English 10 / Unit 6: Drama and Tragedy
6.1 Elements of Drama
Notes
Drama is literature written to be performed. Readers must imagine what an audience would see and hear.
- A play's text is a script, written by a playwright. It is divided into acts and scenes.
- Dialogue is the characters' conversation; it carries most of the plot and characterization.
- Stage directions, usually in italics or brackets, describe setting, movement, tone and sound.
- The cast of characters (dramatis personae) lists the roles at the start.
- Since drama has little or no narrator, readers infer thoughts from what characters say and do.
Practice
In a script, "[She slams the letter onto the table and turns away]" is an example of:
Bracketed instructions about action are stage directions.
Why must readers of drama rely heavily on inference?
Without a narrator, meaning comes through dialogue and action.
The list of roles at the start of a play is called the:
It is the cast of characters.
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