Teaching Media of Drama Analysis English Department, Semarang State University September 2011

Week I
What is Drama? In general, the word drama means a form of theatre which has become literature, or a piece of literature written to be performed (Scanlan, 1988). The word comes from a Greek word dran, which means to act or to perform. Drama is like fiction, in which both focus on one or a few major characters in dealing with other characters. Drama is also like poetry, in which both genres can develop situations through speech and action. Yet, fiction is different from drama that the essence of fiction is narration or the recounting of a sequence of events or actions (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). Poetry is also different from drama because it exists in many formal and informal shapes, and it is usually written in a short and condense way. Drama is literature designed for impersonation by people actors for the benefit and delight of other people an audience (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). Drama is divided into two basic kinds: classical and modern. Classical drama includes, but is not confined to, the plays of ancient Greece, Shakespearean drama, and the neoclassical drama of the 17 and 18 centuries. Modern drama begins in the latter half of the 19 century (Scanlan, 1988). The Dramatic Vision For example, the plays of ancient Athens were composed in intricate poetic forms. Many European plays from the Renaissance through the 19th century were written in blank verse or rhymed couplets. Unlike both fiction and poetry, drama is literature designed for impersonation by people actors for the benefit and delight of other people an audience. Drama is special because it can be presented and discussed both as literature drama itself and as performance the production of plays in the theatre (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998).
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Week II
The Dramatic Vision The major literary aspects of drama are the text, character, plot, structure, point of view, language, tone, symbolism, and theme or meaning. The text of a play is in effect a plan for bringing the play into action on the stage. The most notable features of the text are dialogue, monologue, and stage directions. Dialogue is the conversation of two or more characters. Monologue is spoken by a single character who is usually alone onstage. Stage directions are the playwrights instructions about facial and vocal expression, movement and action, gesture and body language, stage appearance, lighting, and similar matters (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). CHARACTERS Characters in drama are persons the playwright creates to embody the plays actions, ideas, and attitudes. They look lifelike through action and speech. Most major dramatic characters are considered as protagonists and antagonists. Drama also presents us with both round and flat characters. A round, dynamic, developing, and growing character, like Shakespeares Hamlet profits from experience and undergoes a development in awareness, insight, understanding, moral capacity, and the ability to make decisions. Meanwhile, a flat, static, fixed, and unchanging character, like the men in Glaspells Trifles, does not undergo any change or growth (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). Dramatic characters can also be realistic, nonrealistic, stereotyped (or stock), ancillary, and symbolic. Realistic characters are designed to seem like individualized women and men; they are given thoughts, desires, motives, personalities, and lives of their own. Nonrealistic characters are often undeveloped and symbolic. Stereotype or stock characters are unindividualized characters whose actions and speeches make them seem to have been taken from a mold. For example: romantic hero and heroine, clever male servant, trickster, town sheriff, etc. (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). Ancillary characters are those who set off or highlight the protagonist and who provide insight into the action. The first type, the foil, has been a feature of drama since its beginnings in ancient Athens. The foil is a character who is to be compared and contrasted with the protagonist. The second type is the choric figure, who is loosely connected to the choruses of ancient drama. Usually the choric figure is a single character, often a confidant of the protagonist, such as Hamlets

friend Horatio. When the choric figure expresses ideas about the plays major issues and actions, he or she is called a raisonneur (the French word meaning reasoner) or commentator. Symbolic characters symbolize ideas, moral values, religious concepts, ways of life, or some other abstraction (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). ACTION, CONFLICT, and PLOT Plays are made up of a series of sequential and related actions and incidents. The actions are connected to chronology the logic of time and the term given to the principles underlying this ordered chain of actions and reactions is plot, which is a connected plan or pattern of causation. The impulse controlling the connections is conflict, which refers to people or circumstances the antagonist that the protagonist tries to overcome. Most of dramatic plots are as complicated as life itself. Special complications result from a double or multiple plot two or more different but related lines of action. Usually one of these plots is the main plot, but the subplot can be independently important and sometimes even more interesting. STRUCTURE It refers to a plays pattern of organization. Many traditional plays contain elements that constitute a five-stage structure: (1) Exposition or introduction, (2) Complication and development, (3) Crisis or climax, (4) Falling action, and (5) Denouement, resolution, or catastrophe In the 19 century, the German novelist and critic Gustav Freytag visualized this pattern as a pyramid (though he used six elements rather than five) (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). The Freytag Pyramid In the so-called Freytag pyramid, the exposition and complication lead up to a high point of tension the crisis or climax followed by the falling action and the catastrophe Exposition or Introduction Complication and Development Crisis or Climax Falling Action Denouement, Resolution, or Catastrophe
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

1. Exposition or introduction. In the first part of a drama, the dramatist introduces the plays background, characters, situations, and conflicts. Although exposition is occasionally presented through direct statements to the audience, the better method is to render it dramatically. Both major and minor characters thus perform the task of exposition through dramatic dialogue describing situations, actions, and plans, and also explaining the traits and motives of other characters. 2. Complication and development. In this second stage, also called the rising action, we see the onset of difficulties that seem overwhelming and insoluble, as in both Hamlet and Trifles, where we learn in the exposition that a death has occurred before the play opens. Complication develops as the characters try to learn answers to some of the following perplexing questions: Was the death a murder? What should be done about the murder? 3. Crisis or climax. The uncertainty and anxiety of the complication lead to the third stage, the crisis (turning point) or climax (high point). In this third stage, all the converging circumstances compel the hero or heroine to recognize what needs to be done to resolve the plays major conflict. Another way of considering the crisis or climax is to define it as that point in the play when uncertainty ends and inevitability begins, as when Hamlet vows vengeance after drawing conclusions about the kings reaction to the player scene. 4. Falling action. The downward slope of the pyramid is the falling action, which contains complicating elements deferring the plays conclusion. In Hamlet, for example, a number of scenes make up the falling action: Hamlets decision not to kill Claudius at prayer; Hamlets departure for England, etc. 5. Denouement. The final stage is the denouement (unraveling) or resolution (untying), also called the catastrophe (overturning), in which all tragic protagonists undergo suffering or death, all mysteries are explained, all conflicts are resolved, all mistakes are corrected, all dastardly schemes are defeated, all long-lost children are identified, all obstacles to love are overcome, all deserving characters are rewarded, and the play ends. In short, the function of the denouement is to end complications and conflicts, not to create new ones (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). POINT OF VIEW It refers to the narrative voice of the story, the speaker or guiding intelligence through which the characters and actions are presented. In drama, the term refers generally to a plays perspective or focus. Basically, dramatic point of view comprises the ways in which dramatists direction attention to the plays characters and their concerns. In the theater, dramatists

govern our responses visually by putting certain major characters onstage and keeping them there. The dramatist can also keep characters and issues in our minds by causing other characters to speak about them (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). DICTION, IMAGERY, STYLE, AND LANGUAGE A dramatist portrays characters, relationships, and conflicts through dramatic language. Through dialogue, and sometimes through soliloquy and aside, characters use language to reveal intimate details about their lives and their deepest thoughts their loves, hatreds, plans, and hopes. A dramatist employs words that have wide-ranging connotations and that acquire many layers of meaning. A playwright can have their characters speak in similes or metaphors that contribute significantly to the plays meaning and impact. A dramatist makes sure that the words of their characters fit the circumstances, the time, and the place of the play. A dramatist employs accents, dialects, idiom, jargon, and cliches to indicate character traits (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998).

