Sample+Questions

DRAMA QUESTIONS 1. Some plays appeal more to the head than the heart, while others seem to want to evoke an emotional response. Referring to **at least two** works you have studied, discuss with specific evidence the ways in which playwrights have appealed either to the “heads” or the “hearts” of their audiences, or to both.

2. Drama sometimes invites us to become acquainted with times and cultures not our own. What particular situations perhaps different to your own circumstances have **at least two** playwrights included in their plays and by what dramatic means have they delivered them to their audiences?

3. Consider the ways in which public places and/or private or solitary moments are used by **at**
 * least two** writers in works you have studied and the effects achieved through such settings.

4. Often an element in a work that appears early or at the beginning will appear in similar or transformed ways in later or concluding parts of the work. How have **at least two** writers in your study used such elements to bring unity **or** surprise **or** other effects into their works?

5. Reminiscence can play an important role in literary works. By what means and with what effect have **at least two** writers in your study included effective use of reminiscences in creating their works?

6. “One of the things a writer is for is to ask difficult questions.” Choosing some of the difficult questions posed in **at least two** works you have studied, connect their significance to the way they are presented by writers.

7. Compare the means by which atmosphere is created in **two or three plays** you have studied. In each case, discuss how the atmosphere presented contributes to your appreciation and understanding of the play as a whole.

8. Through an analysis of some of the characters in **two or three** plays you have studied, compare the ways in which the struggle between internal and external forces is presented.

9. “Drama at its best investigates the problems that beset ordinary individuals.” In light of this statement consider the ways in which **two** or **three** dramatists you have studied explore the problems that affect individuals.

10. Compare the presentation and functions of the openings in **two** or **three** plays you have studied.

11. All characters in a play are mouthpieces for their author. From a consideration of some characters from **two or three plays** you have studied, say how far you agree.

12. A necessary part of drama is not only to present conflict between the characters in a play but also to create conflicts within each member of the audience. Compare and contrast **two** or **three** plays you have studied in the light of this comment.

13. The final scene of a play can serve many purposes. Compare the ways that **two or three** playwrights in your study conclude their plays, showing how similar or different //purposes// are served, such as the satisfaction of the audience.

14. Important characters in plays are usually multi-dimensional. Discuss to what extent this statement is true of important characters in **two or three** plays you have studied and comment on the techniques of characterisation employed by the playwrights.

15. While the momentum of the play is carried by major characters, there is often a significant minor character who is a catalyst for change or enlightenment. Compare the role of a significant minor character in **at least two plays** you have studied, showing how these characters contribute to the dramatic action.

16. People often act first and reflect afterwards. In what ways have the connections between action and reflection been more and less important to **at least two plays** you have studied?

The way the stage //looks// or //changes// its looks can have a significant impact on a play’s audience. To what degree and to what effect did two or three of the playwrights you studied dictate the set design for the dramas they created?

Minor characters play a wide range of roles in helping writers convey some aspect of their thematic messages. At times, they serve as mentors or enemies; at others, they are parallels or foils of the protagonists or antagonists. Discuss the role of minor characters in communicating themes in two or three of the plays you have studied.

The first scene of a play sets the stage, so to speak, for the rest of a drama. But the last scene frequently has more dramatic power, and many dramatists hope an audience will leave the theater with the final scene lingering in their hearts and minds. Compare two or three of the playwrights you studied in terms of the dramatic purposes of their final scenes.

“There is no meaning but in things.” How far have objects been important in your overall understanding of two or three of the plays you have studied?

It has often been remarked that literary artists “control” time to a variety of effects. Consider how two or three of the playwrights you have studied manage time, and discuss the implications of their choices.

1. How, and to what //effect,// have strong females been depicted in two or three works you have studied? 2. Many works of literature deal with a sense of longing. How, and to what effect have two or three writers you have studied made use of a sense of longing in their works? 3. Fear and hope are significant in any person's life. How have two or three writers you have studied presented these emotions in a convincing way, and what role have they played in the works concerned? 4. "Literary works persuade us that human beings are worth caring for and writing about, no matter what their circumstances of condition." To what extent is this evident in two or three works you have studied? 5. Consider the way in which public places and/or private or solitary moments are used by at least two writers in works you have studied and the effects achieved through such settings. 6. Often an element in a work that appears early or at the beginning will appear in similar or transformed ways in later or concluding parts of the work. How have at least two writers in your study used such elements to bring unity or surprise or other effects into their works? 7. Reminiscence can play an important role in literary works. By what means and with what effect have at least two writers in your study included effective use of reminiscences in creating their works? 8. "One of the things a writer if for is to ask difficult questions." Choosing some of the difficult questions posed in at least two works you have studied, connect their significance to the way they are presented by writers. 9. "There is no literature without conflict." How and to what effect is conflict used in two or three works you have studied? 10. In what ways and to what effect have your writers focused on either the darker or lighter side of life in two or three works you have studied? 11. There are many ways of achieving a memorable ending to a work of literature. In two or three of the works you have studied, how have your chosen authors made endings memorable? 12. "A literary work is not a mere play of the imagination, but a reflection of contemporary manners and customs." Discuss the validity of this statement in relations to two or three works you have studied.
 * GENERAL QUESTIONS**