ELEMENTS of DRAMA

• (1) PLOT:
  • sequence of events, situation, or conflict that must be resolved, causes tension among characters
  • Is it plausible/credible, how?
• (2) CHARACTER:
  • round, stock, flat
  • Does the audience care about them? Are they believable, how?
• (3) ACTING:
  • realistic actions, reactions—normal, believable, credible, interesting, distinctive, how?
• (4) THEME:
  • main idea/point of film
  • Is it significant, how?
• (5) SETTING:
  • time & place of story; clothing, costuming, makeup, buildings, backgrounds
  • How do they reinforce plot, characters, theme?

ELEMENTS of DRAMA

• (6) PACE:
  • work well or drag, how? too fast, too slow
• (7) MUSIC/SOUND:
  • sound creates mood; believe what see b/c in part what you hear
  • How does music/sound contribute to the production?
• (8) CINEMATOGRAPHY/DIRECTING TECHNIQUES, EFFECTS:
  • lighting, positioning; “moving pictures;” special effects
  • How does cinematography contribute to film?
• (9) DIRECTOR:
  • style, interpretation, pace, acting, music, costumes
  • Has s/he done her/his job?
• (10) VALUE:
  • moral, social, psychological value beyond entertainment
  • Is the entertainment value enough for you to recommend this production?

ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY

• *Key terms regarding Aristotelian tragedy, as discussed in his Poetics:

  “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.”

• TRAGEDY: The imitation of an action, not the telling of an action; that is, it is a dramatic recreation (mimesis) rather than narration or simply telling. It demonstrates what has happened and what may happen under the laws of probability, of cause-effect; thus, tragedy is different from and superior to history. The “fear” aroused and purged in the catharsis relates to these laws.
• 6 BASIC ELEMENTS:

• PLOT: The most fundamental and important aspect of tragedy, referring more to the structure or organization of the play than merely “what happens.”
  • probable, believable, inevitable
    • arising from the actions of Tragic Hero
    • (laws of probability & necessity)
  • complex:
    • with Recognition (anagnorisis)
    • with Reversal of Fortune (peripeteia)
    • with suffering
    • --> arouses pity & fear in audience (catharsis)
  • Plot = #1
    • Character = #2
  • The best plots are those whose resolutions arise from the construction of the events rather than from characterization—the laws of probability and necessity, cause and effect.
  • Also, the plot must be a unified whole:
    • a beginning, middle, and end:  (Freytag's Pyramid)

• EXPOSITION --> COMPLICATION --> CLIMAX -->
• DENOUEMENT --> RESOLUTION
  • The plot must also be self-contained, with a unity of action, its events operating under the rules of necessity. Thus, Aristotle frowned upon the reliance of DEUS EX MACHINA (see below).
  • Aristotle also mentions that tragic plots should be “of a certain magnitude”; that is, they should possess universality as well as complexity.
  • Complex plots should also have PERIPETEIA (see below) and ANAGNORISIS (see below), the former leading to the latter in a matter of cause and effect.

ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY

• CHARACTER:
  • The tragic character, secondary to plot, should possess a moral quality, for who should pity the fall of an evil man?
  • The tragic heroes should also be realistic and true to their type (gender), to themselves (consistency of character), and to the laws of necessity and probability.
  • While the characters should be realistic, Aristotle suggests that they should also be “more beautiful,” idealized, elevated, or ennobled.