TONE AND ATMOSPHERE Tone in drama, as in fiction and poetry, signifies the way moods and attitudes are created and presented. In plays, tone can be controlled through voice and stage gestures, such as rolling ones eyes, throwing up ones hands, holding ones forehead in despair, jumping for joy, and staggering in grief. One of the most common methods playwrights employ to control the tone of the play is dramatic irony. This type of situational (as opposed to verbal) irony refers to circumstances in which characters have only a partial, incorrect, or misguided understanding of what is happening, while both readers and other characters understand the situation completely (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). SYMBOLISM AND ALLEGORY In drama, as in fiction and poetry, the meaning of a symbol extends beyond its surface meaning. Dramatic symbols, which can be characters, settings, objects, actions, situations, or statements, can be both cultural or contextual. Cultural or universal symbols such as crosses, flags, snakes, and flowers are generally understood by the audience or reader regardless of the context in which they appear. Contextual or private symbols develop their impact only within the context of a specific play or even a particular scene.

 Allegory means a play that offers consistent and sustained symbols that refer to general human experiences (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). SUBJECT AND THEME Most playwrights do not aim to propagandize their audience, but nevertheless they do embody ideas in their play. The aspects of humanity a playwright explores constitute the plays subject. Plays can be about love, religion, hatred, war, ambition, death, envy, or anything else that is part of the human condition. The ideas that the play dramatizes make up the plays theme or meaning. A play might explore the idea that love will always find a way or that marriage can be destructive, that pride always leads to disaster, or that grief can be conquered through strength and a commitment to life (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998).

Drama as Performance
Plays are meant to be acted. It is performance that makes a play immediate, exciting, and powerful. The elements of performance are the actors; the director and the producer; the stage; sets or scenery, lighting; costumes and makeup; and the audience. THE ACTORS Good actors have the training and experience to bring a play to life, exerting their intelligence, emotions, imaginations, voices, and bodies in their roles. Actors speak as they imagine the characters might speak eagerly, calmly, excitedly, prayerfully, exultantly, sorrowfully, or angrily. When they respond, they respond as they imagine the characters might respond with surprise, expectation, approval, happiness, irony, acceptance, rejection, resignation, or resolution (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). When they move about the stage according to patterns called blocking, they move as they imagine the characters might move slowly, swiftly, smoothly, hesitatingly, furtively, stealthily, or clumsily, and gesturing broadly or subtly. Actors also frequently engage in stage business gestures or movements that make the play dynamic, spontaneous, and often funny. THE DIRECTOR AND THE PRODUCER In the theater, all aspects of performance are controlled by the producer and the director. The producer, the one with the money, is responsible for financing and arranging the production. Meanwhile, the director works closely with the producer and cooperates closely with the actors and guides them in speaking, responding, standing, and moving in ways that are consistent with his or her vision of the play. When a play calls for special effects, both the producer and the director work with

specialists such as musicians, choreographers, and sound and lighting technicians to enhance and enliven the performance. THE STAGE Most modern theaters feature an interior proscenium stage a picture-frame stage that is like a room with one wall missing so that the audience can look in one the action. In most proscenium stages, a large curtain representing that missing wall is usually opened and closed to indicate the beginning and ending of acts. Like many other modern theaters, the theatres with proscenium stage feature a thrust stage or apron stage (like the platform stage used in the time of Shakespeare), which enlarges the proscenium stage with an acting area projecting into the audience by twenty or more feet. Closely related to the apron stage is theater-in-the-round, a stage open on all sides like a boxing ring, surrounded by the audience (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). SETS OR SCENERY Most productions use sets (derived from the phrase set scenes, i.e., fixed scenes) or scenery to establish the action in place and time, to underscore the ideas of the director, and to determine the level of reality of the production. Sets are constructed and decorated to indicate a specific place (a living room, a kitchen, a throne room, a forest, etc.) or a detached and indeterminate place with a specific atmosphere (an open plain, a heavenly or hellish location, a nightmarish future). In most proscenium stages, the sets establish a permanent location or scene resembling a framed picture. Generally, one-act plays rely on a single setting and a short imagined time of action. Since sets are often elaborate and costly, many producers use single-fixed-scene sets that are flexible and easily changed. Some productions employ a single, neutral set throughout the play and then mark scene changes with the physical introduction of movable properties (or props) chairs, tables, beds, flower vases, trees, shovels, skulls, and so on. The constant changing of scenery is sometimes avoided by the use of a unit set a series of platforms, rooms, stairs, and exits that form the locations for all the plays actions. The movement of the characters from place to place within the unit set marks the shifting of scenes and the changing of topics. Like characters, the setting can be realistic or nonrealistic. A realistic setting, sometimes called a naturalistic setting, requires extensive construction and properties, for the object is to create a lifelike a stage as possible.

 A nonrealistic setting is nonrepresentational and often symbolic. Sometimes a realistic play can be made suggestive and expressive through the use of a nonrealistic setting. LIGHTING In ancient and medieval times, plays were performed in daylight, and hence no artificial light was required. With the advent of indoor theaters and evening performances, lighting became a necessity (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). At first, artificial illumination was provided by lanterns, candelabras, sconces, and torches, and indirect lighting was achieved by reflectors and valances all of which were used with great ingenuity and effect. The evolution of theater lighting reached its climax with the development of electric lights in the 19 century. Today, dramatic performances are enhanced by virtually all the technical features of our electronic age, including specialized lamps, color filters, spotlights, dimmers, and simulated fires. This lighting is used to highlight individual characters, to isolate and emphasize various parts of the stage, to establish times, and generally to shape the moods of individual scenes. COSTUME AND MAKEUP Actors make plays vivid by wearing costumes and using makeup, which help the audience understand a plays time period together with the occupations, mental outlooks, and socioeconomic conditions of the characters. Costumes, which include not only dress but items such as jewelry, good-luck charms, swords, firearms, and canes, can be used realistically (farm women in plain clothes, a salesman in a business suit, a king in rich robes) or symbolically (a depressed character wearing black). Makeup usually enhances an actors facial features, just as it can fix the illusion of youth or age or emphasize a characters joy or sorrow (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). THE AUDIENCE To be complete, plays require an interaction of actors and audience. Drama enacts fictional or historical events as if they were happening in the present, and members of the audience whether spectators or readers are direct witnesses to the dramatic action from start to finish. The audience most definitely has a creative impact upon theatrical performances. The audiences reactions to the onstage action provide instant feedback to the actors and thus continually influence the delivery and pace of the performance.
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 There is no intermediary between the audience and the stage action no narrator, as in prose fiction, and no speaker, as in poetry (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998).

Week III
The Classical Tradition: Greek Drama The Development of Tragedy and Comedy in Ancient Greece Drama first arose from choral presentations the Athenians held during religious festivals, celebrating Dionysus, the god of wine; conviviality; sexual vitality; ecstasy; and freedom. The choruses comprises young men who sang or chanted lengthy songs that the Athenians called dithyrambs; the choruses may also have performed dance movements during the presentations. The dithyrambs were not dramatizations but rather recitations, which became dramatic when a member of the chorus was designated to step forward and impersonate - act one of the heroes (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998).. Soon, additional men from the choruses took acting roles, and the focus of the performances shifted from the choral group to individual actors. Greek tragedy as we know it had come into being. Three great Athenians dramatists: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Not long after the emergence of tragedy, comedy became an additional feature of the festivals. Since the ancient Athenians encouraged free speech, at least for males, the comedy writers created a boisterous, lewd, and freely critical type of burlesque comedy that critics called Old Comedy. The eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes represent this tradition. At the end of the 5 century, the Old Comedy was replaced by Middle Comedy, a more social, discreet, and international drama. Then, the Middle Comedy was again replaced by the New Comedy, a type of play featuring the development of situation, plot, and character. The best-known writer of New Comedy was Menander, whose plays were long thoughts to be totally lost; however, a number of fragments of his work have been discovered. Beginning in the 11 and 12 centuries, special short dramatizations were performed during Easter and Christmas masses. By the end of 13 century, these religious spectacles had taken on an independent character and had also grown too long to be performed as part of normal services. They were moved outdoors and were performed during early summer or late spring as a part of the post-Easter celebrations of Corpus Christi Day.
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 These religiously inspired plays, later called Corpus Christi plays or mystery plays, were collections or cycles of plays dramatizing biblical stories such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham and Isaac, Herod, the Shepherds Abiding in the Field (example: The Second Shepherds Play), the Trial of Jesus, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Another type of play developed the morality play, which consisted almost literally of dramatized instructions for living a devout and holy life.

