ARISTOTLE’S 6 ELEMENTS OF DRAMA – It is necessary for ALL 6 elements to exist in order to have a successful drama PLOT – The sequence of Events CHARACTER – All the characters who are in the play (seen and unseen). IDEA – What is the play about? What is the overall message? LANGUAGE – English? Other languages? Regional Dialect? Accent(s)? MUSIC – other than actual music (say in a musical). What each character’s lines sound like. The pitch, rhythm, loudness, softness, how quickly or slowly they say the line. Tone: Sarcastic/Loving/Kind/Mean/Bully/etc. SPECTACLE – What the overall production will look like in performance complete with actors, set, props and costumes. The play being presented in front of a live audience. GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES – what the script gives you in the actual dialogue, stage direction, title, etc. Also what can be inferred when reading the text. Given Circumstances are found in the text (what is actually written) as well as the subtext (what is not written, but what a character actually wants, means, needs) Remember, characters can lie. They may have the written text “I don’t love you” but as an audience we realize that they do in fact love that person very much even though they don’t admit it. (that’s the subtext). Given Circumstances strive to answer the following: Who – is in the play? Is the play about? What – is happening? When – time period, decade, time of day/night Where – location in terms of geography (deep south, NYC, rural America) as well as setting (office, bedroom, kitchen) Why – what’s the idea of the play? The overall message(s)? (How) – does the play evolve? Do the character’s interact? Does the play get the message or overall idea across? Is it in the dialogue? The Action? WORKSHEET: ARISTOTLE’S 6 ELEMENTS OF DRAMA GIVEN CIRCUMSANCES TITLE OF PLAY OR CHARACTER’S NAME: _______________________________________________________________________ ARISTOTLE’S 6 ELEMENTS PLOT: _________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ CHARACTER(s):_________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ IDEA:__________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ LANGUAGE:___________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ MUSIC:_________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ SPECTACLE:____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES: WHO: WHAT: WHEN: WHERE: WHY: HOW: