1. Today we will… Learn the features of drama because we will be reading “The Tell-Tale Heart” play tomorrow!

2. Question Have you ever seen a play? What was your experience like?

3. Elements of Drama 2-Column Notes

4. What makes something a drama? If you are trying to determine whether a piece of writing is a drama (or something else), you’ll have to be able to identify the characteristics of a drama. What’s important to remember is that drama is meant to be performed in front of an audience!

5. Script The text of a play, film or broadcast (such as a TV show) is called a script. A script will include a cast of characters, each character’s dialogue, and stage directions.

6. Dialogue Dialogue is written conversation between two or more characters. In a drama, the story is told primarily through dialogue.

7. Stage Directions In the script of a play, the instructions to the actors, director and stage crew are called stage directions. Stage directions might suggest scenery, lighting, sound effects, and ways for actors to move and speak. Stage directions often appear in parenthesis and in italic type in a script.

8. Act An act is a major division within a play, similar to a chapter in a book. Each act my be further divided into smaller sections, which are called scenes.

9. Scene In a drama, the action is often divided into acts and scenes. Each scene presents an episode of the play’s plot and typically occurs at a single time and place.