Week IV
The Classical Tradition: the Renaissance The Fusion of Ancient and Medieval Traditions in the Renaissance In the 16 century, drama became liberated from its religious foundations and began rendering the twists and turns of more secular human conflicts. It was also at this time that the culture and drama of ancient Greece and Rome were rediscovered. The performing tradition growing out of the medieval church was combined with the surviving ancient tragedies and comedies to create an entirely new drama, which reached its highest point in the plays of Shakespeare. Renaissance drama was by no means a copy of ancient forms, however, even though a number of 16 and 17 century playwrights, including Shakespeare, reworked many of the ancient plays. A play which combines disturbing and potentially destructive topics and farcical, witty, and ironic scenes is called tragicomedy, a term first used by the Roman playwright Plautus. Another type is farce; it is crammed full of extravagant dialogue, stage business, and slapstick, with exaggerated emotions and rapid extremes of action. Another type, melodrama is a form in which most situations and characters are so exaggerated that they seem ridiculous. In its pure form, melodrama brings characters to the brink of ruin but saves through the superhuman resources of a hero who always arrives just in time to pay the mortgage, save the business, and rescue the heroine. A form of topical drama known as social drama (or called problem drama), a type that still exists as serious drama today. This type of play explores social problems and the individuals place in society. For example: Ibsens A Dollhouse, Glaspells Trifles.
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WEEK V
The Classical Greek Drama: The Origin and Its Characteristics Tragedy is drama in which a major character undergoes a loss but also achieves illumination or a new perspective. It is considered the most elevated literary form because it concentrates affirmatively on the religious and cosmic implications of its major characters misfortunes. In ancient Greece, it flourished as a key element in Athenian religious festivals during the decades before Athens became a major military, economic, and cultural power during the 5 century B.C.E. Originally, it was associated with the worship of a specific god Dionysus, one of the twelve principal Athenian deities who, it was thought, transformed human personality and freed people from care and grief. The Athenian tyrant, Peisistratus added Dionysus worship to the annual religious festivals that the Athenians held for their gods. The most significant of these Dionysiac festivals were the Lenaia and the Great or City Dionysia. The Lenaia was a short celebration held in January (the Greek month Gamelion), and the City Dionysia was a week-long event in March April (Elaphebolion, the month of stags). The philosopher and critic, Aristotle claimed that the first tragedies developed from a choral ode called a dithyramb an ode or song that was sung or chanted and also danced by large choruses at the festivals. The Greek myths illustrated divine-human relationships and also served as examples or models of heroic behavior. Aristotle called the myths the received legends and by his time, they became the usual subject of tragedy. The mythical heroes many of whom were objects of cult worship were kings, queens, princes, and princesses. They engaged in conflicts; they suffered; they died. They were dominated by hubris or hybris (arrogant pride, insolence, violence), which was manifested in destructive actions such as deceit, subterfuge, betrayal, etc. The word tragedy is derived from Greek words tragos (goat) and oide (ode or song) or a great ode or goat song. The word was first applied to choral ceremonies performed at the ritual sacrifice of a goat or a goat was the prize. Aristotle in his work, Poetics stressed concepts of exactitude, proportion, appropriateness, and control. He claimed that tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic
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ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions. The purgation or catharsis is the end or goal of tragedy crystallizes the earlier parts. In Aristotles view, tragedy arouses the painful emotions of pity and fear (eleos and phobos), and, through the experience of the drama, brings about a proper purgation or purification of these emotions. Originally, the word catharsis was a medical term, and therefore many interpreters argue that tragedy produces a therapeutic effect through an actual purging or vomiting of emotions, a sympathetic release of feelings that produces emotional relief and encourages psychological health. Aristotle states that catharsis is also brought about by other literary genres, esp. comedy and epic, and also by music. It is through catharsis that literary works encourages moral virtue and thereby on both psychological and religious grounds (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). Some aspects and characteristics of tragedy according to Aristotle are: A Representation of an Action A plot is (muthos) is not an exact imitation or duplication of life, but rather a representation (mimesis). Reversal, Recognition, and Suffering Reversal of the situation (peripeteia) is a change from good to bad or the outcome is the reverse of what the character intends and expects. Meanwhile, a change from ignorance to knowledge is called anagnorisis or recognition. A scene of suffering (pathos) or a destructive or painful action, such as death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, and the like. Seriousness, Completeness, and Artistic Behavior The term serious, or noble or elevated, concerns the plays tone and level of life, in contrast with the boisterousness and ribaldry of comedies. Complete means a tragedy must be shaped into a finished whole. Magnitude refers to a balance of length and subject matter. Diction and Song The Tragic Hero hamartia or a protagonists great error, translated as tragic flaw. Situational and Cosmic Irony Performance and The Formal Organization of Greek Tragedy PROLOGUE The first scene was the prologue, which contained the expostion. There was considerable variety in the performance of the prologue. Sometimes it was given by a single actor, speaking as either a mortal or a god.

 PARADOS It was the entry of the chorus into the orchestra, where they remained until the plays end. Because the chorus needed to project their voices to spectators in the top seats, they both sang and chanted their lines. They also moved rhythmically in a number of stanzaic strophes (turns), antistrophes (counterturns), and epodes (units following the songs). After the parados, the choristers would necessarily have knelt or sat at attention, in this way focusing on the activities of the actors and, when necessary, responding as a group. EPISODES AND STASIMONS The drama itself consisted of four full sections or acting units. The major part of each section was the episode. Each episode featured the actors, who presented both action and speech, including swift one-line interchanges known as stichomythy. When the episode ended, the actors withdrew. The following second part of the acting section was called a stasimon (plural stasima), performed by the chorus exclusively in the orchestra. Like the parados, the stasima required dance movements, along with the chanting and singing of strophes, antistrophes, and epodes. EXODOS When the last of the four episode-stasimon sections had been completed, the exodos (a way out), or the final section, commenced. It contained the resolution of the drama, the exit of the actors, and the last pronouncements, dance movements, and exit of the chorus. The Comic Vision: Restoring the Balance Comedy also arose in ancient Greece. Comedy is the fraternal twin of tragedy. The major difference are that tragedy moves toward despair or death, while comedy moves toward success, happiness, and marriage. Comedy developed as an improvisatory form. Most comic improvisations were an outgrowth of phallic songs, which were bacchanalian processions that took place during the Lenaia, the religious festival held in January February each year in Gamelion, the month of weddings, just following the winter solstice. The word comedy is derived from a komos song; its Greek meaning is a song of revels or song sung by merrymakers. During parades or processions at the Lenaia, the merrymakers expressed their joy boisterously, traded bawdy and obscene remarks with spectators, lampooned public persons, Wore ceremonial phalluses, and dressed in paunchy costumes suggesting feasting, fatness, fertility, and fun. These komos processions were encouraged officially in the belief and hope that human ceremonies would encourage divine favor and bring about prosperity and happiness.

 Comedy co-existed in the areas surrounding Greece called Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). The earliest Athenian comedy began with a comedy competition won by a writer named Chionides. According to Aristotle, the first writer to transform comedy by creating a thematic plot development was Crates, who won the first of his three prizes in about the mid-fifth century.

