Part 1

CLEARING THE SPACE:

An Introduction to the
study of
Essence and Significance
of Literature
Reporter: Lucky Brylle C. Minoza
Essence and Significance of Literature
1. Litera comes from the Latin word which means
letter. Deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of
man. Literature is the story of man (Kahayon, 1998).
Literature comes from French phrase “belles - letters”
means beautiful writing (Baritugo,2004)
2. Literature in it’s broadest sense, is everything that
has ever been written.
3. The best way to understand human nature fully and
to know a nation completely is to study literature
(Garcia, 1993).
Essence and Significance of Literature
4. We learn the innermost feelings and thoughts of
people – most real part of themselves, thus we gain an
understanding not only for others, but more
importantly, of ourselves and of itself (Garcia, 1993).
5. Offers us an experience in which we would
participate as we read and test what we read by our
own experience.
6. Does not yield much unless we bring something of
ourselves to it.
7. Literature is a faithful production of life, it is a
product and commentary on life process.
Essence and Significance of Literature
8. Literature illuminates life.

9. Literature is our life’s story including its struggle, ideas,

failures, sacrifices and happiness (Ang, 2006).

10. Literature appeals to man’s higher nature and its need –

emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and creative. Like all other
forms of art, literature entertains and gives pleasure; it fires the
imagination and arouses noble emotions and it enriches man by
enabling him to reflect on life and by filling him with new ideas
(Garcia, 1993).
Essence and Significance of Literature
11. Literature is one of the Seven Arts ( music, dance, painting,
sculpture, theatre, and architecture) literature is creative
product of a creative work, the result of which is form and
beauty (Nuggets, 2004).
12. Why do people read Literature? (Nuggets, 2004)
 For information
 For assesment
 For higher and keeper pleasure
 For cultural upliftment
 For discovery of broader dimension in life.
13. The ability to judge of literature is based on the application
of certain recognizible standards of good literature.
Great literature is distinguishable of the following qualities
(Garcia, 1993).

 Artistry – quality which appeals to our sense of

beauty.

 Intellectual Value – a literary work

stimulates thought enriches our mental life by making us
realize fundamental truths about life and human nature.

 Suggestiveness – the quality associated with the

emotional power of literature, it should move us deeply
and stir our creative imagination, giving and evoking vision
above and beyond the plane of ordinary life and
experience.
 Spiritual Value – a good literature elevates the spirit
by bringing out moral values which makes us better
persons – this capacity to inspire is part of the spiritual
value of literature.
 Permanence – a great work of literature endures and it
can be read again and again as each reading gives fresh
delight and new insights and open new worlds of
meaning and experience.
 Universality – great literature is timeless and timely –
forever relevant in terms of its theme and conditions.
Essence and Significance of Literature
14. Literary text can be studied in several ways
(Garcia, 1993).

For its thematic value, for entertainment value, for

the richness of its plot, for comparison with other works,
for the ideas it contains, for its emotional power, for
character analysis, as an appeal to move readers to
action, for social reforms, for its representations of
literary movements and techniques, for the author’s
unique use of language (style) and most importantly for
its reflection of life itself.
Essence and Significance of Literature
15. All literature falls under 2 main division (Nuggets, 2004).

PROSE POETRY
Form Written in Written in stanza
paragraph form or verse form
Language Expressed in Expressed in
ordinary language metrical,
rhythmical and
figurative language
Appeal To the intellect To the emotion
Aim To convince, Stir the
inform, instruct, imagination and
imitate and reflect set an ideal of how
life should be
Essence and Significance of Literature
16. Prose

a. Prose drama – consist of dialogues in prose, and is

meant to be acted on stage.

b. Essay – a short literary in composition which is expository

in nature. The author shares some of his thoughts, feelings,
experiences, or observations on some aspects of life that have
interested on him.
Example: Carmen Guerrero Nakpil’s “Where is the Patis?”.
Essence and Significance of Literature
c. Prose Fiction – something invented, imagines or feigned
to be true.

