Learning Outcomes


This unit addresses the following learning outcomes: OL8, R1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9; W1, 3, 7, 8, 9.


Unit 1: Drama


Introduction


As part of your Final Assessment Examination, you may be required to answer questions on unseen drama and studied drama. The specification requires Higher Level students to study the full text of a prescribed Shakespearean play. It is essential that you have a clear understanding of all aspects of dramatic structure and techniques and that you are familiar with critical terms used when discussing plays. You may also need to be able to link an unseen extract with the play which you have studied in class.


k s Key Skills for Answering on Drama:


When you write about drama you must display an ability to understand and interpret what you read. In your response you are expected to make relevant points, which you can support with reference to the text. You need to understand each of the following key areas: l Setting l Stagecraft l Character


l Mood or Atmosphere l Plot A. Key Skills for Understanding Shakespearean Drama


William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is considered to be the greatest playwright and poet in English literature. His plays are generally categorised as (a) Tragedies, (b) Comedies and (c) Histories. For Junior Cycle Higher Level English, you must study a Shakespearean play. Te Final Assessment (i.e. written exam at the end of Tird Year) will probably examine your ability to engage meaningfully with the text and test your understanding of how the plays are craſted and constructed.


(a) Tragedies by Shakespeare may involve some funny moments, but tend towards more serious, dramatic plots and themes with endings that involve the deaths of the main characters. In these plays there is a sense that events are inevitable or inescapable and that human beings are, by nature, flawed or imperfect. Examples of famous Shakespearean tragedies are Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Hamlet and Macbeth.


(b) Comedies by Shakespeare are not what modern audiences would necessarily find funny. In spite of some very dramatic storylines, such as in Te Merchant of Venice, usually what defines a Shakespearean play as a comedy is that it has a happy ending, oſten involving celebration and marriage. As You Like It, Te Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Te Comedy of Errors are well-known comedies.


(c) Histories by Shakespeare focus on English monarchs. Tey usually play upon Elizabethan propaganda, showing the dangers of civil war and glorifying the queen’s Tudor ancestors. King John, Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI and Henry VIII fall into this category of history play.


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