Types of Greek Comedy

Greek Old Comedy It was also called Old Attic Comedy. It followed intricate structural patterns and displayed complex poetic conventions. The actors (three or four men) and the chorus (twenty-four) each dressed in a distortingly padded costume, wore a character-defining mask, and displayed a ceremonial phallus. The plot was fantastic and impossible, and the dialogue was farcical and bawdy. One of the comedy playwrights was Aristophanes. His work constitutes our principal firsthand knowledge of Greek Old Comedy. Middle Comedy Aristophanes lived into the next period of Greek comedy, called Middle Comedy. This kind of comedy eliminated some of the complex patterns of Old Comedy and treated less narrowly Athenian and more broadly international topics. New Comedy By the end of the 4th century, Middle Comedy was replaced by New Comedy. The most important of the New Comedy dramatists was Menander, who was heralded in ancient times as the greatest comic writer of them all. His comedies, which are romantic rather than satirical, employ such stock characters as young lovers, clever slaves, and long-separated relatives. Roman Comedy After the time of Menander, Greek power in the Mediterranean waned and was replaced by the might of Rome. In the 3rd century, Roman comedy began and flourished, largely through the translation and adaptation of Greek New Comedies. The significant Roman writers were Plautus, with twenty surviving comedies, and Terence, all of whose six comedies exist. Briefly, the comedies of Plautus are brisk, while those of Terence are more restrained. The central issue of most of the Roman comedies is the overcoming of a blocking agent, or obstruction to true love, that could be almost anyone or anything a rival lover, An angry father, a family feud, an old law, a previously arranged marriage, or differences in social class. The pattern of action, traditionally called the plot of intrigue, stems from the subterfuges that young lovers undertake to overcome the blocking agent, so that the outcome frequently heralds the victory of youth over

age and the passing of control from one generation to the next (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998: 1431-1432). By 1500 the six plays of Terence were achieving recognition, followed by the twenty surviving plays of Plautus. The English plays of the mid-16th century contained five acts and observed the unities of time, place, place, and action, thus following the rules and and justifying the claim that they were regular. Character types from the Roman comedies, such as the intriguing couple, the fussing father, and the bragging soldier, initially predominated. Soon, more specifically English types appeared, anticipating the roisterers in Shakepeares Henry IV plays and the mechanicals in A Midsummer Nights Dream. By the end of the 16th century, when Shakespeare had completed many of his comedies, English comedy was in full bloom. It has commonly been observed that the comedy was Latin in structure but English in character.

Comic Patterns, Characters, and Language

The Comic Pattern Comic, the adjective derived from comedy, described the pattern or context that conditions our responses. Comic means that a literary work or set of situations conforms to the patterns and characteristics of comedy. Within these patterns, we are conditioned to perceive most dialogue and action even serious problems and dangerous situations as being amusing. At heart, therefore, comedy and the term comic suggest a pattern of action, including funny situations and language, that we perceive as solvable and correctable. COMIC PROBLEMS The problems with which comedies begin can be individual or social. They can involve thwarted love, eccentric behavior, corruption in high places, or a combination of other difficulties. As the comedies move from exposition to complication, the problems usually get much worse. In comedy, complication is often fueled by confusion, misunderstanding, mistakes in identity, errors in judgement, excessive or unreasonable behavior, and coincidences that stretch our credulity. THE COMIC CLIMAX The climax of a comedy occurs when these confusions reach a peak, misunderstanding is dominant, pressure is at a high point, choices must be made, and solutions must be found. The catastrophe the changing or turning point frequently introduces a sudden revelation in which a key fact, identity, or event is explained to characters and audience at the same time.

 THE COMIC DENOUEMENT In most comedies, the events of the denouement resolve the initial problems and allow for the comic resolution, which involves setting things right at every level of action. Individual lives are thereby straightened out, people at odds with each other are reconciled, new families are formed through marriage, and a healthy social order is reestablished. COMIC EDUCATION AND CHANGE Two key features of the comic pattern are education and change. In many comedies, at least some of the characters learn something about themselves, their society, or the way to love and live. Their education makes it possible for them to improve, and, by implication, for the world also to improve. In other comedies, however, particularly those that touch on major social and political problems, the audience is educated, and the playwright hopes that change will occur in the world as well as on the stage. Comic Characters Characters in comedy are far more limited than in tragedy because comedies usually deal with representative types or groups rather than with individuals of heroic stature. Comedy gives us stock characters who represent classes, types, and generations. Comic Language Comic dramatists use language to delineate character, to establish tone and mood, and to express ideas and feelings. In comedy, language is also one of the most important vehicles for humor. Some comedies are characterized by elegant and witty language, others by puns and bawdy jokes. Characters in comedy tend either to be masters of language or to be mastered by it. Those who are skillful with language, such as Lisette in Love Is the Doctor, can use a witty phrase like a knife to satirize their foes and friends alike. Those who are unskilled with language, like Bottom in A Midsummer Nights Dream, bungle through a speech with their misuse of words and inadvertent puns. Both types of characters are amusing; we smile a knowing smile with the wits and laugh out loud at the bunglers.

COMMEDIA DELLARTE
A unique kind of farce is the commedia dellarte, which developed among traveling companies in Italy and France in the 16th and 17th centuries. The broadly humorous characters of commedia dellarte recurred from play to play with consistent names and characteristics. The action usually involved a plot of intrigue. The lovers were Inamorato and Inamorata (like Clitander and Lucinda in Love Is

the Doctor), who were afraid by Inamoratas clever servant, the soubrette (like Lisette) to overcome Pantaloon, the old man (like Sganarelle). The servant characters were Harlequin (who was invisible) and Columbine (his sweetheart, also invisible), who were joined in highjinks by Pierrot (a clown lover) and Scaramouche (the soldier). Types of Comedy The broadly humorous characters of commedia dellarte recurred from play to play with consistent names and characteristics. The action usually involved a plot of intrigue. The lovers were Inamorato and Inamorata (like Clitander and Lucinda in Love Is the Doctor), who were afraid by Inamoratas clever servant, the soubrette (like Lisette) to overcome Pantaloon, the old man (like Sganarelle). The servant characters were Harlequin (who was invisible) and Columbine (his sweetheart, also invisible), who were joined in highjinks by Pierrot (a clown lover) and Scaramouche (the soldier).

WEEK VII
Writing about Plot
Introduction This part presents brief references to the principal characters, circumstances, and issues of the plot. It should also present a sentence describing the plot or principal conflict. The thesis sentence contains the topics to be developed in the body. Body This part focuses on the major elements of the plot, brought out to emphasize the plan of conflict in the story or play. The questions that need explaining in this part include: Who is the main character? What is the conflict? Who are the protagonist/antagonist characters? Writing about Plot - How is the conflict revealed in the work? Since a description of elements in a plot can grow too long, it is necessary to be selective and also to decide on a particular approach. Accordingly, it is preferable to stress the major character and his or her involvement in the conflict. If a play presents a conflict between two major characters, it will be necessary to focus equally on both. The plot may be analyzed more broadly in terms of things such as impulses, goals, ideas, values, issues, and historical perspectives.

