Lesson 4.

Techniques and Literary

Devices in Drama

Creative Writing
General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
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A group of students watches a play adaptation of
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero’s Three Rats.
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“Wow. That was a very
good play!”

“What happened in the

end was intriguing!”

“Was Gonzalo’s actions

wrong?”

4
What makes the drama good and
wonderful?
● characters?
● plot?
● theme?

5
It was good because of. . .
● . . .how the author
created the story.
● . . .the literary devices
and techniques used.

6
 Learning
Competency
Identify the various elements, techniques, and
literary devices in drama (HUMSS_CW/MPIj-IIc-
15).

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Learning
Objectives ● Be familiar with the techniques and literary
devices in drama.

● Identify the techniques and literary devices

used by playwrights in the sample texts.

● Use techniques and literary devices in

drama.

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 Word Finder
Let’s
Begin

From the provided list, choose a word or phrase

that you can find from the grid. Afterward, share
with the class what you know about the word or
phrase you have chosen.

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 Word Finder
Let’s
Begin

1. allusion 6. flashback 11.protagonist

2. antagonist 7. foreshadowing 12.soliloquy
3. aside 8. in medias res 13.stereotypes
4. deus ex machina 9. monologue 14.symbolism
5. dramatic irony 10.motif 15.unity

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Let’s
Begin

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 1. Were you familiar with all or most of the
Let’s terms in the list? How many were you
Begin
familiar with?

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 2. Why did you choose the particular term
Let’s you chose to share with the class? What
Begin
does it mean?

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 3. Do you know how the terms you are familiar
Let’s with are used in drama? Can you guess if
Begin
they are used the same way or differently
from other literature? Why do you think so?

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Essential
Question

How do techniques and literary devices

contribute to the development of a drama?

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Allusion

● A reference to an event, character, setting, or object.

● Types of allusion:
○ A biblical allusion is a reference to figures, events,
objects, or settings reflected in the bible.
○ A historical allusion is a reference to figures,
events, objects, or settings that are evident in
important past events.
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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Allusion

● A reference to an event, character, setting, or object.

● Types of allusion:
○ A literary allusion is a reference to figures, events,
objects, or settings in other literary works.
○ A mythological allusion is a reference to figures,
events, objects, or settings in famous myths and
legends.
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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Allusion

HAMLET.
Look here upon this picture, and
on this,
The counterfeit presentment of
two brothers.
See what a grace was seated on
this brow,
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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Allusion

Hyperion’s curls, the front of

Jove himself,
An eye like Mars, to threaten and
command,
A station like the herald Mercury
New lighted on a heaven-kissing
hill:
A combination and a form
indeed, 19
 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Allusion

Where every god did seem to set

his seal,
To give the world assurance of a
man.

An excerpt from Hamlet, Prince of

Denmark
William Shakespeare
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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Antagonist

● a character who is in opposition to or, in other

cases, in competition with the protagonist
● the villain in the drama

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Writing Some dramas do not have antagonists, most
Tip
especially dramas that are about characters who
face hardships in life. Since circumstances,
whether positive or negative, are not considered
characters, such dramas do not have
antagonists.

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Aside

● a short speech made by a character in a drama

● not heard by the other characters
● used to make comments, judgments, and even
reveal secrets (to the audience but not to the
characters)

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Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Aside

Example:

An excerpt from Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Deus Ex Machina

● Greek term
● god from the machine
● A problem that is seemingly unending and
unsolvable is suddenly resolved by an unexpected
event.

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Deus Ex Machina
Example:

An excerpt from Medea

Euripedes, translated by Gilbert
Murray, M.A., LL.D.

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Dramatic Irony

● a type of irony
● something is made known to the readers that the
characters are oblivious to

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Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Dramatic Irony

Example:

An excerpt from
Oedipus, King of Thebes
Sophocles, translated by Gilbert
MurrayLL.D., D.Litt., F.B.A.
Regius Professor of Greek in the
University of Oxford
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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Flashback

● a plot device
● past events are shown to make revelations or to fill
in the gaps that readers do not know yet about the
story

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 When writing flashbacks, the revelation of past
Writing events should not sound forced; nor should it
Tip
appear to be just a random plot sequence.
Ensure a smooth flow of narration from current
events to past events and that the flashbacks
hold importance to the whole story of the
drama. They should not appear to be just
random telling of events.

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Foreshadowing

● a plot device
● hints are given to the readers to give them an idea
of what is going to happen.

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Writing
Tip Remember that foreshadowing is just hinting of
events. Use characters or objects as vehicles for
the hints, but never directly tell what is to come.
Directly telling future events is flash forwarding
and not foreshadowing.

