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English Language ArtsLevel 7 #27Ms. Walker
Latin Root WordsIntroduction to DramaElements of DramaDrama Terms“Yuuki and the Tsunami”
Latin Root Words
acro – high (acrobat)act – act or do (action)alti – high (altitude)bon – good (bonus)cap – head (capital)chron – time (chronological)
Latin Root Words
civ – city (civilization)cogn – learn (recognize)cred – believe (credible)cycl – circle (bicycle)derm – skin (dermatologist)dia – day (diary)
Introduction to Drama
What is drama?Drama is a written composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue and typically designed for theatrical performance.
Drama
Drama is considered a specific literary category or genre, like poetry, the short story or the novel. Drama has a specific structure which includes stage directions and dialogue.
Introduction to Drama
Drama can be presented in a stage play, movie, radio or television format and has a serious tone or subject. Drama is similar to other types of literature in that it begins with an exposition, has rising action (a
Drama
complication), a climax and a resolution. The difference is that drama depends heavily on dialog, and the setting is usually very sparse. In novels the setting can be very elaborate.
Like the plot of a story, the plot of a play involves characters who face a problem or conflict. Climax
point of highest tension;action determines how the
conflict will be resolved
Resolutionconflict is resolved;play ends
Complicationstension builds
Expositioncharacters and conflict established introduced
Dramatic Plot Structure
Dramatic Plot Structure
Exposition – Introduces the characters, setting, complicationConflict – (complication) developed early to set the tone (happy, sad, scary) of the play.Climax – Highest interest, emotionResolution – how the conflict ends
Drama Terms
Dialog – the most important part of a play. Dialog helps us understand what is happening in the play, moves the action along and gives us insight into the characters.Character – includes the protagonist and supporting actors.
Drama Terms
Stage Directions: The playwright tells the actor where to move on stage and how to present the dialogue.
Performance: Actors bring the playwright’s vision to life on stage.
Drama Terms
Audience: The audience responds to the play and shares the experience. If the play is well written, the audience will laugh, evince emotions or react in an appropriate way.
Drama Terms
Setting – settings are usually sparse. The clothes, language and dialog help us understand the setting.Acts – Plays are divided into sections called actsScenes – a change in location
Break
Close Reading
While you are reading, ask yourself what is taking place. Write notes about the action. Use your own knowledge to help you understand. Ask questions about information you are unsure of.
Pre-Reading
Please read both the story of Yuuki as well as the play. Did you notice a difference in the information given in each form?
Written Structure
The names in Bold print are presented to show who is speaking. A colon or period comes right after the speaker’s name.
Written Structure
Example: Yuuki: Father, I cannot reach the branches of the tree so I cannot hang these flowers. Will you help me?
Written Structure
Stage directions are presented in brackets [ ], and the words in between are italicized. Example: [As the curtain opens, YUUKI, YUUKI'S FATHER and YUUKI'S MOTHER are outside their home. ]
Written Structure
Stage directions for individuals are usually in parentheses ( ). Example:
YUUKI:(sadly)
Father, tell me again about Grandfather.
Our First Play
Characters
YUUKIYUUKI’S FATHERYUUKI’S MOTHERFIRST VILLAGER, SECOND VILLAGERVILLAGE BOY
"Yuuki and the Tsunami,"
This play is a folk tale from Japan.[As the curtain opens, YUUKI, YUUKI'S FATHER and YUUKI'S MOTHER are outside their home. There is a pretend fire in front of the home. They are getting ready for a festival that night to celebrate a fine rice crop.
ACT 1In the first part of the play, the FIRST VILLAGER, SECOND VILLAGER, and VILLAGE BOY walk back and forth across the stage behind the characters that are speaking. They are carrying paper lanterns, baskets of plastic or real food, flowers, and other kinds of decorations.]
ACT 1
YUUKI:(hands garland of silk flowers to YUUKI’S FATHER)Father, I cannot reach the branches of the tree so I cannot hang these flowers. Will you help me?
ACT 1
YUUKI’S FATHER:These flowers are very pretty, Yuuki. They will look nice on the bushes there. Our friends and neighbors will see them tonight when we celebrate how well our rice crops have grown.
ACT 1
YUUKI:Yes, Father, that is better.
(sadly)Father, tell me again about Grandfather.
ACT 1
YUUKI’S FATHER:Everyone in our village remembers your Grandfather. He was the man who taught us how to grow rice so well. Everyone respected him because he was so smart. I know that you miss him.
