Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Types of Characters
Types of Characters
WRITING DRAMA
Dramatic Elements
1. Action - what the actors say or do to achieve their objectives
2. Antagonist - the character that stands against the protagonist
3. Arc - the play’s storyline (spine or through-line)
4. Aside - when the actor speaks to the audience and the actors on stage are supposed to act as if they
cannot hear
5. Backstory - events in the past
6. Complications - caused the conflicts
7. Conflicts - problems
8. Deus ex machina - the Greek practice of lowering a god or deity to the stage to solve all problems
9. Discovery - what is achieved when the main character realizes the reality of the situation
10. Double Plots - subplots
11. Dramatic convention - what the audience is willing to accept for the sake of the story
12. Flashback - enactment of a past event for clarifications of situations
13. Foreshadowing - hints
14. Inciting incident - gets the plot going
15. In Medias Res - the opening scene in a middle of an action
16. Intrigue - a scheme by one of the characters, usually causes the complication
17. Music - the mainstay of the musical drama
18. Monologue - an actor’s speech delivery in the presence of others who do not speak but listen
19. Protagonist - the main character
20. Reversal - the character either fails or succeeds (peripety)
21. Scenes - portions of an act
22. Soliloquy- a speech delivered by the actor when they’re alone
23. Stakes - what the character will gain or lose
24. Surprise - something out of the audience’s expectation
25. Suspense - creates a sense of uncertainty
26. Three Unities - needed to achieve verisimilitude
- unity of action, place, and time
ESSAY
Essay - an organized piece of writing that focuses on a single topic or central main idea
SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT
Spoliarium - a Latin word referring to the basement of the Roman Colosseum where dead
gladiators are dumped after fighting for entertainment
Socio-Political Issues:
- Unemployment
- Human Rights
- Immigration
- Poverty
- Crimes
- Gender inequality