question

Which of the following is NOT a convention of dramatic structure?

answer

limited conflict

question

Medieval cycle plays were known to go on for as long as

answer

twenty five days

question

A full account of an event or series of events, usually told in chronological order, is called a

answer

story

question

A selection and arrangement of scenes from a story is called a

answer

plot

question

An impediment that is put in a character's way is called a(n)

answer

obstacle

question

An outside force or new twist in the plot introduced at an opportune moment is a(n)

answer

complication

question

The final and most significant crisis is referred to as the

answer

climax

question

"To make a political statement" is a

answer

purpose

question

"To portray a story in a comic manner" is a

answer

viewpoint

question

"The story of Electra" is a

answer

subject

question

"To entertain royalty" is a

answer

purpose

question

"To present events as heroic" is a

answer

viewpoint

question

"The events of the Holocaust" is a

answer

subject

question

"A love story" is a

answer

subject

question

"To escape" is a

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purpose

question

"To reinforce religious beliefs" is a

answer

purpose

question

"The world is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel" is

answer

viewpoint

question

The first task of the dramatist is to decide what aspect of people and their concerns to write about in order to give the play a purpose

answer

true

question

If playwrights are writing about a historical event, it is inappropriate for them to change the order of events to suit their purpose.

answer

False

question

The subject of drama varies greatly, and at certain times throughout theatre history, drama has focused on human beings, but more often than not the subjects of drama are quite different. Question

answer

false

question

An example of point of view in film might be the various angles of vision and perspectives that the camera selects for us.

answer

true

question

If two or more playwrights create a play based on the same story, it is important that the facts of that story remain consistent from one play to the next.

answer

false

question

Dramatic action is the essence of drama, and even the word drama derives from the word dran, which means "to act" or "to do."

answer

true

question

The word genre means "an ability to generalize about all human beings by observing a small portion of their actions."

answer

false

question

The viewpoint of a theatre artist actually provides the audience with a key to understanding the actions and words of the characters on stage.

answer

true

question

The fact that Euripides was writing tragedies at the same time that Aristophanes was writing satirical farces serves as an example that it is possible for a multiplicity of individual viewpoints to be expressed in drama regardless of the prevailing societal viewpoint.

answer

true

question

Politicians and advertisers often hide their point of view, whereas a playwright's imposition of their point of view is direct and deliberate

answer

true

question

Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined this statement regarding a playwright's point of view: "The world is a comedy to those that think and a tragedy to those that feel."

answer

false

question

Two periods that were particularly conducive to the creation of tragic drama were the eighteenth century (the age of enlightenment) and the nineteenth century (the century of progress).

answer

false

question

Although it is an aspect of basic human nature that people like to categorize all things, it is often not best to try place all plays into distinct categories, as that is a practice that does not recognize those plays that are unique and original in their point of view or style.

answer

true

question

In our contemporary world it is important to recognize a feminist or woman's point of view in analyzing and understanding dramatic works as that viewpoint has not always been considered or respected throughout history but it is essential to the future development of dramatic works.

answer

true

question

One technique that works effectively is to structure most of the play with a looser organization that allows the playwright to create a tightly structured ending in order to make the viewpoint clear.

answer

false

question

Another danger of categorizing dramatic works is that this diverts our focus from the single most important aspect of theatrical production: to experience the play live and to react to it in the moment.

answer

true

question

The technical term for revelation of background material in a play is

answer

exposition

question

Another word that means "contrast in the connection of scenes" is

answer

juxtaposition

question

A selection and arrangement of scenes from a story is called a(n)

answer

plot

question

The fifteen performers who sang, danced, chanted, and sometimes interacted with the main characters in a classic Greek drama are called the

answer

chorus

question

A repetition or reenactment of a proceeding or a transaction which has acquired special meaning is called a

answer

ritual

question

An intellectual or artistic movement that breaks with tradition and therefore seems ahead of its time is called ________; literally, it means "advance guard in a military formation."

answer

avant-garde

question

The main representative character in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House who to this day serves as a symbol of the modern woman is

answer

Nora Helmer

question

Harlequin

answer

was at the heart of most plot complications in the commedia dell'arte

question

Minor characters are

answer

all of the above

question

Narrators in the most traditional sense remain outside the action of the play and typically comment on the action communicating directly with the audience.

answer

true

question

It has become more common in contemporary plays for characters within the play to "step out of their character" and also serve the function of a narrator by speaking directly to the audience about the action.

answer

true

question

When nonhuman characters are written into a script it is typically because the producers do not want to create a stage prop when an actor can solve the problem nicely.

