Transcript Aside - Lewiston-Porter Central School District

Dramatic Terms
• Drama - A story that is
written to be acted out in
front of an audience.
Act vs. Scene
• Act -> Larger unit of play
• Scene -> Smaller units
• Write out act and scene in this format:
– II.ii
– Act II, scene ii
Dramatic Irony
• Occurs when the reader or the audience
knows something important that a character
in a story or drama does not know.
Anachronism
• An event or detail in a literary work that is
placed outside its proper historical time
period.
• For example, a nineteenth-century poet
composing lyrics on a word processor.
Aside
• Private words that a character
in a play speaks to the
audience or to another
character, which are not
supposed to be overheard by
others onstage.
Monologue
• Long, uninterrupted
speech made by one
character.
Soliloquy
• A long speech in which a
character who is alone onstage
expresses private thoughts or
feelings.
Pun
• A play on the multiple meanings of a word,
or on two words that sound alike but have
different meanings.
Tragedy and History Plays
• A tragedy is a play, novel, or other narrative
depicting serious and important events, in
which the main character comes to an
unhappy end, often through some character
flaw or weakness.
• History play discussion will come later.
Tragic Flaw
• Weakness in a character who shows errors
in judgment usually due to an obsession
with power.
Tragic Hero
• Usually a basically good and admirable
person who fails in opposing the forces that
contribute to his fatal end. This person has
the potential for greatness but is blinded by
his greed and need for power.