• Novel – a long fictitious narrative with a complicated plot. It

may have a main plot and one or more sub-plots that develop
with the main plot. Characters and actions representative of
the real life of past or present times are portrayed in a plot. It
is made up of characters.
Example: Without Seeing The Dawn by Stevan Javellana.
Essence and Significance of Literature
• Short Story - a fictitious narrative compressed into one unit of time,
place and action. It deals with a single character interest, a single emotion
or series of emotions called forth by a single situation. It is distinguished
from the novel by its compression.
Example: Dead Stars by Paz Marquez – Benitez.

d. Biography and Autobiography

 Biography – a story of a certain person’s life written by another who knows
him (the former) well.
Ex: Cayetano Arellano by Socorro O. Alberto

 Autobiography - a written account of man’s life written by himself.

Ex: A Woman with No Face by Ms. Pilar Pilapil
Essence and Significance of Literature
e. Letter –a written message which displays aspects of an
author’s psychological make-up not immediately apparent in his
more public writings. It is a prose from which by the force of its
style and the importance of its statement becomes an object of
interest in its own right.

f. Diary –a daily written record or account of the writer’s own

experience, thoughts, activities or observations.

g. Journal – a magazine or periodical especially of a serious or

learned nature.
Essence and Significance of Literature
h. Other Prose Forms:

8.1 Historical Prose – a prose from dealing with historical events.

8.2 Scientific Prose – a prose from that deals with the subject science.
8.3 Satrical Prose – a prose form that ridicules the vices and follies of men.
8.4 Current Publications – books, magazines or newspapers that are commonly
known or accepted or in general usage at the time specified or, if unspecified, at
the present time.
8.5 Literary Criticism – the analysis, interpretation and evaluation of literary works;
it does not mean “finding fault with”.
8.6 Book Review – an article dealing with the contents, literary worth, etc. of a
book especially a recently published book.
Essence and Significance of Literature
17. Literary Genres
a. Fiction c. Essay
b. Poetry d. Drama

18. Fiction
a. is an imaginative recreation and re-creation of life.
b. Includes short stories and novels.
c. Short story often referred to as a “slice of life” is a fictitious
narrative compressed into one unit of time, place and action; to
deals with a single character interest, single emotion called forth by
a single situation.
Ex: “Dead Stars” by Paz Marquez - Benitez
Essence and Significance of Literature
[Link]- A fictitious narrative with a complicated plot; it may have a
main plot and one or more sub-plots that develop with the main plot;
characters and actions representative of the real life of past or present
times are portrayed in a plot; it is made up of characters.
Example: “Dogeaters” by Jessica Hagedorn
 Novel and short story differ from each other only in length and
complexity, the novel is longer because of several complications and
twists to its plot.
 Fiction is a make believe world, the literary characters seem almost
real and the situations are likewise similar to real life conditions and
surroundings,
 More often than not, people see themselves in the characters or
relate them to real life people they know.
Fiction
Reporter : Rocel Shane Sombilon
Elements of Fiction
Elements of Fiction
1. Characters
- Are the representation of a human being;
persons involved in a conflict.
Elements of Fiction
Five ways of Revealing Literary Characters
 What the character do along with the
circumstances in which they do it?

 How the characters are described

 What the characters say and think?

 What other characters say about them?

 What the author says about them?

Types of Characters
a. Round Character
- Is a dynamic character who recognize
changes in the circumstances.
- Is a fully develop character, with many traits
– bad and good – shown in the story.
Types of Characters
b. Flat Character
- Also known as the stock or the stereotype
character who does not grow and develop.
- A flat character is not fully developed.
Types of Character
Other types of Characters:
a. Protagonist – hero/ heroine.

b. Antagonist - a foil to the protagonist.

Types of Character
Other types of Characters:
c. Deuteroganist – second in
importance.

d. Fringe – one who is

destroyed by his inner
conflict.