 Conclusion This part may contain a brief summary of the points in the body. It is possible to give additional comments such as an evaluation of the plot, such as whether the author has contrived the plot or whether the plot is realistic and impartial. Sample 1: The Plot of Maria Irene Fornes One-Act Play, Springtime Springtime as the title suggests does not clearly tell a story related to the blossoming season of the year. Yet, after reading the play from scene 1 to scene 14, the plot is clear that what the title means is more related to the springing love of the characters. The play portrays a relationship between a lesbian couple, Rainbow and Greta. The relationship finally broke up because the presence of a third figure, a man named Ray. Rainbow and Greta kept apart from each other and lived in their separate ways. The conflict they have relate to their economic life, love relationship, and misunderstanding. Rainbow and Greta were a couple who had a hardship in their economic life. Rainbow often did some stealing to fulfill their daily needs. One day, when Greta was lying ill on the bed, Rainbow had to steal a wristwatch from a man named Ray. Though formerly Greta did not agree with what Rainbow wanted to do, Rainbow persisted. She sold the wristwatch to a buyer and got the money. Yet, Ray could catch Rainbow the other day and threatened to bring her to jail soon. The conflict in relationship occurs firstly between Greta and Rainbow. One day, Rainbow questioned about Gretas being somewhat impatient in interacting with herself. But Greta argued that she was still patient as before. The conflict then appears in the relationship between Rainbow and Ray. After Ray caught Rainbow, he made her go with him to his place. Rainbow then told Greta that Ray hated her for no reason, not because of the stolen wristwatch. Similarly, Rainbow hated Ray but for a reason. She told Greta about Rays questions whether she liked men or women. Rainbow answered by saying that it did not make a difference whether she liked men or women, but she wanted to love someone she already loved and did not want to like men when she did not. The one she meant to love was Greta. At other times, Greta was wondering about whether or not she and Rainbow saw things differently. Greta felt worried if they saw things differently. Yet, Rainbow pacified her by saying that they didnt. Unexpectedly, Greta found pictures showing Rainbow lying naked with Ray. Greta was so furious and asked Rainbow why she did so. Rainbow answered that she had to do so to get money from Ray for her treatment. The conflict complicates as the three characters were involved in a seemingly triangle love affair. It was the day when Ray came to their house to see Rainbow. Yet, since Rainbow was going away, Ray was met by Greta. She then told Rainbow

that Ray seemed to be in love. Rainbow felt that probably Ray was preoccupied to her. Greta supposed so, too. Gretas care for Ray caused Rainbows suspicion why Greta seemed to be concerned with him. Greta did not comment anything but just said that Ray was being preoccupied. Rainbows suspicion grew more as she found that there was something Greta hid from her, something related to Ray. She did not feel to be loved by Greta anymore. One time, Ray came to their house again when Greta was alone. Ray tried to tease and and seduce her. When Greta fiercely reprimanded Ray not to touch her, Rainbow came. She looked at them in surprise. Rainbow suspected that there had been a love affair between Greta and Ray. As a resolution, Rainbow decided to break up with Greta. Yet, she sent Greta a letter. In her letter, Rainbow said that she would always love Greta as she once had told her though they were living apart. The conflict among the the three characters as revealed in the plot gives surprise and suspense of the story itself. Fornes has contrived the plot in a simple and straightforward way the story ends by the breakup of the couple because one characters suspicion of another and her inability to forgive anothers supposed betrayal in their love relationship. The plot is reasonable because it reveals humans peccability that betrayal in love in whatever ways usually does not receive forgiving. This shows that one will always need a faithful and honest affection in maintaining a love relation ship.

Writing about Structure

Introduction This part presents a general overview of the work, and then centers on the aspect or aspects of structure to be emphasized in the body of the theme. The central idea is a clear statement about the structure, such as that it is built up to reveal the nature of a characters situation, or that it is designed to create surprise. The thesis sentence points out the various main headings of the body. Body This part is best developed in agreement with what the work contains. A story may contain a number of separate scenes or settings, such as the countryside, city, and the like. This section explains the relationship of each setting to the development of the plot. Questions to be explored in this part would be: Where does the climax begin? What events are included in it? What is the resolution of the story?

 Conclusion This part highlights the main parts of the theme. It also deal briefly with the relationship of structure to the plot. Give your comment whether or not the structure is successful enough as brought about by the authors choices in plot development. Sample 1 Structure of Maria Irene Fornes Springtime Fornes Springtime is one-act play. Yet, different from other one-act plays, this play is structured in 14 short scenes with titles or vignettes or a short descriptive essay or a scene sketch. The presence of these vignettes help readers to read and understand the story more easily. The scenes are arranged in a linear plot except scene 3 and 6, which present flashback events first, when Rainbow told Greta about her stealing of Rays wristwatch and second, when Rainbow told Greta about Rays questioning to her whether she liked men or women. The arrangement of the vignettes from one scene to anothe scene evokes surprise, discovery, and also suspense. They are arranged in a chronological order, from exposition to resolution. The skillful control of the structure is shown by the chronological scenes as showing the stages in a plot structure and surprise and suspense revealed in the last scenes. The chronological scenes of the play portray the sequence of the characters conflict. The exposition is when Rainbow and Greta were a close couple. The complication is when Greta was ill and Rainbow had to steal to get money for her treatment. The rising action is when Rainbow was caught by Ray and interrogated by him; when Greta wondered about whether they saw things differently; when Greta discovered Rainbows pictures showing her lying naked with Ray. The climax is when Rainbow caught Ray in the act of teasing and seducing Greta. The resolution is when Rainbow felt disappointed and hurt because of suspecting Greta to have an affair with Ray and so she decided to leave Greta. Yet, Rainbow sent Greta a letter by saying that she would always love her. The chronological vignettes of the scenes in the play bring the readers to keep track of the plot development step by step. The song Melancholy Baby in scene 13 escalates the tension between Rainbow and Greta. In some ways, the song shows ones faithful love to another and tries to console each other to restore to their former closeness. The surprise and suspense come hand in hand from the scenes when Greta wonders if Rainbow loved Ray. It shows Gretas worry in case Rainbow would leave her for Ray. Yet, Rainbow assured her if she did not love Ray but her. Again Greta felt doubtful and worried about whether they saw things differently. Another suspense is when Greta found Rainbows naked pictures with Ray. Surprise and

suspense appear in scene 12 when Rainbow caught Ray in the act of seducing Greta. Most of the vignettes that present the name Greta as the center show that she is not the one to blame for the breakup with Rainbow. Greta becomes the central character both in the exposition (scene 1 Falling in Love with Greta) and the resolution (scene 14 Greta Reads Rainbows Letter). Scenes in the exposition then continue to those in the rising action and resolution, in which all of these scenes present more privilege to Greta rather than to Rainbow. All in all, the emotional tension evoked by the breakup of the characters due to suspicion and disbelief that makes the plot structure be a taut and united work.

Writing about Character

Introduction This part begins with a brief indentification of the character to be analyzed, which may be followed reference to noteworthy problems in defining the characters qualities. The central idea is a statement about the major trait or quality of the character. The thesis sentence links the central idea to the main sections to be covered in the body. Body The organization is designed to illustrate the central idea and make it convincing. It includes the following aspects: 1. Organization around central traits or major characteristics. For example: kindness, generosity, etc. This means to describe how these qualities are shown in the characters speeches and actions. 2. Organization around the growth or change of a character The beginning of such a body would establish the traits the characters have at the start of the story, and then describe the changes or developments that occur. Instead of retelling a narrative dramatic action, it is necessary to stress the actual alterations as they emerge from the circumstances of the work. 3. Organization around central incidents, objects, or quotationsthat reveal primary characteristics, bring them out, or even cause them. Certain key incidents may stand out in a work, as will objects closely associated with the character being analyzed and several key quotations spoken by the character or by someone else in the work. 4. Organization around qualities of a flat character or characters. This part describes the relationship of the flat character to the round ones and the importance of this relationship, and any additional qualities or traits revealed in the work.