answer

false

question

he term "robot" was actually first used in an early twentieth-century play by Neil Simon

answer

false

question

We know that playwrights frequently write plays about a single family in classic climactic structure and they will also occasionally create two contrasting characters that are siblings or husband and wife in order to allow character traits to stand out more dramatically in the action.

answer

true

question

Minor characters in a play are always written as basic stock characters.

answer

false

question

Common structure in musical theatre requires that every song have a segment that involves the chorus.

answer

false

question

A tableaux structure begins with characters arranged in a visual stage picture and the action, frequently nonverbal, proceeds from that tableaux until the end of the scene.

answer

true

question

Patterns as structure exist not only in dance but also in some plays, where the characters' movement and circumstances can be repetitive, as in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

answer

true

question

As seen in some of Chekhov's plays it is possible to combine the climactic and the episodic forms

answer

True

question

A characteristic of _____________ is that the hero or heroine is an extraordinary person and a person of social stature: a king, a queen, a general, a nobleman, etc.

answer

Tradition Tragedy

question

A characteristic of _____________ is that the language used in the play is prose.

answer

modern tragedy

question

A characteristic of _____________ is that the heroes or heroines meet their fate with such dignity and determination that they defy the gods.

answer

Traditional tragedy

question

A characteristic of _____________ is that the action is exaggerated, with the main characters always living on the edge of danger.

answer

melodrama

question

A characteristic of _____________ is that the language used in the play is verse.

answer

Traditional Tragedy

question

A characteristic of _____________ is that the subtext often appears much stronger than the surface expressions of the emotions, tensions, and thoughts.

answer

bourgeois or domestic drama

question

A characteristic of _____________ is that the heroes and heroines accept responsibility for their actions and also show a willingness to suffer and an immense capacity for suffering.

answer

Traditional tragedy

question

A characteristic of ____ is that characters are clearly recognizable as good or evil

answer

melodrama

question

Cyrano de Bergerac is a modern example of

answer

heroic drama

question

reflects the view that the individual human being is a helpless victim of society.

answer

modern tragedy

question

heroic drama

answer

includes serious drama of any period which features many of the traits of traditional tragedy, but has a happy ending or a basically optimistic worldview even when the ending is sad.

question

The situation becomes irretrievable: there is no turning back, no way out in

answer

traditional tragedy

question

The central figures of the play are caught in a series of tragic circumstances in

answer

Traditional tragedy

question

heroic drama

answer

assumes a basically optimistic view of the universe, and places faith in the ability of humanity to overcome adversity.

question

Bourgeois or domestic drama

answer

includes plays that deal with middle- or lower-middle- class characters confronting problems of the family and the home rather than affairs of state

question

King Oedipus is an example of

answer

traditional tragedy

question

There is a strong emphasis on suspense in

answer

melodrama

question

Because we no longer have a society that believes in the concept of "the Gods" as they did in ancient Greece, traditional Greek tragedies are no longer feasible to consider for contemporary productions

answer

false

question

Plays that convey humanity's sense of alienation and its loss of bearings in an illogical, unjust, and ridiculous world are called theatres of

answer

the absurd

question

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of comedy?

answer

sense that the universe is cruel and unfeeling

question

The use of a word that sounds like the right word but actually is a different word altogether is the use of a(n)

answer

malaprop

question

A humorous use of words with the same sound but different meanings is the use of a(n)

answer

pun

question

Which of the following is NOT a technique of comedy?

answer

strong emphasis on suspense

question

Because existentialism suggests that characters have no personal history before the play begins, no background, and therefore no specific causes for their action, the structure of an existentialist play is often lacking in

answer

exposition

question

In tragicomedy, the overview, or prevailing attitude, is a ________ of the serious and comic.

answer

synthesis

question

Some tragicomedies, such as Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and All's Well That Ends Well, have been called

answer

problem plays

question

A type of broad, exaggerated comedy that takes marriage and sex as objects of fun is called

answer

bedroom farce

question

Which of the following would NOT be considered slapstick comedy?

answer

A woman watches her husband slowly die after giving him the wrong medication

question

When Horace Walpole said "This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel," he was probably NOT thinking

answer

one should think about one thing profoundly and a thousand things well.

question

Which of the following is NOT a feature of melodrama

answer

Even if the ending is sad, an optimistic worldview is present

question

Which of the following things did NOT happen to or because of the Regina Giddens character in Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes?

answer

Regina learned that her husband was a homosexual and he threatened to kill himself.

question

In the modern period, tragicomedy has become the predominant form of many of the best playwrights

answer

true

question

Because we no longer have a society that believes in the concept of "the Gods" as they did in ancient Greece, traditional Greek tragedies are no longer feasible to consider for contemporary productions.

answer

false

Theater appreciation 7-9 – Flashcards

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