For Deanna's Eyes Only!

For Deanna’s Eyes Only!

Week 5.6- Drama

Characters
JONATHAN, 11 years old
DEANNA, 14 years old

Open Ended

What is a DRAMA?

Open Ended

Name three elements of DRAMA you have learned throughout the week

SCENE 1

1

[A teenage girl’s bedroom. Jonathan sits on the bed reading a diary. He shakes

his head, turns a page, continues reading. Deanna enters and stops short. She

stares in disbelief as Jonathan goes on reading, totally oblivious to her
Presence.]

2

DEANNA: [Indignantly.] What do you think you’re doing?

3

JONATHAN: [Startled.] Ah! [Slams the diary shut.]

4

DEANNA: What are you doing?

5

JONATHAN:Nothing!

6

DEANNA: You’re reading my diary!

7

JONATHAN: [As if he’s confused.] Diary?

8

DEANNA: [Pointing.] That! Right there! In your hands!

9

[Jonathan looks down at his hands and reacts as if he is shocked to see
something in them.]

10

DEANNA: Oh, cut it out. You know what you were doing.

11

JONATHAN: I wasn’t reading it.

12

DEANNA: I stood here and watched you. I’ve told you a million times to stay
away from my things. Why are you even in my room?

13

JONATHAN: Doing you a favor.

14

DEANNA: Snooping through my private things? That’s your idea of a favor?

15

JONATHAN: I wasn’t snooping. I was cleaning up after you. Mom told me to
straighten up the family room, and most of the mess was yours. If this diary is
so private, why’d you leave it on the couch?

16

DEANNA: So to put my stuff away, you had to read my diary?

17

JONATHAN: No. I didn’t even want to read it. But you gave me the impression
that you wanted me to, so…

18

DEANNA: [In total disbelief.] What? I gave you the impression that I—are you
Crazy?

19

JONATHAN: Well, I figured from what you wrote on the cover…

20

DEANNA: I didn’t write “For everybody’s eyes—especially Jonathan’s!” I wrote
“FOR DEANNA’S EYES ONLY!” That somehow gave you the impression that I
wanted you to read it?

21

JONATHAN: Well, if you write something like that on the cover and then leave
it lying around, what do you expect?

22

DEANNA: I expect people to mind their own business.

23

JONATHAN: Oh, that’s like putting a plate of brownies out on a table and then
getting mad when someone eats one. If you really wanted to keep your writing
secret, you’d bury it in the middle of some half-used-up notebook where nobody
but you would even think to look.

24

DEANNA: So it’s my fault you violated my privacy?

25

JONATHAN: It was kind of like false advertising.

26

DEANNA: False advertising?

27

JONATHAN: Sure. When you use phrases like “DO NOT OPEN—OR ELSE!” the
reader is going to expect something riveting. Not complaints about the school
cafeteria.

28

DEANNA: What?

29

JONATHAN: I’m just saying that with a title like that, the reader’s going to
expect some drama—or at the very least, an embarrassing story.

30

[From offstage Deanna’s mother calls her to leave for volleyball practice.]

31

DEANNA: [To Jonathan.] This isn’t over! [Deanna exits, taking the diary with
her. Jonathan shrugs and exits after her.]

SCENE 2

32

[Family room. Jonathan is watching TV. Deanna enters with the diary and sits
on the couch opposite Jonathan.]

33

DEANNA: O.K., let me hear it.

34

JONATHAN: Hear what?

35

DEANNA:[Amazed.] The apology you owe me for reading my diary!

36

JONATHAN: Oh that. I was kind of a sneak to read it behind your back.

37

DEANNA: Yeah, you were.

38

JONATHAN: You want to know the real reason I started reading it?

39

DEANNA: O.K., why did you?

40

JONATHAN: Well, lately, it’s like I’ve been invisible to you.

41

DEANNA: What are you talking about? We do stuff all the time.

42

JONATHAN: We used to do stuff all the time. Have you even read your own
diary?

43

DEANNA: Well, no. I’ve just been writing in it.

44

JONATHAN: About your friends. And school. And Jeremy.

45

DEANNA: And?

46

JONATHAN: And that’s it. I’m not in it anywhere. Take a look. You won’t even
find my name.

47

DEANNA: [Looks down at the diary in her hands.] I guess I have been busy.
But that still doesn’t give you the right to read my private diary.

48

JONATHAN: I know. And I am sorry, but I just had to find out if you were mad
at me.

49

DEANNA:[Sighs.] I’m not mad at you; I’ve just been preoccupied. I’ve been
so busy with my first year of high school, trying to keep up and fit in. [Pauses
for a moment.] But if you promise not to read my diary anymore, I promise to
do something with you at least once a week from now on.

50

JONATHAN: O.K., sounds good to me. [Pauses.] But you may want to keep
your diary in your room, just in case. [Both exit the stage.]

Multiple Choice

Read the dictionary entry for the word violate.

Which definition most closely matches the way the word violated is used in paragraph 24?

• Definition 1 

• Definition 2

• Definition 3

• Definition 4

Open Ended

Define the word playwright

Open Ended

Define the word dialogue

Multiple Choice

What does Jonathan’s dialogue in Scene 1 suggest about him? 

•  He feels bad about reading the diary.

• He misses spending time with Deanna.

•  He is deeply interested in Deanna’s life. 

•  He believes he didn’t really do any harm.

Multiple Choice

 What is the best summary of Scene 1?

• After Deanna finds Jonathan reading her diary, the two have a conversation about his actions. Deanna feels as though Jonathan is always going through her private things without asking.

•  Deanna catches Jonathan in her room reading her diary and demands to know what he is doing. Jonathan at first denies reading it but then claims it seems like Deanna wanted him to read it.

• Jonathan is cleaning up the family room and begins reading Deanna’s diary because of what she wrote on the cover. He is disappointed to find that her diary does not contain any embarrassing stories.

• Deanna and Jonathan disagree over the meaning of the words she wrote on the cover of her diary. She thinks he should not have read it, and he thinks she is guilty of false advertising.

Open Ended

What should you include in a summary?

Multiple Choice

 Which statement expresses a main theme of the play?

• Writing can be a helpful way to deal with stress. 

• Keeping secrets can lead to problems in a relationship. 

•  It is best to apologize when something wrong has been done. 

• People must make time for one another in order for relationships to thrive.

Multiple Choice

From Scene 1 to Scene 2, the dialogue between Deanna and Jonathan becomes more -

• demanding and judgmental

• confused and suspicious

• honest and serious

• tense and angry

Multiple Choice

How is the play’s conflict resolved?

• Jonathan says he is sorry for what he did.

• Deanna explains that she has too many commitments. 

• Deanna promises to spend more time with Jonathan.

• Jonathan suggests that Deanna keep her diary in her room