: Exterior, three-story building. Pan up to second floor…bright neon lights reading “Waverly Ballroom”… The large, dirty windows are open; and the sound of fair-to-middling swing band whooping it up comes out.]

Blank Verse

A blank verse is unrhymed poetry or dramatic verses written in a meter known as iambic pentameter . Each line of iambic pentameter has five units, made up of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Ex: Friar Lawrence- Be patient, for the world is broad and wide.

“Be pa/ tient, for/ the world/ is broad/ and wide.

Allusion

Allusion is a reference to a well-known character, place, or situation from history, music, art, or another work of literature.

Discovering the meaning of an illusion can often be essential to understanding a work.

An example of an allusion would be the saying, “All roads lead to Rome.”

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which opposite ideas are combined.

An example from Romeo & Juliet, in Act , Scene 1. Romeo- “Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate”

The End

This project pretty much contains the basic contents of dramatic stories.

I hope that you learned a lot!

Just about all of the information included in this presentation are from the “Glencoe Literature The Reader’s Choice Course 4”