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
In Medias Res

● a Latin term
● in the middle of things
● a technique used by writers, wherein, the plot starts in
the middle of the story or at at crucial point and past
events will be revealed through flashbacks

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Monologue

● a speech delivered by a character

● heard by other characters and they can respond to it
● reveals events, actions, and even the perspectives of
the speaking character towards other characters or
events

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Monologue

NORA.
Maybe. But you neither think nor
talk like the man I could bind
myself to. As soon as your fear was
over—and it was not fear for what
threatened me, but for what might
happen to you—when the whole
thing was past, as far as you were
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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Monologue

concerned it was exactly as if nothing

at all had happened. Exactly as
before, I was your little skylark, your
doll, which you would in future treat
with doubly gentle care, because it
was so brittle and fragile. [Getting
up.] Torvald—it was then it dawned
upon me that for eight years I had
been living 36
 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Monologue

here with a strange man, and had

borne him three children—. Oh, I
can’t bear to think of it! I could tear
myself into little bits!

An excerpt from A Doll’s House

Henrik Ibsen

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Motif

a recurring character, image, or object that is important in

the development of the theme of a drama

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Protagonist

● leading or main character in a drama

● hero or heroine of the drama
● the character that the antagonist opposes or
contradicts in the text

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Writing
Make protagonists appealing to your readers
Tip by making them complex. The protagonist of a
drama should undergo change during the
course of the story. For example, the
protagonist may be weak in the beginning, but
becomes strong in the end, or he or she may
evolve from being hopeless to be determined.

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Soliloquy

● a long speech delivered by a character

● not heard by other characters
● to reveal the inner thoughts and/or motivations
of the character

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Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Soliloquy
but there is a public to cherish them,
evidently … and I can write! … more
than one can say of these modern
sex-yahoos! … I must start work
tomorrow … I'd like to use the
Professor in a novel sometime … and
his wife … seems impossible she's
been dead six years … so
aggressively his wife! … poor
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Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Soliloquy
Professor! now it's Nina who bosses
him … but that's different … she has
bossed me, too, ever since she was a
baby … she's a woman now … known
love and death … Gordon brought
down in flames … two days before
the armistice … what fiendish irony!
… his wonderful athlete's body … her
lover … charred bones in a cage of
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Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Soliloquy

twisted steel … no wonder she broke

down … Mother said she's become
quite queer lately … Mother seemed
jealous of my concern … why have I
never fallen in love with Nina? …
could I? … that way … used to dance
her on my knee … sit her on my lap
… even now she'd never think
anything about it … but sometimes 44
Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Soliloquy

the scent of her hair and skin … like a

dreamy drug … dreamy! … there's
the rub! … all dreams with me! … my
sex life among the phantoms! …

An excerpt from Strange Interlude

Eugene O’Neil

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Stereotypes

characters in the drama with a predetermined set of

characteristics that are based on how a group of people
or society identify the type of character presented

46
 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Symbolism

● the use of a concrete object to represent an

abstract idea
● if the symbol is repeatedly used throughout the
drama, it becomes a motif

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Symbolism

SOLDIER.
Yes;
As sparrows eagles, or the hare
the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they
were
As cannons overcharg’d with
double cracks;
48
 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Symbolism
So they
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the
foe:
Except they meant to bathe in
reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,
I cannot tell—
But I am faint, my gashes cry for
help.
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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Symbolism

But I am faint, my gashes cry for

help.

An excerpt from Macbeth

William Shakespeare

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 Techniques and Literary Devices in Drama
Unity

● derived from Aristotle’s Poetics

● for Aristotle, drama should have a:
○ unity of action
○ unity of place
○ unity of time

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 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Try This! Otherwise, write false.

1. In drama, protagonists should be complex.

52
 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Try This! Otherwise, write false.

2. All dramas have antagonists.

53
 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Try This! Otherwise, write false.
3. Character 1 is talking to Character 2. Character
2 made a snide comment about what Character
1 is discussing with her. The comment is not
heard by Character 1 but is known to the
audience. This scenario shows a soliloquy.

54
 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Try This! Otherwise, write false.

4. The writer should ensure a smooth

transition of events when using flashbacks.

55
 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Try This! Otherwise, write false.

5. In a drama, foreshadowing is when it is only

hinted to the readers that the protagonist
will die without directly mentioning it.

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Wrap- ● Techniques and literary devices in drama include
Up allusion, antagonist, aside, deus ex machina,
dramatic irony, flashback, foreshadowing, in
medias res, monologue, motif, protagonist,
soliloquy, stereotypes, symbolism, and unity.

● Using techniques and literary devices can make

your drama more interesting and complex.

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Challenge
Choose your favorite song that falls under one
Yourself of the genres listed on the next slide.

Afterward, construct a two-to-three-page scene

for a one-act play about the song. Make sure to
use at least five techniques and/or literary
devices discussed.

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Challenge
Yourself 1. Pop
2. Rock
3. R&B
4. Folk/Country
5. Classical/Opera

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Bibliography

Bain, Carl E, Jerome Beaty, and J. Paul Hunter. The Norton Introduction to Literature. New York, New York: Norton,
1991.

Cuddon, John A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literature Theory. Oxford: Blackwell, 2013.

Dawson, Paul. Creative Writing and the New Humanities. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor and Francis, 2005.

Earnshaw, Steven. The Handbook of Creative Writing. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.

Mills, Paul S. The Routledge Creative Writing Coursebook. New York, New York: Routledge, 2006.

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