Introduction to Drama

INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA Created By: Adi Demi Nugraha

Drama is a literary composition involving conflict,action crisis and atmosphere designed to be actedby players on a stage before an audience.

Definition of DramaDrama is defined by Aristotle as “a criticismof life, on a stage, with action, charactersand dialogue.” The Greek word for “deed” or“action” is dram. Drama is a composition in prose form that presents a story entirely told in dialogue and action and written with the intention of its eventual performance before an audience.

Types of Drama Tragedy Comedy A type of drama in which the A type of drama in which the characters experience characters experience reversals reversals of fortune, usually of fortune, usually for the worse. for the better. Things work Catastrophe and suffering await out happily in the end. May be romantic - characterized many of the characters, by a tone of tolerance and especially the hero geniality - or satiric. Satiric works offer a darker vision of human nature, one that ridicules human folly

TRAGICOMEDYTragicomedy is a play that does not adherestrictly to the structure of tragedy. This isusually serious play that also has some of thequalities of comedy. It arouses thought evenwith laughter.

Types of drama Farce Melodrama A light dramatic work in which highly improbable A drama, such as a play, plot situations, exaggerated characters, film, or television program, and often slapstick events characterized by are used for humorous exaggerated emotions, effect. It is the situation stereotypical characters, here which provides the and interpersonal conflicts humor, not the cleverness of plot or lines, nor the absurdities of the character

Types of DramaRomantic Melodrama Satire MelodramaAn extended fictional A literary work inprose narrative about which human vice orimprobable events folly is attacked through irony,involving characters derision, or wit. Athat are quite different literary mode based onfrom ordinary people. criticism of people and society through ridicule

Elements of DramaPLOT Plot is the form and structure of the action and the arrangement of incidents of a story or play. Plot is only that aspect of the story which takes place on stage and which is revealed to the audience through the dramatic actions and dialogue of the characters

 Natural Plot  Episodic Plot Natural Plot is a  Episodic Plot – each chronological episode sequence of events independently arrangement where comprises a setting, actions continuously take place as an end climax, and result of the resolution; previous action therefore, a full story in itself is formed.

 CHARACTER A character is a person, animal or entity in a story, scene or play with specific, distinguishing attributes. The hopes and struggles of characters provide the principle material from which plots are made. Drama/theatre concerns itself with characters in action, and characters carry out the action of the plot. The protagonist is the main character in the plot who propels the action forward. The antagonist is the chief opponent to the protagonist. Related characters assist in the development of the plot and central characters.

Three Major Characteristics of Drama1. It has a direct, immediate impact  Advantages:  Simultaneous impressions occur  Performance can be more expressive than a reader’s imagination  Disadvantages:  Limited to one viewpoint—objective (dramatic)  Writers try to overcome this by using the soliloquy and the aside to accomplish what the omniscient viewpoint achieves in the short story genre

 2. Drama effectively commands the spectator’s attention  Advantage: The playwright’s power extends beyond words alone  Disadvantage: The materials one can use on stage are limited 3. The experience of watching a play is communal •Advantage: Impact is intensified. •Disadvantages: There is a need for brevity, swift movement of plot, and intermissions

Setting identifies the time and place inwhich the events occur. It consists of thehistorical period, the moment, day andseason in which the incidents take place.It also includes the sceneries in theperformance which are usually found inthe preliminary descriptions.

• Theme is considered as the unifying element that defines the dramatized idea of the play. It is the over-all sense or implication of the action. It defines the problem, emphasizes the ethical judgment and suggest attitude or course of action that eliminates the crisis is an acceptable way.

 Style refers to the mode of expression or presentation of the play which points out the playwright’s position or viewpoint in life.

A. Omniscient – a story told by the author, using the third person; her/his knowledge, control, and prerogatives are unlimited; authorial subjectivity.B. Limited Omniscient – a story in which the author associates with a major or minor character; this character serves as the author’s spokesperson or mouthpiece.C. First Person – the author identifies with or disappears in a major or minor character; the story is told using the first person “I”.D. Objective or Dramatic – the opposite of the omniscient; displays authorial objectivity; compared a roving sound camera. Very little of the past or the future is given; the story is set in the present.

Symbol Symbol – a literary symbol means more than what it is. It has layers of meanings. Whereas an image has one meaning, a symbol has many.A. Names used as symbols.B. Use of objects as symbols.C. Use of actions as symbols

Irony Irony is a term with a range of meanings, all of theminvolving some sort of discrepancy or incongruity. It should not beconfused with sarcasm which is simply language designed to causepain. Irony is used to suggest the difference between appearanceand reality, between expectation and fulfillment, the complexity ofexperience, to furnish indirectly an evaluation of the author’smaterial, and at the same time to achieve compression.A. Verbal irony – the opposite is said from what is intended.B. Dramatic irony – the contrast between what a character says and what the reader knows to true.C. Irony of situation – discrepancy between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between what is and what would seem appropriate

Important Terms Monologue – an extended speech by one character. Soliloquy – an extended speech by one character, alone on stage. Soliloquies are used to express the private thoughts of one character. Aside – a character’s direct address to the audience, which is not heard by the other characters.

Monologues, soliloquies, and asidesare dramatic techniques that providedirect insight into motives, attitudes,and overall tone.These techniques function like afictional narrator.

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Introduction to Drama

by betaynugraha20 on Jun 09, 2012

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