e. Typical or minor characters

Elements of Fiction
2. Setting
- The locale (place) or period (time) in which
the action of a short story, play, novel or the
motion picture takes place (also known as
the background of the story).
Elements of Fiction
3. Conflict
- The struggle or complication involving the
characters, the opposition of persons or
forces upon which the action depends in
drama or fiction.
Types of Conflict
a. Internal Conflict
- Occurs when the protagonist struggles within
himself or herself.
- The protagonist is pulled by two courses of
action or by differing emotions.
Types of Conflict
b. Interpersonal Conflict
- Pits the protagonist against someone else.
- Person-against-person.
Types of Conflict
c. External Conflict
- Happens when the protagonist is in conflict with the
values of his or her society.
Elements of Fiction
4. Plot
- A casually related sequence of events; what happens as
a result of the main conflict is presented in a structure
format; the sequence of events which involves the
character in conflict.
- (Beginning, Middle, Ending).
Plot
 Narrative Order
- The sequence of events is called the narrative
order.
Plot
 Narrative Order
Chronological the most common type of narrative
order in children’s books.
Plot
 Narrative Order
Flashback occurs when the author narrate an event
that took place before the current time of the story.
Plot
 Narrative Order
Time lapse occurs when the story skips a period of
time that seems unusual compared to the rest of
the plot.
Pyramidal Structure of a Plot

Climax

Complication Denouement

Exposition Resolution
Pyramidal structure of a Plot
a. Exposition (Beginning)
- Introduces the time, place, setting, and the main
characters.
b. Complication (Rising action)
- Unfolds the problem, and struggles that would be
encountered by the main characters leading to
the crisis.
c. Climax (Result of the crisis)
- Part where the problem or the conflict is the
highest peak of interest; the highest point of the
story for the reader, frequently, is the highest
moment of interest and greatest emotion; also
known as the crisis or the point of no return.
Pyramidal structure of a Plot
d. Denouement
- Is the untying of the entangled knots, or the
part that shows a conflict or a problem is
solved, leading to its downwards movements
or end.
e. Resolution (End)
- Contains the last statement about the story.
Qualities of the Plot
a. Exciting
- It should be more exciting than the everyday
reality that surrounds us.
b. Good Structure
- The episodes must be arranged effectively,
but the most important element of plot
structure is tying all the incidents together,
so that one leads naturally to another.
Plot Devices
a. Flashback
- Something out of chronological order; to
reveal information, to understand a
character’s nature.
b. Foreshadowing
- A device to give a sign of something to come.
Its purpose is to create suspense, to keep the
readers guessing what will happen when.
c. Suspense
- This is an ending that catches the reader off
guard with an unexpected turn of events.
e. In Media Res
Plot Devices
d. Surprise Ending
- This is an ending that catches the reader off
guard with an unexpected turn of events.
e. In Media Res
- The technique of beginning a story in the
middle of the action, with background
information given later in flashbacks.
Elements of Fiction
5. Point of View
- The writer’s feeling and attitude towards his
subject.
- Determined who tells the story and it
identifies the narrator of the story.
- The form of narration also affects the story
itself.
Classification of P.O.V
a. First Person
- The writer uses the pronoun “I”. He/she could be a
participant or a character in his own work.
- The narrator may be the protagonist, an observer, a minor
character, or the writer himself/herself.
Classification of P.O.V
b. Third Person
- The writer-narrator is a character in the story. He/she
narrates based on what he observed/his opinion.
- On the other hand, a limited third person is an
outsider/observer who is not part of the story.
Classification of P.O.V
c. Omniscient
- The writer-narrator sees all; he can see into the minds
of characters and even report everyone’s innermost
thoughts.
Classification of P.O.V
Name Characteristics Pronouns

Speaker part of the

story, can observe
I, me, mine, we, us, our
Fist Person characters, but reveals
(s)
feelings and reactions
only of self.
• Story told only as one
character can • He, him, his, she, her
• Third Person observe. (s), they, them, theirs
• Limited Third Person • Narrator not part of • He him, his, she, her
the story, cannot read (s), they, them, theirs
any character’s mind.

Narrator/author knows He, him, his, her (s),

Omniscient
all and sees all they, them, theirs
Elements of Fiction
6. Mood
- The atmosphere or the emotional effect generated by
the words, images, situations in a literary work.
- The emotional ambiance of the work.
Example:
Melancholy
Joyous
Tense
Opressive
Elements of Fiction
7. Tone
- A term used, sometimes broadly, to denote an attitude of
feeling of the speaker or author as conveyed by the language
in its artful arrangement.
- It describes the attitude of the narrator or persona of the work
whereas Mood refers to the emotional impact felt by the
reader of the work.
Example:
Ironic, Sly
Pensive, Acerbic
Humorous
Elements of Fiction
8. Symbolism
- Stand for something other than themselves,
they bring to mind not their own concrete
qualities, but the idea or obstruction that is
associated with them.
Elements of Fiction
9. Images
- Are usually characterized by concrete
qualities rather than abstract meaning
- These appeal to the senses of taste, smell,
feel, sound, or sight.
Elements of Fiction
10. Theme
- The central or dominating idea in a literary work
- It is the topic or subject of the selection, which is
sometimes stated by a character or the writer himself,
but oftentimes, it is merely implied or suggested.
Note: The theme is not some familiar saying or moral
lesson.
Example:
Love, Friendship
Courage, Revenge
Reporter: Lucky Joyce S. Lantaya
Poetry
 Greek word poesis meaning “making or creating”
 A kind of language that says it more intensely than ordinary language does.

