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UNIT 4Drama

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Introducing the Unit

Genre Focus: Drama

Literary Analysis Model:

The Janitor by August Wilson

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Unit Menu

Wrap-Up

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Unit 4Unit 4 INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

A drama, or play, is a story told mainly through the words and actions of characters. The story might unfold on a stage or on a movie or television screen. Readers of plays imagine actors speaking the dialogue and envision the setting, lighting, and actions described in the stage directions. Drama allows readers to see the story unfold before their very eyes.



Loyalty and Betrayal

It can be hard to know whom to trust. When people pursue wealth or power, they accumulate what other people are bound to desire. Even the most loyal ally can betray someone who possesses what his or her heart longs for. The selections in Part 1 deal with issues of loyalty and betrayal that have life-and-death consequences. As you read, ask yourself: What do I want most in the world, and what would I do or not do to get it?



When reading a comedy, sometimes it is hard to know whether to laugh or cry. People find humor in the mistakes and misfortunes that comic characters experience. Maybe we laugh because we know that, in real life, we could be in their situations. Part 2 includes plays set in realistic situations. As you read, ask yourself: What is most interesting about realistic plays? Do they actually mirror life as it really is?

Portraits of Real Life


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What do fiction and drama have in common?

Playwright August Wilson said of his purpose, “I’m trying to take culture and put it onstage, demonstrate it is capable of sustaining you. There is no idea that can’t be contained by life: Asian life, European life, certainly black life. My plays are about love, honor, duty, betrayal—things humans have written about since the beginning of time.”

GENRE FOCUS: POETRYGENRE FOCUS: POETRY


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What do fiction and drama have in common?

Drama contains ideas in live action. Its characters, costumes, sets, and lighting combine to communicate the message, or theme, of the work.



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TragedyCharacters

The characters to be portrayed are listed at the beginning of a play. In tragedy, the main character is sometimes called the tragic hero. The tragic hero—and often other characters in a tragedy—is bound to take a terrible fall.



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TragedyTragic Plots

Tragic plots are driven by the hero’s tragic flaw, or part of the character’s personality that leads to his or her downfall, ruin, or death. During the rising action of the play, the audience often is aware of the flaw the hero cannot perceive. Tension mounts as the character takes the inevitable action that seals his or her fate. Then, in a frequently violent climax, the tragic outcome plays out.



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Comedy and Modern DramaDialogue

Plays consist mostly of dialogue, or conversation, among the characters. Through dialogue, the characters reveal themselves, and the plot of the play moves forward. Unlike tragedies, comedies move toward a happy ending. In the script, the name of the character comes before the dialogue they will speak. Dialogue is sometimes referred to as lines.



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Comedy and Modern DramaStage Directions

Stage directions can describe the setting of a play. They may also tell actors how they should appear and indicate some of the actions they should take on stage. They might describe sets, props, sound effects, or lighting, depending on the needs of the writer. Stage directions are set off from other text by being written in italics, or enclosed in parentheses or brackets.



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Comedy and Modern DramaActs and Scenes

Plays usually have between one and five acts, but there is no rule about how many acts a play should have. Acts are further divided into scenes. Scene changes usually indicate a change in location or the passage of time. One-act plays often are not divided into scenes.



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Reading StrategyRecognizing Irony

What is ironic about the monologue of The Janitor?

Answer: It is ironic that Sam may be more perceptive than the conference speakers, that his boss interrupts him despite his wisdom, and that he is so wise despite his lack of formal education.

LITERARY ANALYSIS MODELLITERARY ANALYSIS MODEL

The Janitorby August Wilson


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Literary ElementAnalyzing Genre

What do Sam’s words tell you about him?

Answer: They reveal Sam to be very wise and poetic, despite a lack of education.




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Why do you think Sam goes to the lectern and speaks?

Answer: Sam may have been inspired by the sign, and he has considerable wisdom to share.




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Viewing the ArtLook at the image on page 708.

August Wilson says his characters remain “pointed toward the future.” How might this artwork reflect the characters in Wilson’s plays?

Answer: The man in the picture is in control of his own fate; he creates a path that will take him to his destination.




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How does the theme of The Janitor relate to the message of Sam’s speech?

Answer: Both Sam’s words and his life emphasize the fleeting nature of time: “We are all victims of the sweetness of youth and the time of its flight,” he says.




