21st PDF - Drama Analysis

A. SIX (6) ARISTOTELEAN ELEMENTS OF DRAMA(LYNCH, N.D.) 1. Plot- This contains the story that the play narrates. 2.Characters-Characters are interwoven with the plot, and they are the ones that move the action of the play forward 3.Theme/Thought-It refers to the central idea of th...

A. SIX (6) ARISTOTELEAN ELEMENTS OF DRAMA(LYNCH, N.D.) 1. Plot- This contains the story that the play narrates. 2.Characters-Characters are interwoven with the plot, and they are the ones that move the action of the play forward 3.Theme/Thought-It refers to the central idea of the play. The theme also contains the message that the play gives to the audience. 4.Language/Diction-It is the word choices made by the playwright and how the actors enunciate the language 5.Music/Rhythm-Music can encompass the rhythm of dialogue and speeches in a play or can also mean the aspects of the melody and music compositions as with musical theatre. 6.Spectacle-The spectacle in the theatre can involve all of the aspects of scenery, costumes, and special e ects in a production. theater critique-A paper that contains a formal, written discussion of a performance of a play or musical is called a literary criticism-the process of analyzing a piece, whether it is a prose or a poem the several approaches to literary criticism: 1.Formalistic-Stresses items like symbols, images, and structure and how one part of the work relates to other parts and to the whole. 2.Philosophical-Focuses on themes, view of the world, moral statements, and author’s philosophy 3.Biographical- between the piece and the author's personal experience 4.Historical- Focuses on the connection of work to the historical period in which it was written, background of the work 5.sychological-Focuses on the psychology of characters 6.Sociological-Focuses on man’s relationship with others in society, politics, religion, and business 7.Archetypal- Focuses on connections to other literature, mythological/biblical allusions, archetypal images, symbols, characters, and themes 8.Feminist-Examines images of women and concepts of the feminine in myth and literature B. GUIDELINES IN ANALYZING A DRAMA For nascent critiques Script analysis often starts with identifying the “given circumstances” or the characteristics of the world of the play explicitly or implicitly found in the script 1.TIME-The speci c time the scene takes place 2.PERIOD-The general or historical time period in which the play is set (e.g., the Dark Ages, the 1950s, or in the faraway future.) ff fi  3.PLACE-The speci c place on stage where the action occurs 4.LOCALE-The general region where the play is set (e.g., New York City, the rural American South, under the sea.) 5.MOOD-The atmosphere, or feeling of a scene. (e.g., suspenseful, humorous, chaotic. 6.THEME-What ideas does this play make you think about? For intermediate critiques What distinguishes drama from other forms of writing is that it is made primarily of dialogue—characters speaking to each other (or to the audience), with some actions indicated through stage directions. 1.TEXT- The actual words written by the playwright and spoken by the actors. 2.CONTEXT-The situation surrounding the characters, which in uences the decisions they make. 3.SUBTEXT-The underlying meaning of what the characters say. For advance critiques All plays can be reduced to a few basic ideas: a character wants something, something hinders the character from achieving what they want, and the character tries di erent tactics to get what he or she want 1.OBJECTIVE-What the characters want or need within the given moment.(i want, i need). 2.SUPER-OBJECTIVE- The broad overall objective a character has throughout the play, rather than in speci c scenes 3.OBSTACLE-The person, event, or thing that gets in the way of a character achieving his or her objective. 4.TACTIC- An action a character makes in an attempt to achieve his or her objective 5.BEAT CHANGE-The moment a character decides to switch tactics, or takes on a new objective. These can be subtle moments or incredibly dramatic moments, depending on the scene. structure of plot progressive- the typical structure of the plot as it follows a chronological pattern. (settings rst). episodic-also follows chronological structure, but the plot is divided into several chapters.This chapters show a series of loosely related incidents.( chap123) parallel-contains two or more dramatic plots that are linked by typical character and similar theme. a plot line that jumps around. ashback- structure enables the author to begin the story during the action but later ll in the background for full understanding of the present events. (con ict climax may date) types of characters fl fl fi ff fi fi fl fi  1. dynamic- character that changes the story due to con icts and lesson on journey. 2. static- character does not develop the inner understanding to know how his environment is a ecting him. walang pake kung nakaka apekto siya sa iba 3. at-character does not undergo signi cant growth or changes from the start of the story up until its end.( hindi masiyado detail kasi walang info masiyado ang binigay ni author) 4.round-they have depth in feelings and passions.they are more realistic as they contain many layers of personality. elements of con ict con ict- refers to the struggle between opposing forces in the story it can be external or in types of con ict 1.individual vs individual-dalawang character nag aaway 2.individual bersus nature- the protagonist experiencing an external struggle against a force of naturo or animal 3.individual vs society- main character con ict with laws govermenr unfair community mindset 4.individual vs technology- antagonist human made battle against technology 5.individual versus self- internal con ict, sarili laban sa sarili. point of view point of view determines the angle and perception in which the story narrated 1. rst person 2. third person (unreliable) 3. thirs person (omniscient) fi ff fl fl fl fl fl fi fl fl