EWRT 30 CLASS 17EWRT 30 Class 17

AGENDA Project #3 Due Writing Exercise New Groups 3-5 Terms 10-18 Discussion: Short Plays

Lecture:

Guided Writing

CREATE A CHARACTER EXERCISE

Get out two pieces of paper. Create two complete characters, one on each piece of paper. Do not put your name on the paper.

NAME: BETSY CARBEANOR

Likes: PuppiesDislikes: Horror Movies Needs: A New Shower CurtainBiggest Vice: Ice CreamStrength: GenerosityWeakness: Too TrustingOthers would describe as: a very bubbly personality, always willing to helpOne Childhood Memory: Her dad bought her a balloon at a fair, and it flew away into the skyDeepest Desire: To become a great novel writerBiggest Secret: Closet Pot Smoker

Age: 25Height: 5'5Weight: 105 lbsHair Color: RedHair Style: Pony TailUses: GlassesEyes: GreenSkin: Tan/SmoothWears: Jeans & Tank TopsLives in: Seattle, WashingtonHometown: Everett, WashingtonJob: File Clerk at Court House

NAME: HENRY HOBSONAge: 14Height: 5'9Weight: 150 lbsHair Color: BrownHair Style: ShaggyUses: Anxiety MedicationEyes: HazelSkin: BlackWears: Dress pants and vest-sweatersLives in: South Park, ColoradoHometown: Ephrata, WashingtonJob: StudentLikes: Physics

Dislikes: ArtNeeds: More friendsBiggest Vice: Keeps to himself too muchStrength: Extremely smartWeakness: Social anxietyOthers would describe as: Keeps to himself mostly, bit of a nerdOne childhood Memory: In 4th grade the school bully stuffed him in his lockerDeepest Desire: To have one friend who truly understands himBiggest Secret: Thinks he might be gay

Job:Likes: Dislikes: Needs: Biggest Vice: Strength: Weakness: Others would describe as:One Childhood Memory:Deepest Desire: Biggest Secret:

Name: Age:Height: Weight: Hair Color:Hair Style: Uses: Eyes:Skin: Wears: Lives in: Hometown:

Remember to do two descriptions!When you finish, fold the papers in half and put them to the side for now.

NEW GROUPS

Get into new groups for your final project. Remember the rules: 1. You must change at least 50% of your

team after each project is completed. 2. You may never be on a team with the same

person more than twice. 3. You may never have a new team composed

of more than 50% of any prior team.

THE REVIEW

TERMS 10-18

10.THEME11.COMPLICATION12.DIALOGUE13.DICTION14.TRAGEDY 15.TRAGIC FLAW16.CUE17.SOLILOQUY18.ASIDE

10.ThemeThe idea of a literary work abstracted from its details of language, character, and action, and cast in the form of a generalization.

11. ComplicationAn intensification of the conflict in a story or play. Complication builds up, accumulates, and develops the primary or central conflict in a literary work.

12.DialogueThe conversation of characters in a literary work. In fiction, dialogue is typically enclosed within quotation marks. In plays, characters' speech is preceded by their names.

13.DictionThe selection of words in a literary work. A work's diction forms one of its centrally important literary elements, as writers use words to convey action, reveal character, imply attitudes, identify themes, and suggest values.

14.Tragedya drama where the hero loses.

15.Tragic flawa mistaken action or defect in character. In modern tragedy, the hero can be an ordinary person destroyed by an evil force in society.

16.Cuea signal for an actor to enter or to speak.

17.SoliloquyA long speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters (there generally aren’t any others on stage). The soliloquy represents the character thinking aloud. Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech is an example.

18.AsideWords spoken by an actor directly to the audience, which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play. In Shakespeare's Othello, Iago voices his inner thoughts a number of times as "asides" for the play's audience.

DISCUSSION SUBJECTWriting Drama

TEN-MINUTE PLAYS

Ten-minute plays have become very popular in recent years with the advent of The Actors Theatre of Louisville contest. A good ten-minute play is not a sketch or an extended gag, but rather a complete, compact play, with a beginning, middle and end. It typically takes place in one scene and runs no more than ten pages.

BUT HOW DO WE WRITE ONE?I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED!

1 Know what your play is about. This will keep your characters on track and give your play a sense of unity.

2 Avoid exposition. Dive into your story; after all, you have a ten minute limit. Beginning this way offers a puzzle for your audience to unravel. Remember—we are fascinated by the unknown!

3 Connect every detail to the action of the play.  There is no time for extraneous dialogue. Nothing is random.  If you are writing a play about murder, when the curtain goes up, there should be a body on the stage.

4 Write character dialogue that moves the play forward. All characters have an agenda of sorts. That makes them interesting. Keep your characters talking in ways that further their own interests and desires.

5 Write your characters to be real.  Real characters are excessive in some areas and deficient in others. They are nice sometimes and angry at other times.

6 Don’t waste time talking about anything you can show easily.  Images are more powerful than words. Think about how to communicate through images and props.

7 Every protagonist must have a journey.  He or she should end up someplace (physically, emotionally, or spiritually) radically different from where s/he began. 

8 Write in a point of no return.  Once the protagonist crosses the line, there is no turning back!

9 Do not let your characters off too easy!  If you do, their journey won’t be significant.  They may escape with their lives—but just barely!

10 Use a universal theme in your script.  This allows readers to relate to your world. 

11 Include a climax so the audience is rewarded for their attention. 

12 Bring every detail together in the end. You must get the reader back to the “body”!

GUIDED WRITINGLet’s try this

WITH YOUR GROUP MATES, SORT THROUGH THE CHARACTERS YOU WROTE EARLIER.

What genre might your characters fit?

• Mystery• Romance• Science Fiction/Fantasy• Suspense/Thriller• Western• Horror• Young Adult

Check for combinations of characters that fit together in some way. Search for a protagonist and an antagonist. Do you have a hero? An antihero?

Do your characters call to mind a basic plot?

• Overcoming the Monster• Rags to Riches• The Quest• Voyage and Return• Comedy• Tragedy• Rebirth

CONSIDER THESE POSSIBILITIES Write about someone who goes to such lengths to impress, or get attention, that he or she goes one step too far.Write about an encounter or incident on someone's first visit to either a big city or the country.Write about a car accident with an odd, difficult, or interesting outcome. Use a song or book title to inspire your story.Use a newspaper or magazine story to inspire you.

Study Terms 1-18 Work on your Play

HOMEWORK