5 things about poetry

a. Poetry is a concentrated thought
b. Poetry is a kind of word-music
c. Poetry expresses all the senses
d. Poetry answers our demand for rhythm
e. Poetry is observation plus imagination
SOME OF THE BEST DEFINITIONS OF POETRY:
 Gemino Abad :
“ a poem is a meaningful organization of words.”
 T.S Eliot :
“ The fusion of two poles of mind, emotion and thought”
 Manuel Viray :
“ Poetry is the union of thoughts and feelings.”
 William Wadsworth :
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recorded in tranquility”
 Edgar Allan Poe :
“ It is the rhythmic creation of beauty”
 Percy B. Shelly :
“ It is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.”
 Jaime G. Ang :
“ Poetry if the ‘essence’ of the creative imagination of man.”
ELEMENTS OF POETRY
[Link] – is revealed through the meaning of words, images and symbols,
a. diction – denotative and connotative meanings/symbols
b. images and sense impression – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, motion, and
emotion
c. figure of speech – simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, metonymy,
synecdoche, hyperbole, irony, allusion, antithesis, paradox, litotes, oxymoron,
onomatopoeia.

[Link] – is the result of a combination of elements.

a. tone color – alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, repetition, anaphora
b. rhythm – ordered recurrent alteration of strong and weak elements in the flow of
the sound and silence: duple, triple, running or common rhyme.
c. meter – stress, duration, or number of syllables per line, fixed metrical pattern, or
a verse form: quantitative, syllabic, accentual and accentual syllabic.
d. rhyme scheme – formal arrangements in rhymes in stanza or the whole poem.
ELEMENTS OF POETRY

3. STRUCTURE – refers to arrangement of words, and lines to fit

together, and the organization of the parts to form a whole

a. word order – natural and unnatural arrangement of words

b. ellipsis – omitting some words for economy and effect
c. punctuation – abundance or lack of punctuation marks
d. shape – contextual and visual designs: jumps, omission of
spaces, capitalization, lower case
TYPES OF POETRY
1. Narrative Poetry
a. Epic – a long narrative poem of the largest proportions.
b. Metrical Romance – a narrative poem that tells a story of
adventure, love and chivalry. The typical hero is a knight on a quest
c. Metric Tale – a narrative poem consisting usually of a single
series of connective events that are simple idylls or home tales, love
tales, tales of the supernatural or tales written for a strong moral
purpose in verse form.
d. Ballad – the simplest type of narrative poetry. It is a short
narrative poem telling a single incident in simple meter and stanzas. It
is intended to be sung.
TYPES OF POETRY
e. Popular Ballad – a ballad of wide workmanship telling some
simple incidents of adventure, cruelty, passion or superstition, an
incident that shows the primary instincts of man influenced by the
restraint of modern civilization.

f. Modern or Artistic – created by a poet imitation of the folk

ballad, makes use (sometimes with considerable freedom) of many of
its devices and conventions

