Various Elements,

Techniques and
Literary Devices in Drama
 DRAMA

 A drama comes from the

Greek verb dran which means
“to do”.
 DRAMA
 The earliest known plays were written
around the fifth century B.C. produced
for festivals to honor Dionysus, the
god of wine and fertility.
 DRAMA
 A drama, also known as a play,
is a form of literature written
intentionally for theatrical
performance.
ELEMENTS OF
DRAMA
 CHARACTERS
 the people, or sometimes
animals, the subject that is
portrayed by the actors and
actresses in the play.
 CHARACTERS
 It can be categorized into three
types according to the roles they
play.
 protagonist, antagonist and
secondary characters
 PLOT
 referring to the basic storyline
of the play, is the structure of a
play which tells what happens
as the story goes.
PLOT STRUCTURE
PLOT STRUCTURE
 Exposition
 Rising Action
 Climax
 Falling Action
 Resolution/Denouement
 SETTING
 The setting is the place,
together with other conditions,
such as time and the
environment, involved in which
the events occur.
 THEME
 The theme refers to the message
that is intended to be expressed
through the story.
 It is the main idea or the lesson to
be learned from the play.
 GENRE
 Genre is the type of play
 tragedy, comedy, romantic,
mystery, and historical play.
 GENRE
 It is the type of play
 tragedy, comedy, romantic,
mystery, and historical play.
 AUDIENCE
 It is a group of people who
watch the play.
 AUDIENCE
 Many playwrights write the plot
of the drama with a great
concern on their groups of
audience rather than their own
interests.
Dramatic elements
 action
 It is what the characters say
or do to achieve their
objectives.
 ASIDE
 When the actor speaks
directly to the audience, the
other actors supposedly
unable to hear what he says.
 ASIDE
 It was used during the
Renaissance drama to let the
audience know the actor’s
inner feelings.
 BACKSTORY
 It pertains to the events that
happened in past
 CONFLICT
 It pertains to the problem
caused by the opposing
objective of the protagonist
and the antagonist.
 DEUS EX MACHINA
 a plot device used when a seemingly
unsolvable conflict or impossible
problem is solved by the sudden
appearance of an unexpected
person, object, or event.
 DISCOVERY
 It is what is achieved when
the main character finally
realizes the reality of the
situation.
 FLASHBACK
 It refers to the description or
enactment of the past even for
clarifying the situation,
usually as it relates to the
conflict.
 FORESHADOWING
 It is the use of hints at the
future in order to build
anticipation in the
audience.
 INCITING INCIDENT
 It refers to the event that
launches the protagonist
and gets the plot going.
 IN MEDIAS RES
 It refers to the opening
scene in the middle of the
action.
 MUSIC
 It is a mainstay of the
musical drama.
 It is used on the stage to set
the drama’s mood and tone.
 MONOLOGUE
 It is an actor’s speech
delivery in the presence of
other character who do not
speak but listen.
 PROTAGONIST
 It is the main character of the
story.
 He or she is the character with
a mission or is involved in a
quest.
 REVERSAL
 It happens when the main
character either fails or
succeed. It is also called
periptery.
 SCENES
 These are the portion of an
act, something triggered by
the clearing of the stage for
the next’’ scene’’.
 SCENES
 It allows the audience to relax
briefly in the tension of the
drama or to add a sense of
poignant sadness.
 SOLILOQUY
 It is a speech delivery by an
actor when he or she is alone
to express thoughts.
 STAKES
 These are what the character
stands to gain or lose if they
succeed or fail.
 SURPRISE
 It is something that
happens out of the
audience’s expectations
 SUSPENSE
 It consists of event that creates
a sense of uncertainly
concerning what will happen
to character.
 THREE UNITS
 Three units - French and Italian critics of the
16th and 17th centuries believed that a play
needs three unites to achieve verisimilitude
(believability), unit of action (first suggested
by Aristotle), unity of place (a single
location), and unity of time (the play
portraying no longer than a 24-hours period).
THANK YOU