1. Drama vs. Short Stories

2. Purpose and Definition
A drama is a story written to be performed by actors, using speech and movements in front of an audience

3. Elements of Drama Playwright-the author of a play
Actors-the people who perform
Acts-the units of action
Scenes-parts of the acts

4. Genres Short stories Dramas Fiction or nonfiction Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction
Science Fiction
Etc.
Dramas
for the stage (play)
For the movies (screenplay)
For television (teleplay)

5. Elements of Drama Plot Characters Setting Acts Scenes
The related events that take place in a drama are separated into acts. Most plays have two or three acts, but there are many variations. Within an act, there are shorter sections called scenes. A play can have any number of scenes.

6. Dialogue
An author tells a story mainly through a narrator and some description and dialogue between characters.
A playwright tells a story primarily through dialogue of the characters.
Dialogue is conversation between two or more characters.
Dialogue in a short story= partly responsible for revealing a character’s personality
Dialogue in a drama = totally responsible for revealing the characters s and also carry the story forward.

7. Monologue
Playwrights may also use a monologue, which occurs when only one character speaks for a while. The character may be with others onstage or may be alone.
Christine from Phantom of the Opera

8. important clues to their personalities.
In the written form of a play, dialogue appears without quotation marks. Practice reading this dialogue from The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street:
Mrs. Brand (from her porch). Steve? What was that?
Steve (raising his voice and looking toward porch). Guess it was a meteor, honey. Came awful close, didn’t it?
Mrs. Brand. Too close for my money! Much too close.
from The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street by Rod Serling
There are two characters in
the conversation—Steve
and his wife, Mrs. Brand.
The name at the beginning
of each line tells who is
talking. When you read
dialogue, you need to keep
track of individual
characters. Their words are
important clues to their
personalities.

9. Stage Directions
Mrs. Brand (from her porch). Steve? What was that?
Steve (raising his voice and looking toward porch). Guess it was a meteor, honey. Came awful close, didn’t it?
Mrs. Brand. Too close for my money! Much too close.
from The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street by Rod Serling
some lines have italicized words and phrases contained within parentheses. These are stage directions. They are not meant to be spoken aloud. For the actors—and for a reader of the play—they offer guidance on what is happening and how to understand the meaning of certain lines.

10. Stage Directions
Mary. Yes, I agree with you. (She really doesn’t.)
An actor delivering this line would show that Mary doesn’t mean what she says. The actor might pause before speaking or move in a way that shows she is not sincere.
When you read a play, be alert to the stage directions. When you watch a play, pay attention to the action and to specific actors’ movements. These are important elements of drama that convey meaning.