Class Notes 2-3

Class Notes
Oct 25^th – 29^th

DRAMA

♥ Drama is performed

1. through actors:

impact is direct, immediate, and heightened by the actors’ skills

2. on a stage:

forcefully command the spectator’s attention

3. before an audience:

impact is intensified because it presents its action before an audience

♥ Types of Dramas:

             Tragedy, Comedy, Melodrama, Tragi-Comedy, Problem Play, Farce, Comedy of Manners, Domestic/ Bourgeois Drama, Theater of the Absurd

♥ Drama terms!

Antagonist: a character opposed to the protagonist

Aside: character talks to the audience to reveal real feelings, other characters “cannot hear” it even though they are on the same stage

Chorus: a group of characters that have lines but no other roles

Comedy: dramas that have happy ending!

Comedy of Manners: a type of drama that portrays fashionable life often in negative ways

Didactic: intended for insturction

Domestic/Bourgeois Drama: a type of drama that is rather serious and deals with people’s everyday lives

Dramatic Exposition: a way of presenting; presents through dialogues

Farce: a type of comic drama that focuses on more physical actions and conflicts

Melodrama: a type of drama which exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions

Non-Realistic Convention: drama that focuses on outward appearance of life

Problem Play: a play that focuses on criticizing social problems

Realistic Convention: drama that attempts to preserve aspects of the actual, everyday life

Soliloquy: a device used to reveal true feelings to the audience without addressing other characters

Suspense: a quality in a play that makes the audience curious about what will be happening later

Theme: central idea of the play

Tragedy: a form of drama based on human suffering

Tragi-Comedy: a drama that combines tragedy and comedy