• THOUGHT, DICTION, SONG, SPECTACLE:
  • These elements are below Plot and Character in order of importance.
  • If the construction, or Plot, of the play is sound, then the superior poet will not need to rely upon these or, at the very least, they will take care of themselves.
• SONG & DICTION:
  • the media of imitation
  • Diction = metrical arrangement of the words
    • words appropriate to character, plot, tragedy
    • metaphor = mark of genius
  • Song = melody, musical elements
    • Chorus' songs should be part of the plot, not mere interludes
• SPECTACLE:
  • last in importance
    • tragedy does not need to be performed to be effective
    • tragedy can be read for the same effect
  • (sensory effects)
  • costuming
  • scenery
  • gestures
  • voice
  • "stagecraft"
• PERIPETEIA:
  • A sudden reversal of fortune, or circumstances, leading to the protagonist’s downfall.
  • The peripeteia should be closely related to the anagnorisis (recognition).
• ANAGNORISIS:
  • It means “recognition” or “discovery,” and Aristotle uses these to denote the turning point in a drama at which the protagonist recognizes the true state of affairs, having previously been in error or ignorance.
  • We might say this is the moment in which the “tragic hero” recognizes his “tragic error” or “tragic mistake.”
  • Perhaps, too, we can call this a “moment of clarity.” For example, Oedipus recognizes that he killed his father, married his mother, and brought a plague upon his people.
• DEUS EX MACHINA:
  • A weakness in a tragedy or a writer who relies upon this artifice to resolve the Plot, rather than the action resolving itself according to the laws of probability and necessity.
  • Literally, it means “god in/from the machine,” and it involved the lowering of a god onto the stage via machinery in order to resolve the entanglements of the situation/plot.
• CATHARSIS:
  • The “purging” of pity and fear in the tragic audience.
  • These emotions, feelings are aroused by the action and assuaged by its resolution.
    • PITY = eleos: compassion for Pathos bearer
    • TERROR - FEAR = identification with Pathos bearer
    • PATHOS = Passion, key/religious suffering

STRUCTURE

PACE

• tempo, speed of the action
  • Does it work well, fit the material?
  • Does it drag or does it move smoothly?
  • Is it too fast, too slow?

• background music or music played during seating
• used to create a mood
• adds to believability
  • because what you hear helps you believe what you see
• How does music/sound contribute to the production?
• Does it add to or detract?
• Does it set the mood? Is it appropriate for the setting? Did it prepare you for the production?

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Directing techniques or effects
• lighting, positioning; “moving pictures”
• special effects
  • How does cinematography contribute to film?

• style, interpretation
• pace, acting
• music, setting
• costumes, casting
  • Has s/he done her/his job?

ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY

STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE

THEME

SETTING

• the central idea of a literary work

  • frequently offering insight into the human condition

  • BUT not directions on how to live

• the underlying issue of the piece, subject matter

  • “the basic area of permanent human experience treated by the author” (Skwire 437)

• indirectly expressed

• a work can have more than one

• a universality to the message

• not the same as “moral”

  • has an ethical quality

  • questions of value

  • a lesson, statement, message, piece of advice

  • aphorisms, clichés —

    • childish, preachy, didactic, condescending

  • directly stated

• *more than mere locale

  • not merely the location

• geographic location ("locale")

• historical era/period

• cultural milieu

• religious or social or economic features

• climate, weather

• season of the year

• time of day

• area, region of the country or world

• type of building or room

• deliberately repeated images (a pattern)
  • that contribute to overall meaning or emphasize some important element of the work
• patterns of images, highlight some part of the story, assist towards meaning
• clothing = maturity, growing up
  • repeated references to a character's changing clothes
  • more feminine clothes over tom-boy clothes

• hint at what’s to come
• hints or indications of what is to come
• early clues (often found when re-reading) to what eventually happens in a story or play

• a pleasurable anxiety

• an author creates (in the complication, climax)

• to make us wonder what will happen next

• or how a character will resolve a crisis or conflict

• breaking the linear progression of a narrative
• to tell of some prior occurrence

• sense details

• so vivid or evocative

• that readers can see, hear,…

• words or passages that stir feelings or memories through an appeal to the senses;

• words, phrases, sentences that create mental "image"

• CATEGORIES OF IMAGES:

  • 5 senses: sight (visual), sound (auditory), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), touch (tactile)

  • motion (kinetic), temperature (thermal)

• surprise to our expectations
• verbal
  • say one thing, mean another
  • a discrepancy between spoken/written words & their intended meaning
• situational
  • expect one thing to happen, another does
  • a contrast between hopes, aspirations, fears & the eventuality (character's fate)
  • surprise endings
• dramatic
  • we know what characters do not
  • readers/audience know something that a character does not

