The document defines various drama and theater terminology such as act, scene, diction, flashback, screenplay, verbal irony, dramatic irony, aside, soliloquy, pun, stage directions, staging, oxymoron, paradox, parallelism, theme, dialogue, monologue, and comic relief. It provides examples for many of the terms to illustrate their meaning in a dramatic work. The vocabulary covers elements of plot, character, language, and production aspects related to plays and screenplays.
2. Drama
• Literature meant
to be performed
before an
audience by
actors on a stage
• Example: Romeo
and Juliet
3. Act
• A major division of a play
• Shakespeare did not separate his plays
into acts; each play was later divided
into five acts
• Acts can contain one or more scenes
4. Scene
• A subdivision of an act in a play
• Each scene usually takes place in a
specific setting and time
5. Diction
• Specific word choice that an author
uses in writing.
“…This is a knavery of them to make me
afeard.” Bottom from A Midsummer
Night’s Dream
6. Flashback
• A technique that allows a writer to present
past events during current events.
• Dream sequences, memories, etc.
8. Verbal Irony
• A person says one thing and
means another
• Example: When Mercutio is
dealt a fatal wound but calls it
only a “scratch”
9. Verbal Irony Examples
• “Oh great!” (when
something isn’t really
good)
• “Sure I don’t mind to wait
until you finish your
conversation, I know it’s
way more important than
what I am fixing to teach!”
• “Two households both
alike in dignity…”
• “Lucky you!!” (when you
get a teacher you don’t
really want)
10. Dramatic Irony
•The audience has
important information
that characters in a
literary work do not
have
•Example: The
audience knows that
Juliet is only sleeping,
but Romeo thinks she
is dead.
11. Aside
• A character’s
remark, either to
the audience or
another character,
that others on
stage do not hear;
reveals the
character’s private
thoughts
12. Soliloquy
• A speech given by a
character alone on stage
that lets the audience know
what the character is
thinking or feeling
• Example: Juliet’s balcony
speech
13. Pun
• A humorous play on two or more meanings
of the same word or on two different words
with the same sound
• Examples: He drove his expensive car into a
tree and found out how the Mercedes bends.
A baker stopped making donuts after he got
tired of the hole thing.
14. Pun
Examples: The raisin wined about how he
couldn't achieve grapeness.
Once you've seen one shopping center you've
seen a mall.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take
debate.
15. Stage Directions
• Instructions about
the appearance
and actions of
characters, sets,
props, costumes,
sound effects, and
lighting for a play
16. Staging
• The act of selecting, designing, adapting
to, or modifying the performance space for
a play.
17. Oxymoron
• A figure of speech that is a combination of
seemingly contradictory words
• Examples from Romeo and Juliet:
brawling love, loving hate, heavy
lightness, sick health
• Can you think of one?
18. Oxymoron
• Examples:
Anarchy rules
Awfully nice
Books on tape
Cold sweat
Only choice
Sad smile
Seriously funny
Wise fool
Icy Hot
19. Paradox
• A situation or a statement that seems to
contradict itself, but on closer inspection,
contains a possible truth
• Examples:
– “Cowards die many times before their death.”
– “I must be cruel to be kind.”
20. Parallelism
• The repetition of a grammatical structure
• Example:
– “of the people, by the people, for the people”
– "When you are right you cannot be too
radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be
too conservative."
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
21. Parallelism
• "Today's students can put dope in their
veins or hope in their brains. If they can
conceive it and believe it, they can
achieve it. They must know it is not their
aptitude but their attitude that will
determine their altitude."
(Jesse Jackson)
22. Theme
• The author’s message or central idea of
the story.
• Hint: Find the topic of the story (love, war,
etc.) and then ask yourself, “What is the
author trying to say about the topic?”
(Love conquers all. War has no
boundaries.)
23. Dialogue and Monologue
• Dialogue – conversation between 2 or
more characters
• Monologue – a speech by one character
24. Comic Relief
• A humorous scene or speech intended to
lighten the mood
25. Script
• The text of a play, including dialogue,
stage directions, and scene changes.
