Act I Literary Terms and Devices of Focus

Dramatic Exposition: conveys important background information about the setting and characters.

Dialogue: refers to the words characters speak; it reveals characters’ personalities and backgrounds

Soliloquy/Monologue: is a speech delivered by a character who is alone on stage: Aside: is a comment made by a character that is heard by the audience or another character BUT is not heard by all of the characters on stage. Both of these devices help to provide the audience with information and reveal the private thoughts of characters.

Stage Directions: are the instructions that the playwright provides for the director, actors, and technicians involved in putting on the play.

Characterization: How an author develops characters within a text. Can be done directly and/or indirectly

Direct Characterization: i s how an author tells his or her reader about a character. Direct characterization occurs when: ●the author specifically reveals traits about the character in a direct, straightforward manner. What he looks like, says, thinks, feels and does. What others say about him For example: to call a character 'an extremely nervous student.' is direct characterization because the author is telling the reader something about the character

Indirect Characterization is when authors indirectly (not stated directly) portray characters using dialogue, appearance, actions, relationships and overall place in the world. Indirect characterization is showing the reader something about the character. For example, stating that a student 'bit her pencil and began shaking' right before a big test is a way of indirectly describing her nervousness. T