• the individuality of expression conveyed through diction (word choice), syntax (sentence structure, and/or punctuation
• a writer's distinctive manner of writing
  • idiosyncratic traits of a writer
  • how a person writes
• ex: journalistic; highly subjective/stream-of-consciousness; sardonic

• “a literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting, or changing, the subject of the satiric attack”
• “a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule”
• parody: “a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing”

• the writer’s tone/attitude towards the subject
• EX: sad, mock-serious, caring, sarcastic, awed

• atmosphere

• the emotional content of a scene or setting

• feeling:  somber, gloomy, joyful

• tension, stress, pressure
• struggle between opposing forces
  • problems, antagonisms, arguments, resistance
  • effort, clashes, impediments
  • obstacles to goals/desires
• creates tension, crisis, suspense
• PERSON vs.
  • (internal)
    • Self
  • (external)
    • Person
    • Society
    • Nature/Environment
    • Deity
    • Supernatural Entity
    • Technology

• the freakish, unnatural, disgusting
• ridiculous, bizarre, extravagant, freakish, the unnatural
  • aberrations from desired norms of harmony, balance, proportion
• used for comic or satiric effect
  • satire, parody, caricature, invective
  • burlesque, black comedy, macabre
  • comic relief, sick joke
  • Theatre of the Absurd, Gothic novels
• used for characterization
  • physical disfigurement = spiritual or emotional disfigurement
  • ex:  Dr. House
    • hole in leg = hole in soul
    • warped leg = warped spirit

• contrast (like the rhetorical strategy)
• 2 disparate things set in contrast to each other

• biography, autobiography
• history, news reports

• link unrelated things to spark imagination
• to allow us to consider new thoughts
• simile uses "as" or "like"
• metaphor implies "is"

• word choice
• links to meaning
• appeals to emotion, reason, & character
• connotation
  • implied meaning & attitude
  • suggestions & associations
• denotation
  • dictionary definition
• look up words you do not know

CHARACTER:

•  definition:
  • a person, entity, animal, OR object
  • that inhabits the story

• portrayal of a character's
  • personality
  • physical description
  • beliefs & attitudes
  • personal philosophy
• developed through
  • actions
  • behaviors
  • dialogue
  • thoughts
  • appearance, wardrobe
• conveyed by
  • the narrator
  • other characters
  • the character her/himself
• how characters are developed, described
  • how much or how little
• ethos:
  • morality of person
  • good/evil, does right/wrong

• I. PROTAGONIST:
  • the main or central character of the story
  • the "hero" or "heroine"
  • (though not necessarily brave or courageous)
• II. ANTAGONIST:
  • the character or force who actions
  • oppose those of the Protagonist
• III. FOIL:
  • a minor character
  • who emphasizes the qualities of another character
  • through implied contrast between them
  • (foil reflects)
• IV. ANTI-HERO:
  • a person (usually from the 20th-century)
  • who is ordinary, inglorious, not courageous, not brave, solitary (a loner), imperfect or flawed
    • with an inconsistency of character
    • and failed goals
  • these characters lack a consistent personality or character, self, or identity

CHARACTER

TYPES:

• ROUND:
  • realistic, complex, contradictory
  • true-to-life, believable
  • often such characters will have sufficient motivation for their actions, behaviors
  • they have more details, description, and are given thoughts, feelings, and perceptions to seem more 3-dimensional
  • they also CHANGE, grow, develop, fall, rise, develop, and have epiphanies
• FLAT: 
  • stereotypical, 1-dimensional
  • s/he usually has but one outstanding characteristic/trait/feature
  • flat characters are NOT necessarily Stock characters
  • unlike "dynamic" Round characters, Flat characters do NOT change;
    • they remain STATIC
  • *Flat characters do not necessarily demean a work; they serve their purposes,
    • such as background or foil.
  • Otherwise inflated or expanded,
    • they would distract and detract from the main characters and confuse the action/plot.
• STOCK:
  • an archetype or stereotype
  • a literary character who embodies a number of traits commonly applied to or found in a particular class or group of people
  • known typically by an outstanding quality or trait, often a dominant virtue or vice:
    • the loyal sidekick