Post by Daniel on Oct 22, 2009 4:20:35 GMT -5
Drama/Play
Drama/Play is one of the three main areas of literature. The other two are poetry and prose. Whilst plays/drama were originally intended for the stage, we can also study them as texts.
To simplify:
Drama, though similar to prose, is primarily dialogue only and includes the names of the characters alongside each spoken sentence or utterance.
Poetry is primarily written in stanza form
Prose is primarily written in paragraphs.
Aristotle on Drama
Aristotle was an ancient Greek Philosopher (335 BCE) who wrote extensively on drama.
He separated drama into two categories: comedy and tragedy and his thoughts are still in wide use today. Horace Walpole, a famous writer from the 18th century, famously said ‘the world is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel'
Key Terms:
Mimesis or "imitation", "representation"
Catharsis or, variously, "purgation", "purification", "clarification"
Peripeteia or "reversal"
Anagnorisis or "recognition", "identification"
Hamartia (or fatal flaw)
What makes a drama/a play?
Characters
Dialogue
Staging
Plot
Dialogue
Though dialogue technically involves two speakers(a speech with only one speaker is a monologue), we use dialogue to mean all spoken parts of a play. When a character talks directly an audience, this is an aside, and when a character voices his own thoughts seemingly to himself, we call this a soliloquy.
Dialogue can tell a reader many things: it can progress the plot, reveal a character’s intentions, a character’s feelings or hint at unseen circumstances or events.
There is also sub-text in dialogue: that is to say, something that is not immediately apparent but must be inferred or guessed.
Hamlet : To be or Not to Be
Turn to page 76 and read ‘To be or not to be’.
Contumely – Humiliating Insult
Bodkin – Knife/Dagger
Fardel – Burden
Sicklied – Marked with ill health
Quietus - a period of retirement or inactivity
Drama/Play is one of the three main areas of literature. The other two are poetry and prose. Whilst plays/drama were originally intended for the stage, we can also study them as texts.
To simplify:
Drama, though similar to prose, is primarily dialogue only and includes the names of the characters alongside each spoken sentence or utterance.
Poetry is primarily written in stanza form
Prose is primarily written in paragraphs.
Aristotle on Drama
Aristotle was an ancient Greek Philosopher (335 BCE) who wrote extensively on drama.
He separated drama into two categories: comedy and tragedy and his thoughts are still in wide use today. Horace Walpole, a famous writer from the 18th century, famously said ‘the world is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel'
Key Terms:
Mimesis or "imitation", "representation"
Catharsis or, variously, "purgation", "purification", "clarification"
Peripeteia or "reversal"
Anagnorisis or "recognition", "identification"
Hamartia (or fatal flaw)
What makes a drama/a play?
Characters
Dialogue
Staging
Plot
Dialogue
Though dialogue technically involves two speakers(a speech with only one speaker is a monologue), we use dialogue to mean all spoken parts of a play. When a character talks directly an audience, this is an aside, and when a character voices his own thoughts seemingly to himself, we call this a soliloquy.
Dialogue can tell a reader many things: it can progress the plot, reveal a character’s intentions, a character’s feelings or hint at unseen circumstances or events.
There is also sub-text in dialogue: that is to say, something that is not immediately apparent but must be inferred or guessed.
Hamlet : To be or Not to Be
Turn to page 76 and read ‘To be or not to be’.
Contumely – Humiliating Insult
Bodkin – Knife/Dagger
Fardel – Burden
Sicklied – Marked with ill health
Quietus - a period of retirement or inactivity