 Conclusion This section presents statements about how the discussed characteristics are related to the story or play as a whole. Sample 1 Character in Maria Irene Fornes Springtime Springtime presents three characters: Rainbow, Greta, and Ray. Yet, Rays speech is not present in the play but his presence and action through Rainbows flashback recount or his coming in the last scene. So, Rainbow and Greta are the protagonists while Ray might be considered as the antagonist in view of his role as the heartbreaker or someone who caused the breakup between Rainbow and Greta. Rainbow is 29 years old, Greta 26, while Ray is 27. Both women are slim. While Rainbow is characterized as a spirited and energetic one, Greta is beautiful and shy. Ray is a rather nervous but handsome man. Greta seems to be a German descent or the one who can speak German. Both of them have a lesbian relation. It seems that Rainbow becomes the man in their relation because she is the one who has to earn some money for their living. Rainbow is portrayed as the one who cares and loves Greta. She is attentive and responsible towards Greta. She is willing to steal from others just to get money for Gretas treatment. Yet, Rainbows closeness and affection to Greta changes into disappointment and alienation when she suspects Greta of having an affair with Ray. Rainbows change of attitude is caused by suspicion, prejudice, and jealousy. Rainbows care for Greta is shown by her suspicion of Gretas ease in losing her temper while Greta doesnt feel that way. Rainbow also likes to ask Greta to say about her losing of temper in German for several times. It shows that Rainbow feels somewhat doubtful or suspicious of Gretas love to her. Then, Rainbow again feels suspicioous after Ray came to their place (scene 10). Greta told her about Rays strange behavior that seems to be in love. Gretas attention and concern about Ray makes Rainbow feel suspicious. Afterwards, Rainbow feels that Greta does not love her as dearly as she did before (scene 11). In a word, Rainbows suspicion of Greta has influenced the harmony and continuation of their relation. The next factor that causes the breakup is Rainbows prejudice towards Greta. Rainbow assumed that Greta and Ray had a love affair when she got Ray in the act of teasing and seducing Greta (scene 12). Rainbow did not ask for explanation from Greta about whether or not she had an affair with Ray. Probably Greta indeed had a crush on Ray but she did not try to show her feeling as she knew that Ray seemed to be in love with Rainbow. On the other hand, Rainbow was somewhat inconsiderate and reckless in assuming that Greta

and Ray had an affair. Because of her prejudice before finding the proofs, Rainbow decided to break up her relationship with Greta. In a word, this prejudice becomes another factor that leads Rainbow to keep apart from Greta. Rainbows separation from Greta also shows her jealousy. Rainbow felt jealous because Greta had betrayed their love by turning to Ray. Being suspicious of their affair, Rainbow decided to leave Greta (scene 13). Rainbow felt that Rays presence had broken their closeness. At best, she found that Ray and Greta seemed to be attracted with each other. Despite her jealousy, Rainbow said in her letter that she would always love Greta as she had uttered in the beginning. It shows that Rainbow was also a somewhat forgiving and tolerant person. Yet, despite Rainbows lasting love to Greta, her jealousy becomes the next factor that changes her former character, from being full of care and affection to being detached and estranged physically from Greta. In conclusion, besides the three aspects that cause Rainbow to have changed her attitude, Rainbows act in a way also a considerate and firm attitude. She did not want her love to Greta to be betrayed by Gretas love to Ray. In case of her suspicion and prejudice that had no proof, her separation might also show her selfish and somewhat obstinate character. All in all, Rainbow is just an ordinary person who certainly feels hurt when her love is betrayed.

WEEK VIII
Writing about Setting
(Stage Directions) Introduction This part presents a brief description of the setting or scenes of the play, with a characterization of the degree of detail presented by the author. The central idea explains the relationship to be explored in the essay, and the thesis sentence determines the major topics in which the central idea is revealed. Body There are five possible approaches in writing about setting. 1. Setting and Action Here you explore the use of setting in the various actions of the work. Questions to be explained in this part are such as: Writing about Setting (Stage Directions) How detailed and extensive are the descriptions of the setting?

 Are the scenes related to action? Does the setting serve as part of the action? Are details of setting used regularly, or are they mentioned only when they become necessary to an action? Do any physical objects figure into the play as causes of inspiration or conflict (for example, a walking stick, a necklace, a chair, a suitcase, etc.)? 2. Setting and Organization It means to connect setting to the organization of the work. Some questions to be explained are: Is the setting a frame or an enclosure? Writing about Setting (Stage Directions) Is the setting mentioned at various points, or at shifts in the action? Does the setting undergo any changes as the action changes? Do any parts of the setting have greater direct importance in shaping the action than other parts? Do any objects (property) such as chair, picture , etc. Figure into the developing or changing motivation of the characters? 3. Setting and Character This part describes the effects of setting on characters. The major question is to what degree the setting seems to interact or influence character. Some other questions are like: Does the economic, cultural, or ethnic level of the setting make the characters think in any unique ways? Writing about Setting (Stage Directions) How does the setting influence the characters decisions, speech habits, eating habits, attitudes about social relation, and general folkways? 4. Setting and Atmosphere Write what aspects of setting that evoke a mood. Some questions are: Does the setting exceed the minimum needed for action or character? Do clear details help clarify the conflicts in the story, or do vague and amorphous details help clarify to make these conflicts problematic? Are descriptive words used mainly to paint verbal pictures or to evoke a mood through references to colors, shapes, sounds, smells, or tastes? Writing about Setting (Stage Directions)

5. Other Aspects If the author has used setting as a means of underscoring the circumstances and ideas in the work, you might use the section on statement as a guide for writing this part. Conclusion This part summarizes your major points. You might also write about anything you neglected in the body. You might treat the relationship of the setting to the action, and mention something about noticeable connections that the setting has with character or atmosphere. You might also point out whether your central idea about the setting also applies to other major aspects of the work. Sample 1 Setting/Stage Directions in Maria Irene Fornes Springtime Springtime is set in a small city in the year of 1958. Meanwhile, the stage directions present two kinds of properties the courtyard of a medical school represented by a square light on the down-right area of the stage (scene 1) and Rainbows bedroom, a small room with some properties such as a chair, a small bed with metal foot and headboard, a night table, a book, a pitcher of water, and a glass (scene 2). Among the properties, the chair and the small bed are those that always appear in each scene. But the small bed is mostly apparent in all scenes. Gretas action is portrayed mostly around the bed either lying on the bed as she was ill or sitting on the bed when talking to Rainbow or Ray. The bed as one property of stage directions gives some clues about the characters innocence as well as their feeble and vulnerable personal relation. The bed reflects the characters innocence since it is the only place where they share their love feeling with each other and with Ray. Occasionally, they, especially Rainbow sat on the chair. Yet, Greta is mostly portrayed to have been lying on the bed, either when she was ill or not. The bed also reflects Gretas somewhat passive character compared to Rainbows , that is more energetic. The bed becomes the place where Greta was lying on when she was ill; consequently, Rainbow had to do some stealing to get some money for Greta. The bed reflects Gretas shyness and passivity as compared to Rainbows more dynamic and mobile behavior. It seems to reflect Gretas traits who is shy and innocent. Besides, the bed also projects Rainbows faithful love and affectionate attitude towards Greta since it is the place where Rainbow frankly shared her relation with Ray to Greta who was lying on it. The bed then becomes the place that inaugurates the somewhat impeccable affection of one character and faithful love of another one.

