Term Definition Function, Purpose or Description of how it works…

Playwright

Drama

Stage Directions

Actor

Director

Staging

Narrator

Dialogue

Staging

Props

Set

Blocking

Audience

Plays are made up primarily of stage directions and dialogue. Stage directions have a lot in common with narration but also must serve the different consumers of a play and help the play function as a performance. There are two common groups stage directions might be aimed at:

Actors: Stage directions that explain how to move or speak.Directors: Stage directors that discuss the physical space, appearance of the actors or the ways in which multiple aspects on the stage should interact.There are four main functions of the stage directions:

- To give background information (particularly at the start of the play)- To direct movement or speech- To direct the physical stage space and/or props-To suggest an idea or concept the playwright feels is necessary to the play but which, for whatever reason, they haven’t created a concrete plan for representing or including

For each of the following quotes, write who the stage directions are for and what they are supposed to do in response.

Quote Who is it for? (director, actor or someone else?)

How should it be interpreted?

“Faded white stairs ascend to the entrances of both”

“Stanley carries his bowling jacket and a stained red package”

“Stanley: [bellowing] Hey, there! Stella, baby!”

“Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light”

“She is about five years older than Stella”

Look at the following two extracts. One is from the novel Frankenstein and the other is from the play. They have the same basic plot but get the information across differently.

Victor, at college, has just found out his younger brother has been killed, via a letter from his father, Alphonse. Victor recently created a creature which he then let loose.

On your large copy of the poem do the following:

Questions:

What are the main layout features that differ between prose and drama?

How are the needs of an audience and a reader the same? How are they different?

What are the benefits of each genre? What are the drawbacks?

On my return, I found the following letter from my father:-- "MY DEAR VICTOR,--You have probably waited impatiently for a letter to fix the date of your return to us; and I was at first tempted to write only a few lines, merely mentioning the day on which I should expect you. But that would be a cruel kindness, and I dare not do it…"William is dead!--that sweet child, whose smiles delighted and warmed my heart, who was so gentle, yet so gay! Victor, he is murdered! "I will not attempt to console you; but will simply relate the circumstances of the transaction. "Last Thursday (May 7th), I, my niece, and your two brothers, went to walk in Plainpalais. The evening was warm and serene, and we prolonged our walk farther than usual. It was already dusk before we thought of returning; and then we discovered that William … not to be found…"This account rather alarmed us, and we continued to search for him until night fell, when Elizabeth conjectured that he might have returned to the house. He was not there. We returned again, with torches; for I could not rest, when I thought that my sweet boy had lost himself, and was exposed to all the damps and dews of night; Elizabeth also suffered extreme anguish. About five in the morning I discovered my lovely boy, whom the night before I had seen blooming and active in health, stretched on the grass livid and motionless: the print of the murderer's finger was on his neck…Clerval, who had watched my countenance as I read this letter, was surprised to observe the despair that succeeded to the joy I at first expressed on receiving news from my friends. I threw the letter on the table, and covered my face with my hands. "My dear Frankenstein," exclaimed Henry, when he perceived me weep with bitterness, "are you always to be unhappy? My dear friend, what has happened?" I motioned to him to take up the letter, while I walked up and down the room in the extremest agitation. Tears also gushed from the eyes of Clerval, as he read the account of my misfortune. "I can offer you no consolation, my friend," said he; "your disaster is irreparable. What do you intend to do?" "To go instantly to Geneva: come with me, Henry, to order the horses."

Comparing Prose and Drama

1. At the very top, write the definition of the verb “defer” 2. Read the poem and understand the first literal events that happen to the dream. In your first color, sum up three things that might

happen to the dream if the poem is taken at face value. Write each thing close to where it appears in the poem3. Using a second color, now consider that each of those things that might happen are a metaphor for an actual reaction a person might

have to their dream being “deferred”. For those three same things, what is the metaphorical meaning? Write those in the second color.

4. Discuss why a poem about dreams being deferred is called “Harlem”. Write the reason you think that at the bottom.5. Lastly, along the right or left edge, make a prediction about our new play, which is titled “A Raisin in the Sun”

"Harlem"

What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore -

And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over -like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

- Langston Hughes, 1951