Chapters 4 and 5
Transcript of Chapters 4 and 5
CHAPTER 4 AND 5
STAGE DIRECTIONS
• When reading a play, it is important to visualize the action and be aware of action suggested in the stage directions.
• Written descriptions of physical or emotional action or physical appearance.
• SALLY. (Coming closer.) I swear, Matt Friedman, what in the devil do you think you’re doing down here? (coming through the tall weeds and willow.)
ARISTOTLE’S THE POETICS
• Plot (Structure) – The organization of the action of a play. • Character – Persons that are created to perform the action of the
play.• Thought – Ideas in a play• Language (Diction)• Music (Song/Melody)• Spectacle
PLOT – STRUCTURE
• Linear – When the events of a drama progress forward and sequentially in time.
• Causal – One event causes the next.
ELEMENTS OF PLOT
• Conflict – opposing forces.• Point of attack – The point in the story at which the playwright
chooses to start dramatizing the action.• Exposition – Back story. • Inciting incident – The event in a play that destroys the uneasy
balance and sets off the major conflict of forces
ELEMENTS OF PLOT
• Rising action – Small units of action that build in emotional intensity.• Climax – The emotional high point of the action • Falling action – Emotional intensity drops.• Discovery – Something found, learned, or realized during the action
of a play.• Reversal – When the line of action veers around suddenly to it’s
opposite.
VARIATIONS
• Cliff hanger – A play that stops at the climax and does not show the outcome of the conflict.
• Flashback – Occasional scenes dramatize events that occurred before the point of attack.
CHARACTER: PERSONS CREATED INFORMATION IN A PLAY
Character information in a play:• What characters say about themselves• What other characters say about them• What the character does
CHARACTER: LEVELS OF CHARACTERIZATION
• Biological Traits – Species, sex, race, etc.• Physical Traits – Stature, weight, hair, eye color, etc.• Psychological and Emotional – Characters internal makeup.• Social Traits – Job, socioeconomic status, religion, etc.• Ethical Traits – Moral standards.
SOCIAL TRAITS
• The level of characterization that includes a character's job or profession, socioeconomic status, or religious or political affiliation.
THOUGHT – THE IDEAS
• Words, words, words.• Visualization. “Your love is like a rose”• Plot• Allusion – References to previous art. (Tom Stoppard Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead.)
LANGUAGE (DICTION) – PLAYWRIGHT’S CHOICE OF WORDS
• Contributes to character• Establishes the mood
MUSIC
• At the time of Aristotle's righting much dialogue was chanted or sung.
• Used to encourage emotional identification.• Helps immerse the audience in the setting.• Sound effects.
SPECTACLE – THE VISUAL EXPERIENCE
• Scenery• Costumes• Props
• Lighting• Movement• Actor physicality
CHAPTER 5 – GENRES
GENRE - THE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE A PLAY CREATES IN THE AUDIENCE.
• Tragedy – Serious, sad, sometimes evokes pity and fear.• Comedy – basically humorous.• Tragicomedy – tragic and comic tendencies seem equally mixed.• Melodrama – The action of a play is serious but ends happily and
the focus is more on what happens than how it happens.
TRAGEDY
• Audience expects a certain magnitude.• An ethical choice is frequently made by the protagonist.• A way of explaining why bad things happen.• Catharsis
COMEDY – BASICALLY HUMOROUS
• Lack of emotional involvement • Can be used to render a serious problem less dangerous.• Allows us to step back and laugh.
TYPES OF COMEDY
• Situation Comedy – emphasize humorous qualities of the situation in which the characters find themselves. Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and the TV series Cheers.
• Farce – broad physical action. Slapstick.• Comedy of character – Driven by the eccentricities of its major
figure.
TYPES OF COMEDY
• Comedy of idea – focused on thought rather than character or situation.
• Comedy of manners – explores the behavior of a particular segment of society.
• Romantic comedy – follows the attempts of lovers to get together.
TRAGICOMEDY
• Tragic and comic tendencies are equally mixed.• A middle form that incorporates serious action, everyday
characters, and a happy ending.• Mixed tone play.
MELODRAMA - THE ACTION OF A PLAY IS SERIOUS BUT ENDS HAPPILY AND THE FOCUS IS MORE ON WHAT HAPPENS THAN HOW IT HAPPENS. • Fast paced action and suspense.• Stimulate fear and hate.• Conflict between good and evil.
ASSUMPTION MADE WHEN A PLAY IS WRITTEN
• How the play will be produced.• Who will read or watch the play.• How certain ideas will be received by the audience.
RESEARCH ON A PLAY INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:
• Information on the playwright.• Information on the society when the play was written.• Theatre production at the time the play was written.