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.

Drama—acting or simply reading characters’ words—allows us to step into characters’ shoes and act like them.

As we read, we can visualize what they’re doing, thinking, and feeling because we can hear their words as we interpret their emotions.

DramaComes 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 genresShort story?Speech?Informational text?

Elements of DramaPlaywright-the

author of a playActors-the

people who perform

Acts-the units of action

Scenes-parts of the acts

GenresShort stories

Fiction or nonfictionRealistic FictionHistorical FictionScience FictionEtc.

Dramasfor 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 plotExposition

characters Internal and

external conflictssetting

Rising Action/Complications

ClimaxFalling ActionResolution

Structure of other genresShort story?Speech?Informational text?

CharacterizationCharacterizati

on-playwright’s 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 character’s personality

Dialogue in a drama = totally responsible for revealing the characters s and also carry the story forward.

MonologuePlaywrights 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, didn’t 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 conversation—Steveand his wife, Mrs. Brand.The name at the beginningof each line tells who istalking. When you readdialogue, you need to keeptrack of individualcharacters. Their words

areimportant clues to

theirpersonalities.

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 actors—and 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, didn’t 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 doesn’t.)

As a reader, the stage direction “(She really doesn’t.)” helps you understand Mary’s feelings as well as events that may occur later in the play. An actor delivering this line would show that Mary doesn’t 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 DialogueDescribe what dialogue looks like in a

short storyWhat 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)

Review1) Create something

to show how short stories and dramas are alike

2) Design something to show how short stories and dramas are different