Drama Terms Drama Playwright Actors Acts Scenes a story told in dialogue by performers in front of an audience. Playwright the author of a play Actors the people who perform the play Acts Units of action in a drama Scenes the smaller parts of action that acts are often divided into

Drama Terms Dialogue Monologue Stage Directions Set Props conversation among characters Monologue long speech that is spoken by a single character often reveals a character’s private thoughts or feelings Stage Directions the sets of bracketed information that describe the scenery and how the characters should move and speak Set the term used for the construction on stage that suggests the time and place of the action Props Small movable items that the actors use to make their actions look realistic Examples: a doctor might carry a clipboard; a student might carry a notebook

Drama Terms Types of Drama Comedy Tragedy Drama often features everyday characters in funny situations Tragedy distinguishing feature is that the events of the play lead to the downfall of the main character Drama plays that address serious topics

Grammar: Types of Sentences There are four types of sentences: Declarative Makes a statement Ends in a period Example We just finished reading “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” in class. Interrogative Asks a question Always ends in a question Example: What is going on?

Grammar: Types of Sentences Imperative Gives a command Ends in a period of an exclamation point Example: Do not leave town. Watch out! Exclamatory Calls out or exclaims Ends in an exclamation point Examples Hey! It’s freezing in here!

Dialect The form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group. Examples: People in Ohio don’t refer to soda as soda, they call it pop. Texans often say “Howdy” to say hello Young people might say “whatevs” to dismiss what somewhat has said A Supreme Court Justice wrote his opinion about a case by calling it “pure applesauce” This was a common expression in the 1920’s, but hasn’t been used since. Therefore, everyone had to look up the expression. It means total nonsense.