Characteristics of Drama

How does a soliloquy differ from an aside?

• A. A soliloquy is a conversation between two or more characters, while an aside is just a single character expressing his or her thoughts about the actions of other characters.

• B. A soliloquy is a stage direction during which all the characters exit the stage, while during an aside, they’re instructed to move to different sides of the stage.

• C. During a soliloquy, only the character making the speech is present onstage, while during an aside, others characters may be present onstage.

• D. A soliloquy is the opening scene of a play, while an aside is the closing scene of the play.

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In this excerpt from act I, scene I, of Shakespeare's Richard III, what two purposes does Richard's soliloquy appear to serve?

RICHARD III (Duke of Gloucester): Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of York;

And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;

Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;

Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,

Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.

Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;

And now, instead of mounting barded steeds

To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,

He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber

To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.

But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,

Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;

I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty

To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;

I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,

Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,

Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time

Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,

And that so lamely and unfashionable

That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;

Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,

Have no delight to pass away the time,

Unless to spy my shadow in the sun

And descant on mine own deformity:

And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,

To entertain these fair well-spoken days,

I am determined to prove a villain

And hate the idle pleasures of these days.

Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,

By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,

To set my brother Clarence and the king

In deadly hate the one against the other:

And if King Edward be as true and just

As I am subtle, false and treacherous,

This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,

About a prophecy, which says that 'G'

Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.

• A. It develops the major characters of the play.

  It evokes the emotions of love and happiness in the audience.

• B. It reveals the motivations and personality of the character.

  It informs the audience about the background of the plot.

• It signifies the point in the plot where the play reaches its climax.

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What are the purposes of a prologue in a play?

• A. to provide information about the inner thoughts and feelings of a character

• B. to set the mood and tone of the play and provide background information

• C. to provide information about how the stage should be set and what props are needed

• D. to provide a hint to the audience about what will happen later in the play

• E. to give some insight into the relationships among different characters

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Which statement best describes the difference between a monologue and a soliloquy?

• A. A monologue is a speech given by one character to other characters, while a soliloquy is spoken by a character who is thinking aloud.

• B. A monologue is a speech not meant to be heard by another character, while a soliloquy is a speech made to other characters in a play.

• C. A monologue is speech made by a single character, while a soliloquy is a dialogue among several characters in a play.

• A monologue is a speech made in the presence of other characters, while a soliloquy is always made when the character is alone.

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Which aspect of analysis would be most appropriate for this excerpt from act I scene I, of Shakespeare's Richard III?

RICHARD III (Duke of Gloucester): What news abroad?

LORD HASTINGS: No news so bad abroad as this at home;

The King is sickly, weak and melancholy,

And his physicians fear him mightily.

RICHARD III (Duke of Gloucester): Now, by Saint Paul, this news is bad indeed.

O, he hath kept an evil diet long,

And overmuch consumed his royal person:

'Tis very grievous to be thought upon.

What, is he in his bed?

LORD HASTINGS: He is.

RICHARD III (Duke of Gloucester): Go you before, and I will follow you.

[Exit HASTINGS]

He cannot live, I hope; and must not die

Till George be pack'd with post-horse up to heaven.

I'll in, to urge his hatred more to Clarence,

With lies well steel'd with weighty arguments;

And, if I fall not in my deep intent,

Clarence hath not another day to live:

Which done, God take King Edward to his mercy,

And leave the world for me to bustle in!

For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter.

What though I kill'd her husband and her father?

The readiest way to make the wench amends

Is to become her husband and her father:

The which will I; not all so much for love

As for another secret close intent,

By marrying her which I must reach unto.

(Exit)

• A. the development of the character of Lord Hastings in the play

• B. the characterization of Richard III as a concerned brother

• C. the use of soliloquy as a tool of foreshadowing in the play

• D. the portrayal of marriage in the play

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Read the prologue for act II of William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet:

CHORUS: Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie,

And young affection gapes to be his heir;

That fair for which love groan'd for and would die,

With tender Juliet match'd, is now not fair.

Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,

Alike betwitched by the charm of looks,

But to his foe supposed he must complain,

And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks:

Being held a foe, he may not have access

To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear;

And she as much in love, her means much less

To meet her new-beloved any where:

But passion lends them power, time means, to meet

Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.

In the previous act, Romeo and Juliet have fallen in love, even though their families despise one another. Based on the excerpt, what are the two main purposes of this prologue?

• A. It foreshadows what is yet to happen to the main characters in the play.

• B. It creates an ominous mood that hints at the conflicts of the play.

• C. It recaps past events that happened in the play or offstage.

• D. It describes the setting where the play takes place

• E. It gives instructions about the stage props and the stage layout.

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PARIS: Happily met, my lady and my wife!

JULIET: That may be, sir, when I may be a wife.

PARIS: That may be must be, love, on Thursday next.

JULIET: What must be shall be.

FRIAR LAURENCE: That's a certain text.

PARIS: Come you to make confession to this father?