ACT 1
YUUKI:Yes, I miss seeing him in our fields each day and hearing his stories.
ACT 1
[YUUKI’S MOTHER steps out of the home. She is carrying a basket of fruit as if she has been cooking inside. They are decorating the village, so they are carrying baskets, paper lanterns, bowls of food, and flower garlands.]
ACT 1
YUUKI’S MOTHER:There you two are! Fooling around again! Snap out of it! We have a lot to do before tonight, you know. If this is going to be a great celebration, then we better get to work! Am I the only one who knows how to work around here?
ACT 1
YUUKI’S FATHER:Yuuki and I were just talking about Grandfather and what a smart man he was, Mother.
ACT 1
YUUKI’S MOTHER:Yes, we all miss Grandfather, Yuuki. Still, we remember him everyday by doing things the way that he taught us.
ACT 1
(to YUUKI’S FATHER)OK, that’s enough memories for today. Let’s get cracking! I need your help inside. Yuuki can work by himself for a while.
ACT 1
YUUKI’S FATHER:Yes, I will come with you, dear.
YUUKI’S MOTHER:(gives basket of fruit to YUUKI)
Yuuki, I want you to take this fruit to the sea and make sure it is scrubbed clean and dried by the time I return.
ACT 1
YUUKI’S FATHER:You know how she gets before a festival. I had better go to help her. (quickly runs offstage after YUUKI’S MOTHER)
ACT 1
YUUKI:(surprised)WHAT was THAT? The earth MOVED!
ACT 1
[The earth moves again. The actors drop what they are carrying and bend their knees as if trying to keep balanced. The movement stops and the villagers start to laugh, relieved.]
ACT 1
FIRST VILLAGER:Losing your balance there?
SECOND VILLAGER:No way! I have the sure-footedness of a mountain!
ACT 1
FIRST VILLAGER:What are you talking about? A mountain has no feet!
SECOND VILLAGER:Haven’t you ever heard of the “foot of the mountain”?
ACT 1
YUUKI:(seriously)Wait! The earth MOVED under my feet! I think it WAS an earthquake!
FIRST VILLAGER:Come on, Yuuki! Always thinking the worst.
ACT 1
SECOND VILLAGER:We have not had an earthquake in a long time. What makes you think we are going to have one now?
ACT 1
FIRST VILLAGER:You just don’t know how to have fun, Yuuki. Always working, just like your grandfather.
ACT 1
[All of the VILLAGERS pick up what they dropped and start to go about their business again as if nothing has happened.]
ACT 1
YUUKI: (loudly)WAIT!
I SEE THE HOUSES BELOW HAVE MOVED! LOOK! THE SEA HAS TURNED BLACK. NOW IT LOOKS LIKE THE SEA IS RUNNING BACKWARD, AWAY FROM OUR VILLAGE!
ACT 1
(to audience)Now I remember what Grandfather said! The sea would turn black and run away from the shore just before...just before...a TSUNAMI!
ACT 1
FIRST VILLAGER:LOOK! I have never seen anything like this before! Look how far the ocean has pulled back! We can see parts of the beach that we never saw before!
ACT 1
SECOND VILLAGER:Yes! Let’s go to the beach right away. Imagine all of the cool shells we will be able to find! We can string them together and hang them in our trees. We will have the best festival ever!
ACT 1
[As the VILLAGERS are leaving the stage to run to the beach, YUUKI waves his arms to try to stop them.]
ACT 1
YUUKI:WAIT! Wait everyone! Come! Come! There is terrible danger! My grandfather told me that this is just what happens before a TSUNAMI!!
ACT 1
SECOND VILLAGER:What are you talking about, Yuuki? Wait...are you trying to keep us away so you can get all the shells for yourself?
ACT 1
FIRST VILLAGER:Yuuki! YOU of all people!
SECOND VILLAGER:(clicking lips) Tsk, tsk, tsk.
ACT 1
YUUKI:No! NO! You don’t understand! You must run away! Up to the mountain! Everybody![All the VILLAGERS except the VILLAGE BOY leave the stage laughing to head for the beach.]
ACT 1
[YUUKI yells after them but they do not act like they hear him. YUUKI knows he has to find a way to get the VILLAGERS to move up to the mountain quickly. He takes a long piece of wood from the "fire" in front of his home and runs to the side of the stage,
pretending to set the rice stacks on fire. While he is doing this, VILLAGE BOY sits down in front of YUUKI’S house and watches him. YUUKI touches the wood with the fire on the end of the rice crop in several places.