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Reading CheckAnalyzing

Why might Wilson have set the play in a hotel ballroom?

Answer: The setting magnifies the class differences between Sam and Mr. Collins. It is unlikely that Sam would attend a function in a hotel ballroom; his role is simply to clean it.




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• Tragedy– A tragedy is a play in which the main

character suffers a downfall.

• Tragic hero– A tragic hero is the main character in a

tragedy.

• Comedy– A comedy is a play that deals with its

subject in a light, familiar, or satirical manner.

WRAP–UPWRAP–UP

Elements of Drama


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• Dialogue– The dialogue is what the characters say

to one another.

• Stage directions– The stage directions may describe the

sets, props, sound effects, lighting, and the actions of the characters.

• Acts and scenes– Plays are divided into acts and scenes.

WRAP–UPWRAP–UP

Elements of Drama


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Guide to Reading Drama

WRAP–UPWRAP–UP

• Like fiction, drama has plot, setting, characters and theme.

• As you read drama, you may imagine the actors on a stage performing, or you may imagine the characters as real people.

• Preview the characters before you read.


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Guide to Reading Drama

• Read the stage directions as well as the dialogue.

• Pay special attention to what happens to the main character.

WRAP–UPWRAP–UP


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Literary FocusTragedy

Tragedy: A tragedy is a play in which the main character suffers a downfall. Heroes of tragedies are often royalty. In that way, they have a lot to lose. Tragedy is about loss. Sometimes the character’s downfall is the result of outside forces. Other times, the character is undone by him- or herself.

LITERARY FOCUSLITERARY FOCUS

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Hero: The hero is the main character of a literary work. He or she is usually someone with admirable traits or someone who performs noble deeds.


Tragic hero: The hero of a tragedy is the tragic hero. A tragic hero evokes both pity and fear in the audience.

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Tragic Flaw: The tragic flaw is the part of the hero’s character which leads to his or her ruin or sorrow. The art of creating a tragic hero is to create a tragic flaw that does not prevent the audience from admiring the hero.


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Literary FocusComedy and Modern Drama


Drama: Drama can be used as a synonym for play. Drama is traditionally separated into the subcategories of comedy and tragedy.

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Comedy: A comedy is a play that is humorous and often has a happy ending. There are different styles of comedy.

Farce: Farce places flat characters in ridiculous situations.

Satire: Satire exposes and ridicules vice or folly in individuals or societies.

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Modern Drama: While satire and farce use deliberately unrealistic situations and characters, many modern plays find their humor and sadness in everyday life. Such plays can be either comedy or tragedy, but they often do not follow the traditional elements of these forms. Dialogue, stage directions, and props are important elements of drama.

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Dialogue: Dialogue is the conversation characters have in a play. In the conversation on the next slide, Lomov and Natalia Stepanovna are the names of the characters who are speaking. Plays are written with the name of the character followed by what the character says.

Unit 4Unit 4 LITERARY FOCUSLITERARY FOCUS

NATALIA STEPANOVNA. I hate to interrupt you, my dear Ivan Vassilevitch, but you said: “my Oxen Meadows.” Do you really think they’re yours?

LOMOV. Why of course they’re mine.

NATALIA STEPANOVNA. What do you mean? The Oxen Meadows are ours, not yours!

LOMOV. Oh, no, my dear Natalia Stepanovna, they’re mine.

NATALIA STEPANOVNA. Well, this is the first I’ve heard about it! Where did you get that idea?

LOMOV. Where? Why, I mean the Oxen Meadows that are wedged between your birches and the marsh.

NATALIA STEPANOVNA. Yes, of course, they’re ours.

—Anton Chekhov, from A Marriage Proposal

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Stage Directions: Stage directions are the instructions that describe the appearance and actions of characters as well as details such as sets, props, costumes, sound effects, and lighting. Notice the references to actions, props, and lighting in the stage directions on the next slide. The stage directions appear in brackets.

Unit 4Unit 4 LITERARY FOCUSLITERARY FOCUS

MRS. HALE [Crossing left to sink.] I’d hate to have men coming into my kitchen, snooping around and criticizing. [She arranges the pans under sink which the lawyer had shoved out of place.]

MRS. PETERS. Of course it’s no more than their duty. [Crosses to cupboard upstage right.]

—Susan Glaspell, from Trifles

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Props: Short for the word properties, props are the objects and elements of a stage play or movie set.

