Story Elements Terminology Review
Exposition: In drama, the presentation of essential information regarding what has occurred prior to the beginning of the play. In the exposition to William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," two servants of the house of Capulet discuss the feud between their master and the house of Montague, thereby letting the audience know that such a feud exists and that it will play an important role in influencing the plot. In the exposition to the film "Star Wars," Luke Skywalker sees a 3D holograph projection of the Princess Lea warning that she is a prisoner of Darth Vader and begging for help.
Rising Action: The part of a drama which begins with the exposition and sets the stage for the climax. In a five-act play, the exposition provides information about the characters and the events which occurred before the action of the play began. A conflict often develops between the protagonist and an antagonist. The action reaches a high point and results in a climax, the turning point in the play. We discover in the exposition of Shakespeare's "Othello" that the Moor, Othello, has married the Venetian maid, Desdamona. Her father objects strenuously to the marriage. However, during those objections, a messenger informs the Venetian council that the Turks are on their way to invade the island of Cypress. Othello, who is sent with troops to defend the island, brings Desdamona with him, planning a honeymoon to coincide with his military mission. One of Othello's officers, Iago, plants a seed of doubt about Desdamona's faithfulness in Othello's ear. This seed grows to the point where Othello becomes convinced that his wife is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio. The play climaxes with the murder of Desdamona by Othello in a jealous rage
Climax: The moment in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the crisis reaches its point of greatest intensity and is thereafter resolved. It is also the peak
1 of emotional response from a reader or spectator and usually the turning point in the action.
Falling Action: The falling action is the series of events which take place after the climax. In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," Cinna, the poet, is mistaken for Cinna, the conspirator, and killed; Antony and Octavius argue, Brutus and Cassius argue, the battle at Philippi is agreed upon, and the ghost of Caeser appears to Brutus. The falling action of a drama leads to the conclusion.
Conclusion: Also called the Resolution" the conclusion is the point in a drama to which the entire play has been leading. It is the logical outcome of everything that has come before it. The conclusion stems from the nature of the characters.
Theme: central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work. The theme can take the form of a brief and meaningful insight or a comprehensive vision of life; it may be a single idea such as "progress" (in many Victorian works), "order and duty" (in many early Roman works), "seize-the-day" (in many late Roman works), or "jealousy" (in Shakespeare's Othello). The theme may also be a more complicated doctrine, such as Milton's theme in Paradise Lost, "to justify the ways of God to men," or "Socialism is the only sane reaction to the labor abuses in Chicago meat-packing plants" (Upton Sinclair's The Jungle). A theme is the author's way of communicating and sharing ideas, perceptions, and feelings with readers, and it may be directly stated in the book, or it may only be implied.
Protagonist: The hero or central character of a literary work. In accomplishing his or her objective, the protagonist is hindered by some opposing force either human (one of Batman's antagonists is The Joker), animal (Moby Dick is Captain Ahab's antagonist in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick"), or natural (the sea is the antagonist which must be overcome by Captain Bligh in Nordhoff and Hall's "Men Against the Sea," the second book in the trilogy which includes "Mutiny on the Bounty").
2 Archetypes: An original model or pattern from which other later copies are made, especially a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life. Often, archetypes include a symbol, a theme, a setting, or a character that some critics think have a common meaning in an entire culture, or even the entire human race. These images have particular emotional resonance and power. Archetypes recur in different times and places in myth, literature, folklore, fairy tales, dreams, artwork, and religious rituals. Using the comparative anthropological work of Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough, the psychologist Carl Jung theorized that the archetype originates in the collective unconscious of mankind, i.e., the shared experiences of a race or culture, such as birth, death, love, family life, and struggles to survive and grow up. These would be expressed in the subconscious of an individual who would recreate them in myths, dreams, and literature. Examples of archetypes found cross-culturally include the following:
(1) Recurring symbolic situations (such as the orphaned prince or the lost chieftain's son raised ignorant of his heritage until he is rediscovered by his parents, or the damsel in distress rescued from a hideous monster by a handsome young man who later marries the girl. Also, the long journey, the difficult quest or search, the catalog of difficult tasks, the pursuit of revenge, the descent into the underworld, redemptive rituals, fertility rites, the great flood, the End of the World),
(2) Recurring themes (such as the Faustian bargain; pride preceding a fall; the inevitable nature of death, fate, or punishment; blindness; madness; taboos such as forbidden love, patricide, or incest),
(3) Recurring characters (such as witches as ugly crones that cannibalize children, lame blacksmiths of preternatural skill, womanizing Don Juans, the hunted man, the femme fatale, the snob, the social climber, the wise old man as mentor or teacher, star-crossed lovers; the caring mother- figure, the helpless little old lady, the stern father-figure, the guilt-ridden figure searching for redemption, the braggart, the young star-crossed
3 lovers, the bully, the villain in black, the oracle or prophet, the mad scientist, the underdog who emerges victorious, the mourning widow or women in lamentation),
(4) Symbolic colors (green as a symbol for life or summer; blue as a symbol for water or tranquility; white or black as a symbol of purity; or red as a symbol of blood, fire, or passion) and so on.
