help!!drama essay (1 Viewer)

[dark_angel04]

hi, i am desperate for help. my drama teacher hasn't taught us how to write drama essays and now we are expected to write one and i have no idea how to do it. if anyone knows how to write a drama essay could they please tell me!!!
thanx

 

[aLeeOh!]

umm..... well, im no expert on essays..... i mean, to me there sometimes isnt really much difference...
but well, here's my advice...
in a drama essay, remember.. i know it sounds obvious, but its a DRAMA essay.... many people tend to be so used to writing english ones, that they adopt an english style essay for the drama one.
you do not need to use words such as "responder" or " composer"...etc....just protagonist/antagonist, central character, playwright etc....would do.
also, remember DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES...and how this affects the audience..
im so sorry if you knew all this already, but you'd be surprised at how many people there are out there who dont know how...even worse.... many who do not even realise that they're totally missing the whole point..until they get their marks that is!-pah!and even then.....

it also really depends on the question, and what your focusing on.....

 

[grk_styl]

What aLeeOh says is right. Oh, and also make sure you write about the social and cultural issues and interests of the time. Coz what was going on in the world usually was the playwright's main influence.

What's ur essay question?

 

[dark_angel04]

umm, we don't have the question yet and i have no idea what it is going to be like. we're doing absurdist theatre, waiting for godot and the bald prima donna (which we only started today and that we have to right about in this essay next week!) thanx so much, i didn't even think of social and cultural context. and now i'll try to focus on techniques as well

 

[azzonline]

Hey.
My Drama teacher said there is a certain formula to follow in a Dram Essay, especially when talking about dramatic and stage techniques:
1. Nominate the technique (just like english essay but it should focus on its context to an audience/time of play/playwright/whole play etc.)
2. Give example from play (quote, stage directions etc.)
3. Show effect (also similar to an english essay but more focused on audience's reaction etc.)
3. Talk about a production (probably the biggest difference from an english essay - talk about a production you have seen of this play eg. play, film etc. or if you havent seen one talk about how it could be shown in a made-up production or how you did it in an assesment)
Hope this helps.

 

[Skillo]

A big thing...

HOW.

Apply the word how to everything you approach.

 

[aLeeOh!]

are you guys all ready for your half yearly's? gosh... approaching preetty fast isnt it? ready or what?

 

[sickwithlove]

i have to write an essay for absurd theatre too..Help!!! Question is: 'nothing to be done' This line from waiting for Godot could be said to sum up the theatre of the absurd, except that there's always something happening. Discuss with references to the theatrical features and dramatic action of the theatre of the absurd as realised in performance. Refer to Godot, Zoo story & Bald Prima donna...

I can't get it started... i could write the essay without refering to the statement, it confuses me!!!!

 

[Skillo]

My school doesn't have half-yearlies...just 10 assessments instead...

 

[dark_angel04]

oh man, we have half yearlies, i hate it, its 2 weeks of complete stress, with everyone having breakdowns. its so stupid.
ur q sickwithlove is probably the type of thing i'll get. the advice further up on the page is really good. maybe what u could do is talk about how in the plays nothing happens in the plot, theres no dramatic action taking the plot forward, and then go on to talk about how there is alot of other stuff happening. like the existentialist thought being presented in the dailogue, etc. thats how i'm thinking u could do it. but then again i only just learnt how to write a drama essay, so u can ignore me if u like.

 

[kalinda]

we dont really have half yearlys thanks god i dont think i would survive. we do have a short three day assessment block which should be fun

 

[Chez]

ok, a big hint in any essay (but especially drama) is to use the term, "This reflects the social, political, economic and religious values in society" or you could substitute words like cultural

trust me, works like a charm!

 

[hotcocoababe]

Our teacher told us to remember that a movie isnt a 'movie' of a 'film' its a 'play' (we hafta pretend like we've actually seen it live or something, lol) and a book isnt a 'book' or a 'story' its a script. oh, and the main character is the Protagonist, not the main character lol
hope that helps? =p

 

[hotcocoababe]

oops, just one more thing - just make sure you use the correct terminology! look on the hsc website http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/ it has a whole section on drama and stuff, its a big help.

 

[Trigger189]

Originally posted by sickwithlove
i have to write an essay for absurd theatre too..Help!!! Question is: 'nothing to be done' This line from waiting for Godot could be said to sum up the theatre of the absurd, except that there's always something happening. Discuss with references to the theatrical features and dramatic action of the theatre of the absurd as realised in performance. Refer to Godot, Zoo story & Bald Prima donna...

I can't get it started... i could write the essay without refering to the statement, it confuses me!!!!

Thats the exact same question from the 2002 HSC paper (try and get a standards package to see how they answered it) and the one I just handed in was pretty similar.

 

[sickwithlove]

thanks team!

 

[dramaticfanatic]

Originally posted by sickwithlove
i have to write an essay for absurd theatre too..Help!!! Question is: 'nothing to be done' This line from waiting for Godot could be said to sum up the theatre of the absurd, except that there's always something happening. Discuss with references to the theatrical features and dramatic action of the theatre of the absurd as realised in performance. Refer to Godot, Zoo story & Bald Prima donna...

I can't get it started... i could write the essay without refering to the statement, it confuses me!!!!

Remember that with the theatre of the absurd all action that takes place (well in waiting for Godot and the Dumb waiter anyway) is taken to fill in the passing of time. Nothing can be done about the human condition, which I suggest is what its referring to. Ultimately we can sit and watch time pass and realise our human condition or ignore it by filling in time. I suggest that might be the approach you need to take

Originally posted by dark_angel04
hi, i am desperate for help. my drama teacher hasn't taught us how to write drama essays and now we are expected to write one and i have no idea how to do it. if anyone knows how to write a drama essay could they please tell me!!!
thanx

In writing a drama essay you need to be sure to refer to style form and conventions of the theatre, or style of the play. Make sure you refer to costume and set and stage directions and their impact as well as important quotations. As already said its tricky to not end up writing an english essay and also that HOW is an important question to always ask when writing a drama essay. Trigger 189 and myself just did the same essay and all I can say is that as long as you include the above stuf you can't really go wrong.

 

[jay_es]

hey im happy! im not the best actor, but okay i guess.. but in writing for drama i've been doing fine! the topic we studied were: Street, Event and Environmental Theatre; and Contemporary Thatre.

i got 18/20 for St, event and env. theatre and i got 20/20 [but teacher says it would most likely to have been a 'B' as she is a hsc marker for drama, and she was being lenient] for contemporary. so that boosted my makrs up for drama, thank god! hope the rest of you's did well!