1. DRAMA
ELA I
Notes
Textbook p

2. Drama What are we going to learn? Understand and identify Drama terms
Understand and appreciate Drama

3. Drama DEFINITION: 1 of the 5 major genres
Characters and plot are developed through dialogue and action
Drama is intended to be performed for an audience

4. Key Elements of Drama CHARACTERISTICS: Stage Directions Plot Character
Dialogue

5. Drama EXAMPLES TV, movies, commericals, radio Textbook dramas
speech skits

6. Skit or Play DEFINITION: Brief dramatic performance CHARACTERISTICS:
Short
Stage directions and dialogue
EXAMPLES
Mythology skits and “Simile City”

7. Stage Directions DEFINITION:
Instructions for the director, actors, and stage crew.

8. Stage Directions EXAMPLE Printed in italics and parentheses
CHARACTERISTICS:
Tell the actors how to speak and move.
Describe lighting and sound
EXAMPLE
Printed in italics and parentheses
(Move downstage left.)

9. The Stage (see p. 246) Upstage left Upstage Right Upstage center Right
Downstage left
Downstage right
Downstage center

10. Dialogue DEFINITION Conversation between characters
A drama is composed of mostly dialogue
CHARACTERISTICS
Dialogue reveals the plot and the characters’ personalities.
EXAMPLES: SEE TEXTBOOK p. 253

11. Characters DEFINITION: CHARACTERISTICS: Cast
The people, animals, and/or inanimate objects that take part in the action of the drama.
CHARACTERISTICS:
Cast
A list of the characters at the beginning of the script.
The list sometimes has a brief description of the character.

12. Characters EXAMPLES: Narrator
One of the characters may be a narrator that sets the scene for the drama.
The narrator may comment throughout the drama.
Foil
A contrast to the main character

13. Script DEFINITION Special written form of a drama CHARACTERISTICS Cast
Character names set apart from dialogue
Published in many different ways

14. Plot DEFINITION Sequence of events in the drama CHARACTERISTICS
Scenes and Acts
Scenes change when the setting changes
Some scenes are grouped into acts

15. Scene DEFINITION: One setting/section of a drama CHARACTERISTICS:
Describe the scenery and props
Scenery: items onstage to create setting
Props: objects actors use onstage

16. Strategies for Reading Drama
Read the play silently.
Read the stage directions carefully.
Get to know the characters.
Keep track of the plot.
Read the play aloud with others.

17. Camera Angle/camera shot
DEFINITION
The point of view from the camera lens
CHARACTERISTICS
High from above? Low from the ground?
Centered? Off-center?

18. Close-Up
DEFINITION
a photograph, movie, or video taken at close range and showing the subject on a large scale
EXAMPLE
A close-up shot of someone’s face

19. Physical Gesture DEFINITION A form of non-verbal communication
EXAMPLES
Wave or shrug

20. Director
DEFINITION
Person that is in control of the artistic development of a play or drama