Key Skills in English ? 48


1. From the description of the setting (at the opening of the scene) and from the given stage directions, make a list of all the props which would need to be assembled before staging this extract.


2. Draw a sketch of the stage indicating where you would place doors, windows, the loft and all of the essential props to create the setting.


3. How does the playwright suggest the location and the time of the action in the extract?


4. How is tension created in the extract? Support your answer with evidence from the text.


5. What type of clothing would be worn by the characters in the extract? Explain your choices.


6. If you were directing this scene, what sound and lighting effects could you use to highlight the setting and the action.


7. What impression do you get of the relationships between Nora, Cathleen and Maurya? Explain your answer with support from the text.


8. Imagine that you are a reporter from a Donegal newspaper. Write a short news report about the discovery of the man’s body on the shore.


9. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the above extract: gust, destitute, querulously. Write a sentence for each word which clearly indicates its meaning.


10. Cathleen says of Maurya that, ‘maybe when the tide turns she’ll be going down to see would he be floating from the east’. This suggests that Maurya already knows that Michael has drowned, so why are her daughters hiding the bundle of clothes? Explain your response using details from the extract.


11. Making Connections: From a play which you have studied, select a scene where tension is created effectively. Explain what has happened just before the scene opens and what happens in the scene. Comment on the part played by stage directions in creating the tense atmosphere.


3. Modern Comedy


A modern comedy refers to a play which is designed to arouse laughter and which does not end in disaster but shows characters overcoming obstacles. Certain types of comedy involve intellectual wit and are oſten set among high society; characterisations are clever and the plot reveals complex situations. An element of farce is oſten introduced, where hyperbole (exaggeration) and extreme characters are placed in absurd circumstances that seem to spiral out of control. An example of this type of comedy is Te Importance of Being Earnest and other plays by Oscar Wilde.


48


Unit 1: Drama


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