The bed on the other hand also reveals the characters feeble and vulnerable relation. Greta was sitting on the bed when Rainbow told her about her confession to Ray that she would always love Greta (scene 6). Rainbow was faithful with her love to Greta; she did not have any wish to love Ray or any other men. One time Greta doubted about whether or not they saw things differently. She expressed this while lying on the bed (scene 7). When Greta identified Ray to have been preoccupied, she also stood near the bed (scene 10). This scene shows that Greta seemed to be in love with Ray. Rainbow found out that Greta hid something from her. As Rainbow expressed her feeling not to be loved anymore by Greta as before, the latter was lying on the bed (scene 11). This scene gives clues to the faltering relation between Rainbow and Greta. It reaches the climax when Rainbow caught Ray in the act of teasing and seducing Greta. Greta was also lying on the bed. From the way Greta rebuked at Ray by saying not again, not again, never again, it seems that Ray had ever done some harassment to Greta before (scene 12). Feeling hurt and disappointed that her love had been betrayed, Rainbow decided to leave Greta. As the song Melancholy Baby was heard, Rainbow was standing at the door looking out while Greta was sitting on the bed (scene 13). Only in scene 14, Greta sat on the chair when she was reading a letter from Rainbow. In short, the bed as one property of the room in the medical center and part of stage directions represents the feeble and vulnerable relation of the characters. At least, it becomes the place where they met, shared their feeling, and also broke up their relation because of the third persons intervention. All in all, the setting in Springtime is effective enough to give effects to the tension among the characters. The use of a small bed, a chair in the small room reveals a simple but intense conflict among the characters who are in conflict with the desire to maintain a faithful love on the one hand and the infatuation with anothers love on the other. The title of the play then seems to describe the new beginning of each character: for Greta, it will be her time to continue her love with Ray; for Rainbow, it will be her moments to begin new days in her life.

Writing about a Major Idea or Theme

Introduction This part presents any special circumstances in the work that affect ideas generally or your ideas specifically. Your statement of the idea will serve as the central idea for your essay. Your thesis sentence should indicate the particular parts or aspects of the story.

 Body The exact form of your essay is controlled by your goals, which are (1) to define the idea, and (2) to show its importance in the work. Here are a number of strategies for developing the body: 1. THE FORM OF THE WORK AS A PLAN, SCHEME, OR LOGICAL FORMAT. For example: the idea makes for a two-part work, the first showing religion as punishment and the second showing religion as kindness. 2. A SPEECH OR SPEECHES. Example: The priests conversation and responses to Jackie show in operation the idea that kindness and understanding are the best means to encourage religious commitment. 3. A CHARACTER OR CHARACTERS. Example: Minnie Wright embodies the idea that a life lived amid alienation and insensitivity can lead to unhappiness and even to violence. 4. AN ACTION OR ACTIONS. Example: That Mrs. Popov and Smirnov fall in love rather than fight a duel indicates Chekhovs idea that love is so strong that it may almost literally rescue human lives. 5. SHADES OR VARIATIONS OF THE IDEA. Example: The idea of punishment as a corrective is brought out through the simplicity of the fathers flaking of Jackie, the spitefulness of Nora, etc. 6. A COMBINATION OF THESE TOGETHER WITH ANY OTHER ASPECT RELEVANT TO THE WORK. Example: The idea in The Bear that love is complex and contradictory is shown in Smirnovs initial scorn of Mrs. Popov because of his personal bitterness against women, his self-reproach when he realizes he is falling in love with her, and his actually embracing her at the end of the play. (Here the idea is to be traced as speech, character, and action in the play) Conclusion This part summarizes the idea. You might also add statements such as your evaluation of the ideas validity or force. If you have been convinced by the authors idea, you might say that the author has expressed the idea convincingly, or else you might show the relevance of the idea to current conditions. Theme in Maria Irene Fornes Springtime In her one-act play, Fornes presents her three characters Rainbow, Greta, and Ray to have been entangled in a triangle love. Rainbow and Greta formerly had a love relation as lesbian couple before Ray, a man of 27 years old came and intruded their relation. Rainbow had devoted her love and care only to Greta. But then Rays presence had diverted Gretas attention from her. Feeling betrayed, Rainbow decided to break up the relation with Greta. By the characters conflict, this play

evokes ideas from the readers. Some of these ideas can be formulated as follows: love relationship needs sacrifice and faithfulness from one individual to another; love betrayal is prevalent in a love relationship even among true companions. One of the plays major ideas is that faithfulness is necessary to keep a love relationship going. This idea is shown in Rainbows firmness to break up her relation with Greta and her attempt to reassert her sincere love to Greta. Rainbows firmness to break up the relation shows her principle that she did not want to be betrayed by Greta. Rainbow was so disappointed to find out that Greta and Ray furtively had an affair. Rainbow had been faithful to Greta and always cared about her but unexpectedly Greta had betrayed her love. Rainbows reassertion of her love to Greta also indicates that she is the one who highly respects a faithful relation. Arguments she gave to Ray about her only love feeling to Greta shows her faithful attitude. Rainbow wanted Greta to realize the meaning of to love and to be loved (scene 11). By saying so, Rainbow seems to suspect an affair between Greta and Ray. The idea that Fornes embodied in the work is quite common in many popular songs, stories, melodramas and movies. As the title suggests, the word springtime evokes an idea of love that is blossoming Blossoming like flowers in spring. In this case, Fornes seems to win Greta rather than Rainbow in their relation with Ray. It seems that in some ways, being passive and shy often triumphs over love rather than being assertive. All in all, the idea is acceptable and reasonable that faithfulness is always necessary in any relationship. The idea prevails in human relationship.

Writing about Tone

Introduction This part describes the general situation of the work and the mood or impression that it may leave with you. The central idea should be about the aspect or aspects that you plan to develop in the body, such as that the work leads to cynicism, as in The Chaser, or to laughter and delight, as in The Bear. The central idea might be that the diction of the work is designed to portray the life of ordinary people, or to show the pretentiousness of various speakers or characters, or to call upon the readers ability to visualize experience. The thesis sentence contains the major aspects to be explored in the body. Body This part should examine all aspects bearing on the tone of the work. Some of the things to cover include: 1. THE AUDIENCE, SITUATION, AND CHARACTERS.

 Is any person or group directly addressed by the authors voice? What attitude seems to be expressed (love, respect, confidence, etc.)? What does irony show about the authors apparent attitudes? Why does the speaker seem to speak exactly as he or she does? 2. DESCRIPTIONS, DICTION. Are there any systematic references, such as to colors, sounds, noises, natural scenes, and so on, that collectively reflect an attitude? Do speech or dialect patterns indicate attitudes about speakers or their condition of life? Are speech patterns normal and standard, or slang or substantial? Writing about Tone 3. HUMOR. Is the work funny? How is the humor achieved? Does the humor develop out of incongruous situations or language, or both? Is there an underlying basis of attack in the humor, or are the objects of laughter still respected or even loved despite having humor directed against them? 4. IDEAS. How does the author make his or her attitude clear directly, by statement, or indirectly, through understatement, overstatement, or the language of a character? In what ways does the work assume a common ground of assent between author and reader? Are there common assumptions about religious views, political ideas, behavioral standards, etc.? 5. UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORK. Each work has unique properties that may contribute to the tone. Conclusion This part summarizes the main points of the tone of the work. You may state redefinitions, explanations in this. You might mention some other major aspect of the works tone that you did not develop in the body. Any or all the details are relevant here, as long as you emphasize the writers technique.

Week IX Mid-Term Test

Week X XI
Types of Comedy (Farce) FARCE The quintessential type of low comedy is farce (a word derived from the Latin word farsus, meaning stuffed). A farce is an outlandish physical comedy overflowing with silly characters, improbable happenings, wild clowning, extravagant language, and bawdy jokes. SLAPSTICK With characters of low comedy, of course, there is much tomfoolery and improvisation the major qualities of the extreme form of farce, slapstick, which is named after the double paddles (slap sticks) that made loud cracking noises when actors in the commedia dellarte used them to whack each other. Slapstick depends heavily on exaggerated poses and facial expressions. In slapstick there is constant onstage business with objects like paddles, pies, pails, paint, paste, or toilet paper, along with wild and improbable actions such as squirming, hiding, tripping, stumbling, tumbling, falling, and flopping.