JULIET: To answer that, I should confess to you.

PARIS: Do not deny to him that you love me.

JULIET: I will confess to you that I love him.

PARIS: So will ye, I am sure, that you love me.

JULIET: If I do so, it will be of more price,

Being spoke behind your back, than to your face.

PARIS: Poor soul, thy face is much abused with tears.

JULIET: The tears have got small victory by that;

For it was bad enough before their spite.

PARIS: Thou wrong'st it, more than tears, with that report.

JULIET: That is no slander, sir, which is a truth;

And what I spake, I spake it to my face.

PARIS: Thy face is mine, and thou hast slander'd it.

JULIET: It may be so, for it is not mine own.

Are you at leisure, holy father, now;

Or shall I come to you at evening mass?

FRIAR LAURENCE: My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now.

My lord, we must entreat the time alone.

In this passage from act IV of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet goes to Friar Laurence for advice because her father is forcing her to marry Count Paris. When she gets to the Friar’s room, Paris is there, arranging for the wedding. Which literary technique is used in this exchange between Paris and Juliet?

• A. dramatic irony

• B. foreshadowing

• C. imagery

• D. flashback

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The Flight of the Vulture

CHARACTERS:Vulture, maleFlight Attendant, femalePilot, maleMan, standing at the back of the lineWoman, wearing a fox stolePassengers, forming a line

(People are calmly standing in line with boarding passes in their hands. Flight Attendant enters stage left. She approaches the front of the line.)Flight Attendant:(in a falsely cheerful voice) We are now ready to board for Flight 5B. Please have your boarding passes ready. (The line begins to move forward. Suddenly, a chain reaction of gagging and screaming starts from the back of the line. The people in the back of the line are looking off stage right.)Flight Attendant:What is it? (A vulture enters stage right. He is carrying several beat-up, old stuffed animal dolls with him.)Vulture:(to last man in line) Excuse me, sir. Is this the boarding line for Flight 5B?Man:Aaack! You are carrying around dead animals! That's disgusting!Vulture:I brought them as an afternoon snack. (The people in the line react more violently than before. The sound of their gagging fades. The lights dim and a spotlight hits the vulture.)Vulture:I guess I can't blame them. This is the reaction I get everywhere I go. (sighs) It's hard for a vulture to make friends with humans. Humans have called me ugly, gross, disgusting. The list goes on. I've stopped trying to reason with them. I tried to explain that I was just made to eat animal carcasses. I don't know how to make them understand. I don't act rudely when I see someone eating fruit. All I want is a little respect. (The gagging sound begins again and lights come back up.)Man:Go away! No one wants you on this plane.Flight Attendant:(approaching the vulture, holding her nose) Sir, you are creating a disturbance and bothering the other passengers. I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to board this plane.Vulture:But I bought a ticket like everyone else.Woman:If he gets on that plane, I am going to sue the airline for undue distress. I can't believe he wants to bring dead animals on the plane. Dead animals are disgusting.Vulture:(to audience) Someone needs to tell that to the little guy draped around her neck. (to flight attendant) Well, if you don't let me on, then I'll go to the ACLU and sue the airline for discrimination!Flight Attendant:Oh no. Umm . . . umm. (Pilot enters stage left.)Pilot:What is taking so long? We are on a tight schedule. Let's get this plane . . . whoa, what's that smell? (All the people talk at once and point at the vulture. The vulture droops a little. The flight attendant runs to the pilot and grabs his arm.)Flight Attendant:We have a big problem. This vulture bought a ticket and wants to board, but his "luggage" is causing a commotion. What should we do?Pilot:(approaching vulture) I'm very sorry, sir, but you cannot get on the plane with those. (points to stuffed dolls) The airline's rules are very clear. (clears throat and speaks as if reciting a memorized passage) Chapter 4, Section 20, Paragraph 2, "Only one carrion allowed per passenger."

Which of these lines is used as an aside?

• A. "Someone needs to tell that to the little guy draped around her neck."

• B. "Suddenly a chain reaction of gagging and screaming starts from the back of the line."

• C. "I'm very sorry, sir, but you cannot get on the plane with those."

• D. "(in a falsely cheerful voice) We are now ready to board for Flight 5B.

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The Tempestby William Shakespeare (adapted excerpt)

MIRANDA: If by your art, my dearest father, you have

Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.

The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,

But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,

Dashes the fire out. Oh, I have suffered

With those that I saw suffer. A brave vessel

Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her

Dashed all to pieces. Oh, the cry did knock

Against my very heart! Poor souls, they vanished.

Had I been any source of power, I would

Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere

It should the good ship so have swilled and

The fraughting souls within her.

Which type of dramatic element is Shakespeare using?

• A. prologue

• B. soliloquy

• C. aside

• D. monologue

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Which function best describes the purpose of scenes in a drama?

A. to mark development of the plot

• A. to mark development of the plot

• B. to change the props on the stage

• C. to introduce the new characters

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