BY: Ty’Tiaunna ThomasMarkea JohnsonLatisha AllenKeith HayesDuntarrius Toomer

DRAMA

Defining DramaA drama is a story

written, to be performed by actors,

that focuses on characters in a conflict.

Elements of Drama A drama or play consists of

several key elements.

-A plot is the order of events that make up the play. A play is divided into large units called acts, then divided into smaller units which are known as scenes.

Elements Continued

Characters are people who participate in the action of the play (They are referred to as

actors onstage). Characters engage in

conversations or speeches which are known as dialogues.

Dialogues can be written in either prose or poetry.

Stage directions are notes included in the

play to describe the sets, costumes, lighting,

scenery, sound effects, and props.

Plays are divided into two broad categories:

*A comedy which is a play that has a happy ending and a tragedy

which shows the downfall or death of the main character or tragic

hero due to a tragic flaw or unwise decision.

Types of Drama History plays: based on events

of the past Melodrama: features

stereotype characters and exaggerated conflicts.

Tragicomedy: Combines tragic and comic elements

Modern realistic drama: features ordinary language, people, and events

Political drama: reflects the authors opinion on an issue

Dramatic conventions are literary devices that break the

illusion of reality. In this practice called the suspension

of disbelief, the audience agrees these conventions

while watching a play

Types of Dramatic Conventions

A soliloquy is a speech in which a character who is alone onstage reveals private thoughts and feelings to the audience, but it is understood that the audience is overhearing the character talking or thinking out loud.

An aside is a brief remark delivered by a character to express private thoughts while other characters are onstage. It is directed to the audience and presumed to be unheard by the other characters.