Elements of Drama
One-Act Play: Takes place in a single location and unfolds as one continuous action. The characters in a one-act play are presented economically and the action is sharply focused.
Act: Major division in the action of a play, accommodating changes in time, setting, character(s), mood. Acts are further divided into scenes.
Scene: Changes when the location of the action shifts or when a new character enters.
Dialect: A type of informational diction. Dialects are spoken by definable groups of people from a particular geographic region, economic group, or social class. Writers use dialect to express differences in educational, social, and regional backgrounds of their characters.
Dialogue: The verbal exchanges between characters.
Drama: Derived from the Greek word dram, meaning “to do” or “to perform”
Play: General term for a work of dramatic literature.
Playwright: The writer who makes plays.
Exposition: A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work, that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances.
Stage Directions: The playwright’s instructions about how the actors are to move and behave.
Plot: The author’s arrangement of incidents in the play.
Theme: The central idea or meaning of the play.
In Media Res: Term used to describe the common strategy of beginning a story in the middle of the action, usually on the verge of some important moment.
The Essay on Actions And Symbolism To Emphasize Marco Eddie Play Character
Character Essa After reading Arthur Miller's play "A view from the bridge,' I am convinced that the most striking character is Marco. He is an Italian immigrant that moved illegally to the United States with his brother Rodolpho to work as longshoremen, since at the time (the play was written in 1955) his country of origin, Italy, was going through a major economic depression because of the ...
Denoument: A French term meaning “unraveling” or “unknotting,” used to describe the resolution of the plot following the climax.
Irony: The difference between what appears to be true and what is known to be true.
Cosmic Irony: Also called irony of fate, occurs when God, fate, or some larger, uncontrollable force seems to be intentionally deceiving characters into believing they can escape their fate.
Verbal Irony: The difference between what is said and what is true (sarcasm).
Dramatic Irony: Difference between what the character believes to be true and what the reader or audience knows to be true.
Situational Irony: The difference between what is expected to happen and what actually happens due to forces beyond human comprehension and control.