COUNTY ATTORNEY. [Rubbing his hands over the stove.] Frank’s fire didn’t do much up there, did it? Well, let’s go out to the barn and get that cleared up. [The men go outside by upstage left door.]

—Susan Glaspell, from Trifles

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Unit 4Unit 4 LITERARY HISTORYLITERARY HISTORY

Classical Greek Drama (pages 716–717)

Elizabethan Drama (pages 768–769)

Literary History Menu

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Classic Greek Drama

Bellringer

LITERARY HISTORYLITERARY HISTORY

Movies have replaced theatrical drama. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Answer: Possible Answer: Movies have taken much of the audience from the theater, but both still exist as distinct art forms.

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Classic Greek Drama


Suggest similarities and differences between theater and film.

Answer: Similarities: players acting out a story; sets; dialogue. Differences: drama is live; movies use music more extensively; movies use many different camera angles.

Bellringer

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Classic Greek Drama


Literary Element

Drama Read the text on page 716. Which forms of art are “told”? Which art forms are “done”?

Answer: Visual arts, literature, and music are “told” art forms. Drama, dance, performance and interactive art are “done.” Film could be considered a fusion of the two.

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Classic Greek Drama


Big Idea

Loyalty and Betrayal Keep the following question in mind as you read. How might loyalty and betrayal figure into the fall of a tragic hero?

Answer: A tragic hero’s blind loyalty to a potentially damaging belief or to a once decent person turned bad could bring about the hero’s fall. Betrayal could be incited by a flaw in the hero or naïveté.

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Classic Greek Drama


Responding and Thinking Critically

1. In your opinion, what is the most significant difference between ancient Greek theater and modern American theater?

Answer: You might focus on the ancient Greeks attending theater as a civic duty as the most significant difference; or you might point to the differences in performance style between ancient and modern theater.

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Classic Greek Drama



2. How did the purposes of Greek comedy and tragedy differ?

Answer: Greek comedy was topical, satirizing contemporary issues; Greek tragedy addressed broader human issues.

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Classic Greek Drama



3. Why do you think Aristotle argued that the tragic hero should be a person neither especially good nor especially bad?

Answer: The downfall of a very good person would be shocking and that of a very bad person would seem simply just. The audience will be much better able to identify with a person who possesses a mixture of good and bad qualities.

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Elizabethan Drama

Bellringer


Does the end justify the means? Define “The end justifies the means.”

Answer: If the outcome is desirable, the methods used to achieve it are overlooked.

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Elizabethan Drama

Bellringer


How would you answer this question?

Answer: You should suggest scenarios in which a means to an end might be either acceptable or unacceptable.

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Elizabethan Drama


Literary Element

Drama Brainstorm ways in which Elizabethan actors might have communicated dramatic elements that are communicated by scenery, lighting, and other effects in modern theater.

Answer: Answers will vary.

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Elizabethan Drama


Big Idea

Loyalty and Betrayal What is the effect of complex relationships on one person’s loyalty to another?

Answer: Loyalties sometimes conflict. One may betray one person in order to remain loyal to another.

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Elizabethan Drama


Literary History

Women’s Roles The English belief that allowing women to act on stage was immoral was a limitation for English playwrights. It was especially difficult for young boys to convincingly act the part of a mature woman.

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Elizabethan Drama


Literary History

Women’s Roles As a consequence, Shakespeare created relatively few strong mature female characters. (Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth are notable exceptions.) This limitation also led Shakespeare to create female characters who disguised themselves as men, such as Viola in Twelfth Night.

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Elizabethan Drama



1. What feature of Elizabethan stagecraft do you think a modern audience would have the most difficulty accepting?

Answer: The boy actors playing female roles and the lack of scenery

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Elizabethan Drama



2. What effects did the social values of Shakespeare’s time have on Elizabethan theater?

Answer: Religious opposition to theater forced acting companies to relocate outside of London. Opposition to the appearance of women on stage led to the use of boy actors for female roles.

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Elizabethan Drama



3. How did the Globe’s lack of scenery affect Shakespeare’s plays?

Answer: Shakespeare wrote careful descriptions of settings into his characters’ speeches.

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As you read, you’ll make notes about your personal responses to the plays in this unit. See pages R26–R29 for help with making a Bound Book. This diagram shows how it should look.

Keep Track of Your Ideas

1. Label the book “Reader Response Journal”

2. You can write your responses to the plays inside the book.

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