How to Read Drama
How to Read Drama
Reading a drama is like going to see a play but instead of watching the play unfold with your eyes, you see it unfold in your head. To read a play you must follow a series of steps so you can fully understand what you’re reading and so you won’t get confused. The first thing you must do is look at the title and think to yourself what does the title say about the play. Thinking what the title first means usually affects your thoughts throughout the drama. This is an important step because it helps you understand what the play is about. Its like meeting a new person, first meetings usually affect what you think of them.
The second step is determining the genre of the play; you have to think to yourself is it funny, sad, romantic, dramatic, etc. With different genres come with different story lines, tragedy could end with someone dying, romance could end with “Happily Ever After.” The storyline all depends on the genre. This can help you determine how the play is supposed to go and how the play is supposed to end. With that in mind, think of the setting. Setting isn’t just about time and place, but its much more than that that ties the whole play together. Is the setting appropriate for what is going on in the play? Does it affect the feeling or mood of the play? Analyzing setting helps understand why it is happening.
At times drama can be a bit confusing, but no need to fear! This is why we can visualize images in our heads. Some dramas may contain confusing sentences, when this happens what you should do is read the lines aloud and imagine the scene and action in your head. Visualize the actor saying the lines, this will help in your deeper understanding of the play.
With a play there can be many events that buildup and roll down with a solution, some of the leading event can be confusing to keep up with since there is usually many things going on at the same time. To clear up confusion the best solution for this is to make a summary that
Reading a drama is like going to see a play but instead of watching the play unfold with your eyes, you see it unfold in your head. To read a play you must follow a series of steps so you can fully understand what you’re reading and so you won’t get confused. The first thing you must do is look at the title and think to yourself what does the title say about the play. Thinking what the title first means usually affects your thoughts throughout the drama. This is an important step because it helps you understand what the play is about. Its like meeting a new person, first meetings usually affect what you think of them.
The second step is determining the genre of the play; you have to think to yourself is it funny, sad, romantic, dramatic, etc. With different genres come with different story lines, tragedy could end with someone dying, romance could end with “Happily Ever After.” The storyline all depends on the genre. This can help you determine how the play is supposed to go and how the play is supposed to end. With that in mind, think of the setting. Setting isn’t just about time and place, but its much more than that that ties the whole play together. Is the setting appropriate for what is going on in the play? Does it affect the feeling or mood of the play? Analyzing setting helps understand why it is happening.
At times drama can be a bit confusing, but no need to fear! This is why we can visualize images in our heads. Some dramas may contain confusing sentences, when this happens what you should do is read the lines aloud and imagine the scene and action in your head. Visualize the actor saying the lines, this will help in your deeper understanding of the play.
With a play there can be many events that buildup and roll down with a solution, some of the leading event can be confusing to keep up with since there is usually many things going on at the same time. To clear up confusion the best solution for this is to make a summary that