beat
A single unit of action. A scene may comprise
one or more of these.
beat change
The point during a scene where a new action
begins. It occurs when a new piece of information is introduced or
an event takes place over which the character has no control and which
by its very nature must change what the actor is doing.
cap
The event or condition indicating that
an actor has succeeded in doing his/her action.
character
The illusion created by the words and given
circumstances supplied by the playwright and director combined
with the actions and external choices of the actor.
given circumstance
Any piece of information or activity written
into the script or demanded by the director comprising the imaginary
framework within which an action is performed.
metaphor
The comparison of two things which are
quite different in order to express an emotion, an idea, or a concept
that cannot be described, in all its subtlety, by literal language
alone. In this direct comparison (no like or as - see simile)
the two 'things' compared exchange properties to create a whole new
range of meanings. For example, in:-
"words are razors"
words gain the sharpness, the danger, the sense of
scale in relation to the injury (the razor is very small, delicate,
beautiful, fragile yet it can cause painful, even fatal injury), etc.
from the conjunction of the two words. A metaphor is literally untrue
(words are not really razors) and therefore usually has more impact
than a simile.
objective, or action
The actual/physical pursuance of a specific goal. An action must:-
1) be physically capable of being
done;
2) be fun to do;
3) be specific;
4) have its test in the other
person(s);
5) not be an errand;
6) not presuppose any physical
or emotional state;
7) have a "cap"; and
8) be in line with the intentions
of the playwright.
obstacles
Things/circumstances that get in the way
of the character's achieving of actions; provides conflict, which
provides interest, which makes drama
oxymoron
A paradox reduced to two words, usually
in an adjective-noun ("eloquent silence") or adverb-adjective ("inertly
strong") relationship, and is used for effect, to emphasize contrasts,
incongruities, hypocrisy, or simply the complex nature of reality.
Examples: wise fool, ignorantly learned, laughing sadness, pious hate.
Other oxymorons, as more or less true paradoxes, show
the complexity of a situation where two apparently opposite things
are true simultaneously, either literally ("desirable calamity") or
imaginatively ("love precipitates delay"). Some examples other writers
have used are: scandalously nice, sublimely bad, darkness visible,
cheerful pessimist, sad joy, wise fool, tender cruelty, despairing
hope, freezing fire.
(notes drawn from Handbook
of Rhetorical Devices, by Robert Harris, Professor of English
at Southern California College in Costa Mesa, California)
physical activity
A specific bit of stage business the actor chooses to aid his/her
action.
shakespearean sonnet
The Shakespearean sonnet follows the rhyme scheme shown in Sonnet
XVIII. It develops the action in three separate quatrains
(groups of four lines), each with its own set of rhymes, and a single
rhyming couplet. Each set of four lines has to advance or complicate
the subject matter, and the argument and tensions set up in the first
twelve lines should be resolved in the final two lines. See sonnet
and turn.
(notes drawn from Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter &
Poetic Form (London 1979))
simile
A comparison between two dissimilar objects, ideas or actions
using the words like or as if. As with metaphor,
the simile yokes two different objects to create a new meaning which
cannot be described by literal language alone.
sonnet
A by now traditional form in English-language poetry, developed
and perfected in the course of the sixteenth century, and deployed
by poets up to the present day. the classic form is strict: 14 lines
of iambic pentameter, structured by one of two rhyme schemes. The
subject matter is usually emotional (especially love), philosophical
or in the nature of an intellectual or logical puzzle. Thje two main
types of the sonnet are the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean. As we
are working with Shakespeare, we're going to concentrate on the latter.
(notes drawn from Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter &
Poetic Form (London 1979))
super objective
The single, over-riding goal that a character wishes to achieve,
that encompasses all actions an actor pursues from scene to scene,
from the beginning of the play to the end.
symbol
any verbal detail that has a range of meanings beyond and usually
larger than itself. Public symbols live in the general consciousness;
the flag, the cross, Uncle Sam, etc. Writers devise private symbols
for a particular work. Usually the reader is first introduced to the
symbol in its literal meaning. Then, gradually, the additional meanings
grow apparent.
tools of action
The different ways an actor might go about
doing an action.
turn
Each sonnet pivots around something called
the turn, the point at which a logical or emotional shift by the poet
enables him or her to take a new or altered or enlarged view of the
subject. In the Shakespearean sonnet, that turn takes place between
lines twelve and thirteen. Because the poet has only two lines in
which to resolve the argument of the sonnet, this resolution is usually
witty, paradoxical, aphoristic, logically clever or amusing. The Shakespearean
sonnet tends to display its intelligence: it's intellectual and analytical,
prizing verbal dexterity over emotion (although not always).
(notes drawn from Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter &
Poetic Form (London 1979))
5 W's
Essential tools in the understanding of
a character:-
WHO refers to the character him/herself
WHERE refers to given circumstances like environment, setting, place
WHEN refers to the time of day, month, year, historical period
WHAT refers to conflict and dramatic action
WHY refers to the character's motivations, or objectives