g. Metrical Allegory – an extended narrative that carries a second

meaning along with the surface story. Things and actions are symbolic.
TYPES OF POETRY
2. LYRIC POETRY
a. Ode – a lyric poem of some length serious in subject and dignified in style. It is the
most majestic of the lyric poems. It is written in a spirit of praise of some persons or things.
Example: Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind”
b. Elegy – a poem written on the death of a friend of the poet.
example: The Lover’s Death by Ricardo Demetillo
c. Song – a lyric poem in a regular metrical pattern set to music. These have 12 syllables
and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
example: Florante at Laura by Francisco Balagtas
d. Corridos (kuridos) – these have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic) and recited
to a material beat.
example: Ibong Adarna by Jose Dela Cruz
e. Sonnet – a lyric poem containing fourteen iambic lines, and a complicated rhyme.
example: Santang Abad by Alfonso P. Santos
LITERARY DEVICES IN POETRY
1. FIGURES OF SPEECH
 Simile – consists of comparing two things using the words like or as
Example: Your face is as big as a seed,
But you do not bear fruit (Lines from A Secret by Carlos Bulosan)
 Metaphor – uses direct comparison of two unlike things or ideas.
Example: Dear Lord:
Let thou be the street-cleaner
Whilst I be the road (Prayer by NVM Gonzales)
 Personification – gives human traits to inanimate objects or ideas.
Example: The bullet said to the heart:
From now on we shall never part (Lines from Communion by Gerson M. Mallillin
LITERARY DEVICES IN POETRY
 Apostrophe – is a direct address to someone absent, dead, or inanimate
Example: Little sampaguita
With the wandering eye
Did a tiny fairy
Drop you where you lie?
(Lines from The Sampaguita by Natividad Marquez)
 Metonymy – substitutes a word that closely relates to a person or a thing.
Examples:
1. The pen is mightier than the sword.
2. He lives through the bottle.
3. I have read all of Shakespeare.
4. By the sweat of our brow, you will earn your food.
Essay
Reporter : Michelle Nitz Regis
A popular form of literature that is written in a
prose composition of moderate length usually
expository in nature which aims to explain or
clear up an idea, a theory, an expression, or
point of view.
ELEMENTS OF ESSAY
 Theme and Content
 “what is the main point of the essay?”
 Is the general objective or aim of the essay and the ideas it wants to
present, describing events or interpret experiences.

 Form and Structure

 “how are ideas ordered to achieve a single effect?”
 Describes the outline of the essay and how it is written: either orderly,
systematic or in a logical manner.
 It has three basic parts: introduction, main body and conclusion. With
two major patterns: inductive and deductive.
ELEMENTS OF ESSAY
 Language and Style
 “what makes the essay literary?”
 Isthe mode or tone, attitude and sensibility used by the
writer. Mostly, this is done in a whimsical, humorous,
matter-of-fact, satirical, serious and optimistic manner
but depending on what the essayist wants to portray.
 This element also describes how the writer expresses
himself.
TYPES OF ESSAY
1. Formal or Impersonal Essay
 deals with serious and important topics.
 has an authoritative and scholarly style.
 imposes formal tone echoes with an objective and clear straight forward
expression.
 is to teach and instruct.
2. Informal or Familiar Essay
 covers ordinary and common place subjects through casual,
conversational or friendly, often humorous but equally insightful to
formal essay.
 appeals more emotion than to intellect.
 is to address a certain topic lightly and in fluid style.
TYPES OF ESSAY
a. Reflective – serious in tone and dignified in style, this type is mainly
aphoristic. It’s short and sharp “quotable quotes” or choice maxims cut
deep into memory like a proverb. The subject matter spurs thinking and
rouses keen observation.

b. Narrative – uses an accident or event, not for the sake of the story but to
shape the theme. It is often used to make the idea clear and endearing
to present.

c. Descriptive – adds vividness, reality and animation to narrative essay.

d. Speculative- theories or poses some questions in an interesting subject or

may ramble speculating and prying to some problems.
TYPES OF ESSAY
e) Biographical – portrays characters or sketches of life, not simply chronicling it but
to analyze and interpret the side of a character.

f) Nature – aims to picture the world of trees, flowers, birds, mountains and etc. It
may be either pictorial or reflective or both depending on the writer.

g) Critical – includes biography, literary criticisms, book reviews and other

compositions that aims to make an analytical judgment upon literature.

h) Didactic – enforces a moral lesson. It is serious and has in tone explaining or

trying to convince but concentrates more on giving lesson.

i) Scientific – contains excellent logic, clarity of expression and organized

presentation of the sequence of ideas.
DRAMA
 From the Greek word “dan” which
means to do.
 It is the art make-believe, it consists
in part of acting out events that
happened or that are imagined
happening.
 Aristotle defines drama as “the
imitation of life”.
 Drama imitates life.
Theatre
Reporter: Faith Precious Andre C. Inguillo
Kinds of Theater
Arena
Medieval
Elizabeth
Proscenium
Theater of Cruelty
KINDS OF THEATRE

