Unit 8 Lesson 8: Dramatic Elements

Question 1

aside

Answer 1

aside – a comment made by characters to themselves or directly to the audience

Question 2

monologue

Answer 2

monologue – a speech given by one character

Question 3

soliloquy

Answer 3

soliloquy – a speech in which a character, believing they are alone, expresses their inner thoughts

Question 4

Whats the base of any play or drama

Answer 4

Dramatic elements are the base of any play or drama.

Question 5

How do playwrigths use dramatic elements

Answer 5

laywrights use them to express ideas, develop characters, convey themes, and add style. Many of these elements have origins in a particular form or style of drama, such as the use of a chorus in the dramas of ancient Greece. Some dramatic elements involve using movement or music. Others involve the use of language and speech.

Question 6

Playwrights often rely on soliloquy or monologue, two common types of dramatic speech, to impart important information from and about their characters:

Answer 6

• In a soliloquy, a character speaks aloud their private thoughts, assuming that no one is listening to them.
• In a monologue, a character directly addresses other characters or the audience.

Question 7

Effect of Soliloquies

Answer 7

A soliloquy allows a character to express their unfiltered and unedited inner thoughts. Because of this, it can reveal a character’s authentic voice, personality traits, thoughts, and emotions—and thus, help create a portrait of a character that is as reliable as possible.

Question 8

Effect of monologue

Answer 8

A character speaking a monologue, in contrast, is aware of their listeners because they’re speaking directly to them. As a result, the character makes choices about the words they use and how they use them in order to create a certain effect. A monologue’s speaker wants to affect the listener, whether that listener be another character or the audience. Their goal is to persuade someone to do, think, or feel something.

Question 9

Another type of dramatic speech used to develop a drama is the aside. Aside vs soliloquy

Answer 9

Like a soliloquy, an aside is a comment that characters make to themselves in a play. Unlike a soliloquy, asides are usually short and only briefly interrupt the dialogue.

Question 10

Aside is used to reveal what

Answer 10

As they can be compared to muttering or speaking under one’s breath, an aside is used to reveal the types of thoughts one usually keeps to themselves.

Question 11

Who are asides directed to

Answer 11

Asides are directed to the audience and considered inaudible to the other characters in the play.

Question 12

How does an aside relfect the chararter

Answer 12

Because of this secretive way of communicating, they often show that a character is devious or untrustworthy.

Question 13

dramatic irony

Answer 13

dramatic irony – a contrast between a character’s expectations and the audience’s or reader’s knowledge

Question 14

impact of dramtic irony

Answer 14

The audience has a broader perspective because we can see more context than they can; we see their interactions with other characters and the results of those interactions. The dramatic irony is that the character may think one thing while we know something else to be true.

Question 15

characters

Answer 15

person or other being whose words and actions move the plot forward

Question 16

language

Answer 16

language – how the playwright and characters convey the plot through words

Question 17

plot

Answer 17

plot – the arrangement of events or incidents on the stage

Question 18

spectacle

Answer 18

spectacle – aspects of production that appeal to the senses

Question 19

tension

Answer 19

tension – the audience’s experience of anticipation as they watch the plot unfold