Week XII
Types of Comedy COMEDY OF MANNERS Related to romantic comedy is the comedy of manners, an important type from the 17th century to our own times. The comedy of manners examines and satirizes attitudes and customs in the light of high intellectual and moral standards. The dialogue is witty and sophisticated, and characters are often measured according to linguistic and intellectual powers. The love plots are serious and real, even though they share with romantic comedy the need to create intrigues to overcome blocking forces. SATIRIC COMEDY Midway between high and low comedy is satiric comedy, which is designed to ridicule vices and follies. The playwright of satiric comedy assumes the perspective of a rational and moderate observer measuring human life against a moderate norm that can be represented by high and serious characters. The audience is invited to share with this viewpoint as they, along with the dramatist, heap scorn upon the vicious and laugh loudly at the eccentric and the foolish.

 Types of Comedy Differences in comic style, content, and intent that have evolved over the centuries make it possible to divide comedy into various types. The broadest of these divisions, based on both style and content, separates all comic literature into high comedy and low comedy. Low Comedy Low comedy emphasizes on funny remarks and outrageous circumstances; complications develop from situation and plot rather than from character. Plays of this type are by definition full of physical humor and stage business a character rounds his forefinger and thumb to imitate a wall, through which other characters speak; an irascible man constantly breaks furniture; a character disguised as a doctor takes a fathers pulse to determine his daughters condition. High Comedy Ideally, high comedy (a term coined by George Meredith in 1877 in the Idea of Comedy) is witty, graceful, and sophisticated. The complications and problems grow out of character rather than situation, and the appeal is to the intellect.

Week XIII XV
Vision of Realistic and Non-Realistic Drama (Melodrama) Aristotle said that drama was an imitation of an action; that is, each play represents a significant and discrete series of actions that make up a complete story in the lives of the major characters. To achieve the outcome of the action, a playwright must introduce restrictions and non-realistic conventions that support the presentation of the story. Thus, there were what they called realistic and non-realistic drama. In realistic drama, the playwright seeks to create an illusion of reality verisimilitude. The situations, problems, characters, dialogue, and other elements are all those that might genuinely exist in the real world. In non-realistic drama, a playwright presents essential features of character and society through techniques that do not try to mirror life. It employs whatever conventions the playwright finds useful. It can be full of devices that break through the illusion on the stage (or the page) and scream out that the play is a play a work of art, a stylized imitation of something remotely connected to life (Roberts & Jacobs, 1998). For example: Thornton Wilders Our Town, Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie. Meanwhile, some examples of realistic drama include Anton

Chekovs The Cherry Orchard, George Bernard Shaws Arms and the Man, Pygmalion, etc. Elements of Realistic and Non-realistic Drama THE STORIES - it relates to the sequence of events or plot. THE CHARACTERS in realistic drama, the characters can be representative, symbolic, or even stock characters, but they must sound and act like human beings. In non-realistic drama, the characters can be nameless figures who have no background or motivation and who drop in and out of character as the playwright wishes. LANGUAGE in a realistic drama, the language is usually an accurate reproduction of the diction appropriate to the class or group of people portrayed. THE STAGE such differences in plot, characterization, and language are matched by differences in production techniques. While the staging of a realistic drama must be as true to life as possible, non-realistic drama can be staged with few or no realistic effects. The sets can be symbolic and expressive of mood, employing lighting and a semitransparent painted cloth (called a scrim) to create the simultaneous effect of multiple places or times. In addition, a playwright can introduce music, special sound effects, words or images projected onto a wall or screen, action and speeches made directly to the reader.

Week XVI
1. Plays in New Directions Much twentieth-century drama, has been in rebellion against convention. It was characterized with some major movements such as: The Theatre of the Absurd it surfaced in the 50s to challenge the tradition of issue-oriented realistic plays and turn theatre upside down. For example: Eugene Ionescos The Bald Soprano, Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot. The theatre of the absurd mirrored the conviction that the reality acted out in most stage plays is artificial. Epic Theatre this play discards customary theatrical tricks and conventions for a ballad-like storytelling, Plays in New Directions With the author often painting the ideological moral. For example: Bertolt Brechts The Life of Galileo, etc.

2.

3. Psychological Realism a kind of a realistic theatre play, which probes deeper into the psychic hurts and existential frustrations of its characters, seemingly

responding to some deep-seated need of the audience for catharsis. For example: Harold Pinters Homecoming, David Mamets Glengarry Glen Ross, Oleanna is the past master of the theater of confrontation, indictment, and self-laceration (Guth & Rico, 1997). Plays in New Directions Feminist Playwrights and Critics the emergence of female playwrights challenged the domination of the theater by male dramatists. Female playwrights include Susan Glaspells Trifles, Lillian Hellmans The Childrens Hour, ntozake shange, Beth Henley, Caryl Churchill, Tina Howe, and many others. Multicultural Perspectives - plays from outside the white mainstream have made their way into the established canon from minority sources and from other plays made their way into anthologies. For example: August Wilsons The Piano Lesson, Luis Valdez The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, Los Vendidos, and others.

Final Exam Drama Analysis Semester III (Literature) January 13, 2011
Answer the following questions in brief by organizing your analysis in three parts: INTRODUCTION, BODY, and CONCLUSION. Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Explain in brief the PLOT and STRUCTURE of Ibsens drama. Draw also the plot using Freytags diagram. Give some quotations to support your answer. Give a brief sketch about the CHARACTERS in the play. Emphasize on the main character (protagonist). What conflict do they have and what traits do they embody? Describe the SETTING/STAGE DIRECTIONS of the play. What are the relevance of the objects/properties to the story of the play? Formulate the major idea or THEME of the play. Support your answer with some explanation. Point out what the TONE of the play is. Elaborate your answer. Answer the following questions in brief by organizing your analysis in three parts: INTRODUCTION, BODY, and CONCLUSION.

1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

Anton Chekhovs The Seagull 1. Explain in brief the PLOT and STRUCTURE of Ibsens drama. Draw also the plot using Freytags diagram. Give some quotations to support your answer. 2. Give a brief sketch about the CHARACTERS in the play. Emphasize on the main character (protagonist). What conflict do they have and what traits do they embody?

3. Describe the SETTING/STAGE DIRECTIONS of the play. What are the relevance of the objects/properties to the story of the play? 4. Formulate the major idea or THEME of the play. Support your answer with some explanation. 5. Point out what the TONE of the play is. Elaborate your answer. Types of Comedy Differences in comic style, content, and intent that have evolved over the centuries make it possible to divide comedy into various types. The broadest of these divisions, based on both style and content, separates all comic literature into high comedy and low comedy. High Comedy Ideally, high comedy (a term coined by George Meredith in 1877 in the Idea of Comedy) is witty, graceful, and sophisticated. The complications and problems grow out of character rather than situation, and the appeal is to the intellect. ROMANTIC COMEDY One of the major kinds of high comedy is romantic comedy, which views action and character from the standpoint of earnest young lovers like Hermia and Lysander in A Midsummer Nights Dream. Ultimately derived from Roman comedy, this kind of play is built on a plot of intrigue featuring lovers who try to overcome opposition (like Egeus) to achieve a successful union. The aim of such plays is amusement and entertainment rather than ridicule and reform. Although vice and folly may be exposed in romantic comedy, especially in the antagonists blocking the young lovers, the dominant impulse is toleration and amused indulgence. COMEDY OF MANNERS Related to romantic comedy is the comedy of manners, an important type from the 17th century to our own times. The comedy of manners examines and satirizes attitudes and customs in the light of high intellectual and moral standards. The dialogue is witty and sophisticated, and characters are often measured according to linguistic and intellectual powers. The love plots are serious and real, even though they share with romantic comedy the need to create intrigues to overcome blocking forces.