Elements of Drama

What is the primary purpose of drama?

• to help readers visualize the text

• to tell a compelling story

• to allow actors to perform in front of a live audience

• to tell stories from the past

How is drama different from other kinds of fiction?

• Drama can have only one setting. Other kinds of fiction can have many settings.

• Drama has a plot. Other kinds of fiction use monologues instead of plots.

• Drama has more characters than other kinds of fiction.

• Drama is written to be performed by actors for an audience.

Which of the following elements are unique to drama?

• characters, stage directions, scenes

• conflict, setting, characters

• stage directions, scenes, monologue

• dialogue, plot, setting

What is the difference between dialogue and monologue?

• Dialogue is conversation between two or more characters. In a monologue, one character speaks alone.

• Monologue is conversation between two characters. Dialogue is conversation between three or more characters.

• Dialogue is conversation between two or more characters. Monologues appear only in novels.

• Dialogue is conversation between only two characters. In a monologue, one character speaks alone.

Why does a playwright include stage directions in a script?

• to provide information about the time period in which a play is set

• to provide information about how the dialogue in a play should be spoken

• to provide information about how the play should look to the audience

• to provide information about the setting, characters, dialogue, and appearance of a play

Types of Drama include:

• stage plays

• radio plays

• movies

• television programs

• all of the above

----- are a playwright's written instructions about how actors should move and behave. They also explain how the stage should look and where props (items used in the play) are located.

• scenes

• stage directions

• monologue

• soliloquy

• aside

A ______ is a section in a play in which all of the events occur in one place at one time. Some plays have only one _____ and take place over a short amount of time. Other plays have several ______ and take place over a longer period of time.

• scenes

• stage directions

• monologue

• soliloquy

• aside

A ----------- is a speech in which a character speaks to a silent or absent listener in a moment of deep emotion.

• scenes

• stage directions

• monologue

• soliloquy

• aside

A special kind of monologue is a--------------—a speech by a character alone on stage, whose words reveal what he or she is thinking or feeling.

• scenes

• stage directions

• monologue

• soliloquy

• aside