FYJC DRAMA 4.1 History of English Drama Objective Test prepared by Mrs. Premjit Sunil Gatigante

OBJECTIVE TEST

 

1. NAME ANY FOUR PERIODS OF HISTORY OF BRITISH DRAMA

 Answer : -

1. The Medieval Period (11th to 15th Century

2. The Renaissance Period (1600 to 1700)

3. Restoration Period (1600 onwards)

4. Victorian Period (1901to 1945)

 

2. LIST THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

 Answer : -

The four elements of drama are :- Plot, Character, Theme and Stage Directions.

3. STATE A TYPE OF DRAMA EACH FROM ANY FOUR PERIODS OF HISTORY

Answer : -

Poetic Drama (Modern Period) Murder in the Cathedral (1935)

Comedy (Renaissance Period) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595) Tragedy (Restoration Period) All for Love (1677) Kitchen Sink Drama (Post Modern Era) Look Back in Anger (1956) 

4. COMPARE THE FEATURES OF A TRAGEDY AND A COMEDY

 Answer : -

COMEDY	TRAGEDY
A Comedy deals with humorous  story with happy ending.	A Tragedy deals with the darker themes with sad ending.
A Comedy creates laughter and fun.	A Tragedy creates emotions of pity and fear in the audience.
A Comedy relies on unusual circumstances & witty dialogues.	In a Tragedy, the main character usually has a moral flaw that causes the central tragic event.
Examples of Comedy Plays are ‘The Comedy of Errors, ‘As You Like It’ etc.	Examples of Tragedy Plays are ‘Hamlet’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘King Lear’ etc.

 5.STATE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POETRY AND DRAMA

 Answer :-

DRAMA	POETRY
Drama is a composition, normally in prose, telling a story and intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue.	Poetry is a literary piece written in verse.
Drama is factual and realistic in its theme and its message.	Poetry is presented in the form of stanzas and recited in rhyme and rhythm.
Drama is presentation in acts and scenes and dialogue.	Poetry is imaginative and visualizes the experience or scenario.
Drama consists of a beginning, middle and end. It is complete in itself.	Poetry doesn’t need to be compact. It is beyond time, place and reason.

 6. STATE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DRAMA AND NOVEL

Answer :-

DRAMA	NOVEL
Drama is a composition normally in prose, telling a story and intended to be represented by actors imitating the characters and speaking the dialogue .	Novel is written in basic prose style and is meant to be read and not performed .
Drama is a presentation in acts and scenes and dialogues .	Novel is a presentation of the events in the form of paragraphs .
Drama is a performance, so the characters are mouthpieces of the dramatists .	Novel is a prose narrative, so the narrator plays an important role In describing the characters and their actions .
Dialogue is the most essential element of drama and is a greater exposure for the characters . E . g . As You Like It by William Shakespeare .	Although, Novels sometimes have dialogues, it is not a necessary part of the structure like it is for drama . E . g . Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen .

 7. Define Drama.

Answer : - Drama is a composition in verse or prose to be acted on the stage, in which a story is related by means of dialogue and action and is represented with, accompanying gesture, costume and scenery as in real life. (Shorter Oxford Dictionary) 

Another definition of Drama is :- Drama is a composition designed for performance in the theatre in which actors take the roles of the characters, perform the indicated action and utter the written dialogue. (A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H. Abrams)

8.Explain the term plot?

Answer : - Plot refers to the main events in a story composed as a connected sequence of events. The plot can be made up of several seemingly unconnected threads, but as long as they are presented in a way that communicates to the viewers that these actions and events are connected in some way, you may safely refer to that chain of events as the ‘plot’.

9. Differentiate between characters and characterization.

Answer : -  A character is literally just a figure in a story whose actions drive the plot. A character need not be a person-it can be an animal or even an object. All that matters is that the character provides a reason for a plot to occur. Characterization usually occurs through dialogue, action and what the author tells us outright about a character. These elements make a character seem like a real person. The character and characterization are quite interrelated. One cannot exist without the other. Without characters there would be no real story, because it is characters that make a plot of the story come alive. Characterization, on the other hand, is the process of making a character in a story seem real. A good story, however, includes characters who are so well-characterized that they feel alive to us.

10.ENLIST A FEW REASONS FOR WATCHING A DRAMA LIVE ON THE STAGE EACH PERFORMANCE IS UNIQUE:

Answer: - Unlike watching a movie on the screen, each performance differs from the next, even when the same play is being performed. This is because the emotions of the actors, gestures, dialogue delivery, etc., can never be exactly the same for every performance.

 

THE AUDIENCE IS A PART OF THE PERFORMANCE: The reaction of the audience may directly influence the actors and as a result, they might change or modify their performance. Thus, the audience is a crucial part of each performance.

 

IT IS AN EXPERIENCE IN REALITY: Unlike a movie screen, everything that happens on stage seems more real. Because the performance unfolds before our very eyes, there is a great connection to the characters and story as compared to watching it on a screen.

 

EVERY ASPECT IS VISIBLE: In a live performance, the audience can choose to focus on whatever aspect of the drama that they like, no matter how minor. This is because the entire setting is visible to them at the same time, unlike a movie screen, in which the character or frame to be shown to the audience is pre-decided