Dramatic Terms & Irony Review

GASP!
Dramatic Terms
& Irony Review

Stage Directions

A playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers (and actors) with information about the dialogue, setting, and action of a play. 

Setting

The time and place of a literary work that establish its context. The prologue of Romeo and Juliet establishes the narrative is set in Verona, Italy.

Props

Items or objects that appear on stage during a play.

Dialogue

The conversation of characters in a literary work. In fiction, dialogue is typically enclosed within quotation marks. In plays, characters' speech is preceded by their names.

​Soliloquy

A speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage. If there are no other characters present, the soliloquy represents the character thinking aloud.  

Monologue

A lengthy single speech by a single character without another character's interruption or frequent response.

​Aside

Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience (breaking the "fourth wall", which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play.

​Irony

A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature.

- In verbal irony, characters say the opposite of what they mean

-In situational irony, the opposite of what is expected occurs.

-In dramatic irony, a character speaks in ignorance of a situation or event known to the audience or to the other characters.

Multiple Choice

What kind of irony is the following sentence?

On the way to court a lawyer gets into an accident and says, "Awesome! I love starting my day like this!"

• Verbal

• Comedic

• Dramatic

• Situational

Multiple Choice

What kind of irony is the following sentence?

A child runs away from getting pushed into a pool, and ends up falling into a puddle.

• Verbal

• Situational

• Dramatic

• Comedic

Multiple Choice

In Toy Story, human characters are not aware that the toys speak and move, but the audience is.

• Verbal

• Comedic

• Situational

• Dramatic

Match

Match the following

• The reader knows that the husband survived the plane crash, but his wife thinks he did not.

• 
  The winner of the school spelling bee fails their spelling quiz.

• 
  The cashier sweetly tell the extremely rude customer to "Have a nice day!" with a fake smile.

Dramatic

Situational

Verbal

• Dramatic

• Situational

• Verbal

Multiple Choice

A lengthy speech by one character without another character's interruption.

• Soliloquy

• Flashback

• Aside

• Monologue

Multiple Choice

Items or objects that appear on stage during a play.

• Props

• Setting

• Dialogue

• Irony

Multiple Choice

The time and place of a literary work that establish its context.

• Props

• Setting

• Stage Direction

• Dialogue

Multiple Choice

A speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage.

• Monologue

• Irony

• Aside

• Soliloquy

Multiple Choice

A playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers (and actors) with information about the dialogue, setting, and action of a play. 

• Prop

• Stage Direction

• Setting

• Flashback

Multiple Choice

A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature.

• Setting

• Flashback

• Dialogue

• Irony

Multiple Choice

A characters' speech, which is preceded by their names and does not include quotation marks in plays.

• Settng

• Flashback

• Irony

• Dialogue

Multiple Choice

Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play.

• Aside

• Monologue

• Prop

• Irony