ACT 1
Then he drops the branch and runs to the front of the stage facing the audience.]
ACT 1
YUUKI:FIRE! FIRE! EVERYONE RUN TO THE MOUNTAIN! QUICK! (Throws down the burning branch and runs off stage.)
(End of ACT 1)
ACT 2[All of the characters are standing together on the top of the mountain, including YUUKI, YUUKI’S MOTHER and YUUKI’S FATHER, who are standing in front of the other villagers. Everyone is panting as if they have run a long way on a hot afternoon. Everyone looks angry and upset.]
ACT 2
VILLAGE BOY:YUUKI IS CRAZY! He set fire to the rice crop!He did it on purpose! I SAW him![YUUKI’S MOTHER and YUUKI’S FATHER step to YUUKI. They are frowning.]
ACT 2
YUUKI’S MOTHER:(crosses arms over her chest)I do not believe a word of it. Not my Yuuki. Son, tell them that this is not true!
YUUKI’S FATHER: Tell them, Yuuki![YUUKI looks away.]
ACT 2
VILLAGE BOY: LOOK! LOOK!(points over the heads of the people in the audience again)A TSUNAMI!
ACT 2
[All characters on stage gasp, hug each other and hide their faces in their hands in fear, except YUUKI, who stares outward over the heads of the people in the audience as if he is looking at something very far away.]
ACT 2
YUUKI:It was just how Grandfather described a tsunami. Everything he said would happen came true. First comes the earthquake. (makes a sweeping motion with the hands away from the body)
ACT 2
Then, the sea turns black and pulls away from the land. Then, the tsunami comes and everything is swept away.
ACT 2
VILLAGE BOY:(sadly)Our village is gone. The tsunami took it away like it was never there.
ACT 2
YUUKI:I am so sorry that I burned the fields. I had to find a way to get everyone to go to the top of the mountain.
YUUKI’S FATHER:Yuuki, you saved us all!
ACT 2
FIRST VILLAGER:Gee, you were right after all, Yuuki. It was an earthquake.
SECOND VILLAGER:Okay, maybe we should have listened to what Yuuki told us sooner...
ACT 2
FIRST AND SECOND VILLAGER TOGETHER: (slap each other gently on the shoulder)NAW!
YUUKI’S FATHER:Tonight, we were all going to celebrate our rice harvest.
ACT 2
YUUKI’S MOTHER:But now we will celebrate that all of us (looks around) ...all 400 of us...are still alive![All OTHER VILLAGERS cheer, congratulate YUUKI, shake YUUKI’S parents' hands and cheer.]
Questions
This is a story just like the short story or novel. Did you notice the difference in the written structure?
Questions
Who is the protagonist in the story? How does he change?
The protagonist or main character is Yuuki, the Japanese boy. At first, no one listens to him, but in the end he becomes a hero.
Questions
What was the special occasion in Yuuki’s village? How did the villagers plan to celebrate?The villagers are planning to an evening festival to celebrate a good rice harvest.
Questions
What happens that causes Yuuki to be afraid?
The ground begins to shake beneath him as he is walking. He thinks it is an earthquake. No one believes him.
Questions
Who does Yuuki remember? What did he tell Yuuki?
Yuuki remembers that his Grandfather told him that when the earth moves beneath him, it is an earthquake. An earthquake comes and the sea turns black just before a Tsunami.
Questions
What was the conflict in the play?
Yuuki knows that a Tsunami is coming, and he tries to warn the villagers but know one will listen to him.
Questions
What was the climax? How was the conflict resolved?
Yuuki sets fire to the rice fields and yells, “Fire!” Everyone runs to the mountain top, and the whole village is saved from the Tsunami. Now everyone thanks Yuuki for saving them.
Assignment
Select six students to act out the play “Yuuki and the Tsunami.”
Break
Part 3 - The Idiom
Idioms are spoken phrases that cannot be found in the dictionary. An idiom is an expression that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words.
In the bag
“already won or decided, a sure thing.”When you know something will happen (for instance, you know you’ll win the big game before you play it) you would say it’s in the bag (or already won).
In the bag
For example:The coach thought the trophy was in the bag.OrOur new contract is in the bag.
Lesson Review
Today we discussed the literary genre drama and the elements used to create dramatic art. We then read the play “Yuuki and the Tsunami.“ Finally we discussed the plot structure of the play. We also learned a new idiom of the day.
Next Lesson
In our next lesson, we will discuss drama versus the play. We will learn about different types of play performances and will explore different ways a play can be presented.
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