Unit 7 Drama.pptVIP

Unit 7 Drama LI Geng-chun, School of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang Radio and TV University, 2012. 1. Unit letter Drama 戏剧 is one of the major genres in any literature. Dramatised representations of stories about the human condition were one of the earliest forms of literary expression – and were a direct outcome of oral story-telling. 1. Unit letter In the western world, the plays of classical Greece were early examples of the genre, and the great open-air amphitheatres in which they were performed bear eloquent testimony to the importance of theatre in ancient times. In Britain, the earliest documented forms of theatre were the so-called ‘Mystery’ Plays, such as those in the York cycle of plays. The Mystery Plays developed in response to the need to spread the stories from the Bible to a largely illiterate population. The development of English as a recognizable language in its own right in the 15th century, saw the emergence of plays in that newly-minted language. 1. Unit letter In this unit, we shall take a look at a number of the most common types of dramatic text: tragedy, the absurd, theatre of social commentary, and historical drama. The written text of a play is really only the tip of the iceberg: the words are there to be interpreted – spoken in different ways by different actors in different productions. And the words are a cloak for the actions and movements which make the drama come alive. This is what makes drama unique among the genres of literature. To really understand a play, we have to see it and hear it. 1. Unit letter For each of the extracts, you should pay special attention to the way language is used to achieve particular dramatic effects – to make us laugh, to reveal the inner workings of the characters’ minds and their motivations, to disturb and unsettle us, to make us feel indignation at the unconscious hypocrisy of a particular group or to give us insight into the conflicts and relationships between people. The playwright has to achi