Question 1

Choose a well-known ritual such as a funeral, wedding ceremony, or inauguration and analyze the individual elements of it. Is there a structure to it? What is it?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Choose a well-known ritual such as a...

Question 2

Discuss current films or television shows in terms of dramatic structure. Do certain types of shows (such as police action shows or situation comedies) tend to use one type of structure more than the other? Why might this be the case?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss current films or television shows in...

Question 3

Using a historical incident, suggest episodic and climactic plays that might be derived from the events. For instance, a playwright who wanted to write a climactic play based on the life of John F.Kennedy might focus on the Cuban missile crisis, and the way that the subject was treated would be influenced by the structure. What other parts of Kennedy's life might the playwright choose? If he or she wanted to write an episodic play of the same incident, how would it change? What could be shown more easily in an episodic structure? In a climactic structure?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Using a historical incident, suggest episodic and...

Question 4

Examine the periods in which certain structures have been dominant. Can you see anything in the society that would lead to a preference for such a form?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Examine the periods in which certain structures...

Question 5

Discuss whether a particular medium leads to the use of one of the structures. For instance, does film's ability to easily move from place to place encourage an episodic structure?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss whether a particular medium leads to...

Question 6

Discuss whether a particular theatre space, or a particular style of theatre, seems better suited to either of the dramatic structures. For instance, did the design of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre encourage him to write in the epic structure? Does realism and naturalism encourage the use of the climactic structure?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss whether a particular theatre space, or...

Question 7

Identify and discuss ways in which television dramas or popular films utilize the deus ex machina dramatic device to wrap up a story.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Identify and discuss ways in which television...

Question 8

Describe a dramatic character that the spectator dislikes (e.g., Iago, Lady Macbeth, Severus Snape or Hannibal Lecter) and explain how the performer playing the part could be admired at the same time that the character is despised. Could we say that the more we dislike a villainous character, the more we are admiring a performance?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe a dramatic character that the spectator...

Question 9

Extraordinary characters are increasingly prevalent in today's films. Discuss such characters. In what type of films do they most often appear? How can we, as normal people, relate to such characters? What values might the character and the audience share?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Extraordinary characters are increasingly prevalent in today's...

Question 10

Explain the major differences among characters in the three major categories: extraordinary, representative, and stock.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain the major differences among characters in...

Question 11

Discuss the stock characters of Italian commedia dell'arte. In what way is their behavior predictable and stereotypical? Compare and contrast them with television situation comedy (sit-com) characters.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss the stock characters of Italian commedia...

Question 12

What kinds of stock characters do we find in modern theatre, movies, or television (for instance, in the spy action/thriller, the soap opera, and the detective story)?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What kinds of stock characters do we...

Question 13

Stock characters have been used in entertainment throughout history. Discuss the relationship between stock characters and ethnic and religious stereotypes. When does a stock character become a negative stereotype? Is it possible to have a stock character that does not insult a group? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Stock characters have been used in entertainment...

Question 14

Why might nonhuman characters, such as animals, be effective for certain plays? What sorts of personalities are typified by certain animals? Discuss these answers in terms of fairy tales, for instance, or Walt Disney or Pixar animation.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why might nonhuman characters, such as animals,...

Question 15

Human beings are all complex people, with many reasons for doing what they do. In real life, there are no stock characters or minor characters. Discuss why such characters are used in drama. Draw on the ideas of selectivity and point of view discussed in previous chapters.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Human beings are all complex people, with...

Question 16

Discuss and analyze the differences between stock characters and characters with a dominant trait. What is distinctive about the similarities between the two types of characters that allow us to think of them differently?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss and analyze the differences between stock...

Question 17

What about "normal, everyday"
people in a play or film-i.e., characters who are not extraordinary, representative, stock, or possessing a single characteristic? Are there such characters? Would "normal, everyday"
people be "representative"? Is part of drama about revealing what is extraordinary or representative about people?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What about "normal, everyday"
people in a play...

Question 18

Do stock characters or characters with a single trait lack psychological depth?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Do stock characters or characters with a...

Question 19

Recall stock characters in film or television that were designed to mislead the audience into assuming they possessed one or two characteristics but, it turns out, become more multidimensional. What are the various reasons as to why this strategy may be used?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Recall stock characters in film or television...

Question 20

Recall the Wicked Witch of the West from the classic film The Wizard of Oz. How does that character differ from the same character, Elphaba, from the Broadway musical Wicked? Which is an extraordinary character and which is a stock character. Explain why. How does the character in Wicked work to deconstruct stereotypes?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Recall the Wicked Witch of the West...

Quiz 7: Dramatic Structure and Dramatic Characters