 1. Arena- is the theater style of early Greeks. The actors

are surrounded on all sides by the audience and they
make exits and entrances though the aisles. This type of
arrangement brings the audience into a special kind of
intimacy.
KINDS OF THEATRE

 2. Medieval- is the theatre which uses playing areas called mansions

inside the churches and portable wagons wheeled about outside the
churches. In some performances, the actors came into the audience,
breaking the sense of distance or the illusion of separation. Their
drama was integrated with their religion and both helped them
express their sense of belonging to the church and the community.
KINDS OF THEATRE

 3. Elizabeth- is the theatre which was a wooden structure

providing an enclose space around a country open sky. The
enclosed structure generated intimacy and involvement
between actors and audience.
KINDS OF THEATRE

 4. Proscenium- was the stage of the nineteenth century. This type f

stage distance the audience from the play, providing a clear frame
behind which the performances act out their scenes.
KINDS OF THEATRE

 5. Theatre of Cruelty- was developed in France. This type of theatre

closes the gap between the actor and audiences. Its purpose was to
confront the members of the audience individually to make them feel
uncomfortable and force them to deal with the primary issues of the
drama itself.
Types of Drama Tragedy
Comedy
Tragicomedy
TYPES OF DRAMA

 1. Tragedy - a serious drama in which the

protagonist, traditionally of noble position, suffers a
series of unhappy events that lead to a catastrophe
such as death or spiritual breakdown.
TYPES OF DRAMA

 2. Comedy - a type of drama intended to interest and amuse

the audience rather than to make them deeply concerned about
the events that happen . The characters experience difficulties,
but the always overcome their ill fortune and find happiness in
the end.

• Comedy of Humors or Old Comedy- resembles farce and often

pokes fun at individuals who think of themselves as very
important. The characters’ disposition are exaggerated and
stereotyped.

• Comedy of Manners or New Comedy- is realistic and satirical is

concerned with the manners and conventions of high society.
TYPES OF DRAMA

 3. Tragicomedy - a play that does not adhere strictly to the structure

of tragedy. This is usually a serious play that also has some of the
qualities of comedy. It may be a commentary on the society’s raucous
behavior that draws laughs and ends happily, yet there is a sense of
discomfort in the sardonic humor.
Elements of Drama
Plot
Characters
Setting
Dialogue
Movement
Music
Theme
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

 1. Plot- a term for the action of drama. The function of

the plot is to give action a form that helps the audience
understand the elements of the drama in relation to one
another. The plot depend largely on the conflict of the
characters.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
 2. Characters - as the conflict unfolds, so are the characters
revealed. In many plays, the entire shape of the action derives form
the character’s strengths and weaknesses thus, they create their own
opportunities and problems.
 Characters are revealed through their own words, their interaction
with other characters, their expression of feelings, and their presence
on stage expressed in movement and gesture.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
 3. Setting - refers to the time and place in which the action occurs. It
also refers to the scenery and physical elements that appear on stage
to vivify the author’s stage directions. Some plays make use of very
elaborate settings, while others make use of simplified settings, even
an empty stage in absurdist play.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

 4. Dialogue - the speeches that the characters use to advance the action.
Since there is no description or commentary on the action, as there is in
fiction, the dialogue must tell the whole story. A highly efficient dialogue
reveals the characters, unfolds the action and introduces the themes of the
play.

• Soliloquy- a speech in which an actor , usually alone on stage, utters his or

her thoughts aloud, revealing personal feelings.

• Aside- a short speech made by a character to the audience which, by

convention, the other characters onstage cannot hear.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
 5. Movement - in the Greek tragedies, the chorus danced in a
ritualistic fashion form one side of the stage to the other. Their
movement was keyed to the structure of their speeches. In reading a
play, the stage directions give information as to where the characters
are, when they move, and perhaps even the significance of their
movement. The stage directions enhance the actor’s interpretations
of the character’s action.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

 6. Music - is an occasional dramatic

element in a play. This may either be
sung by the characters or provided as
background during the performance.

 7. Theme - is the message, the

central action, or what the play is
about. Many plays contains several
rather than just a single theme.