(5) Recurring images (such as blood, water, pregnancy, ashes, cleanness, dirtiness, caverns, phallic symbols, yonic symbols, the ruined tower, the rose, the lion, the snake, the eagle, the hanged man, the dying god that rises again, the feast or banquet, the fall from a great height).
4 Children’s Theatre History I. In the United States, Children's Theatre's history is relatively brief. a. It began to grow as a respectable branch of theatre in the early 1900's. i. However, in other countries such as China and Russia, Theatre For Young Audiences (or TYA) has been tremendously respected and an integral part of performing arts for those countries, among others. In countries such as these, only the best actors and actresses would be allowed to act for children. 1. And regardless, the fact remains that all performers for children know that they (the children) will be perfectly candid and frank with regard to their responses to a particular performance. 2. Therefore, only the most honest, most genuine, and truthful, and best performances will satisfy and be beneficial to an audience of children.
II. Major Influences of Childrens Theatre in the 20th Century a. Charlotte Chorpenning i. Shortly after her husband died, she decided that she wanted to write plays for children. She was 60 then. ii. She began working as the artistic director for the Goodman Theatre in Chicago where she stayed for 21 years. All the while was writing plays. iii. In the time from when she began writing, until the day she died with a play in the works in her typewriter (literally), she managed to double the mid-century repertoire for children's plays by herself. iv. She typically adapted well known titles such as Little Red Riding Hood, or The Emperor's New Clothes to name a couple. 1. This was primarily based on the premise that children would desire to go see plays that they recognize the titles of.
5 2. This was the trend in TYA for quite some time, but has more recently veered away from that concept, and many more original works are being written. 3. But Chorpenning saw a Universal quality in fairy tales and tended to adapt quite a few of them. 4. In fairy tales she saw the archetypal issues of growing up, and if children could identify with a character, or characters, in a play, then they would have more interest in the play. 5. This concept is quite true and followed even today. There is even a children's literary award given to playwrights called the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Award b. Winifred Ward (1918-1975) i. Began her 32 years as a Speech professor at Northwestern University. It was during her work here that she is credited with being the founder of Creative Drama. She was the first to offer courses in the discipline at the university level, and she taught a generation of teachers. 1. Introduced creative drama into the curriculum of Evanston Public Schools and supervised it until her retirement. 2. 1925: Co-founded the Children's Theatre of Evanston. The theatre served as a national model of university and community cooperation, as college students joined with children in the casts of productions. 3. 1944: Founded the first national child drama organization which is still thriving and is now called the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE). c. Aurand Harris i. is a man who has written a tremendous body of contrasting plays for young audiences.
6 ii. He continually explored new and different styles, including a vaudevillian show (The Tobey Show), a melodrama story (Rags to Riches), or even what he called his "death show," The Arkansas Bear, which tells the story of a young girl coping with the loss of a family member. Of course, he tells it with the perfect amount of humor, sensitivity, and emotion for adults to cry at, and children to learn from. iii. He sometimes adapted traditional stories such as Pocohantas or well known stories such as or The Magician's Nephew, and often created original works such as Monkey Magic, Pinballs, or his most recent and final play, The Orphan Train. iv. In the 80's, Aurand went into China on the heels of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman production, (the first ever American playwright to direct a play in China). v. At the request of the Shanghai Children's Art Theatre (the oldest children's theatre in China -- a mere 40 years old at the time), Aurand directed the first ever production of an American children's play in China. 1. The play, Rags to Riches, was translated into Chinese and performed by Chinese actors. 2. Of course, the Chinese government did require some "changes" in the script to accomodate for the political and economic differences between the two countries, but nonetheless, Aurand would become not only a bringer of joy to American children, but now, to children around the world. d. Suzan Zeder i. has begun a new wave of children's theatre. ii. Most persons reading her plays for the first time ask the question, "Is this really children's theatre?"
7 1. She has taken real life issues that children face and made them into compelling stories that help a child to understand difficult issues. a. For example, her play Doors tells an extremely realistic story of divorce, from the child's perspective. She deals with the pain involved with hearing parents arguing in the room next door, and the pain of separation. She does all this in a non-preachy manner that is simply a story of what a child goes through. This is only one example. b. In another play, Step on a Crack she approaches the subject of coping with a step-mother, while avoiding completely the evil step-mother convention. All of her plays are realistic stories about children. She herself has said that she writes about children, as opposed to for children. c. All of her plays add to a new awareness that children's abilities to comprehend serious material have been, for a very long time, underestimated. d. Her plays give credit to children for being extremely intuitive and intelligent, particularly when it comes to recognizing truth on a stage.
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