Features of a Play

OBJECTIVE 1: Use scripts from different plays

to identify common features of plays. (5 min)
I will give each group two pages of a script from
a famous play. The purpose is to look at it and
notice the features. (What does it have?)
I DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO READ IT ALL.
The purpose is NOT to comprehend the whole
script, but you will have to read parts of it to
figure out what the feature is and what it
means.
Notice 6 features of a play.

OBJECTIVE 2: Use what you noticed about the

features of a play to guess what each feature
means.
FOR EXAMPLE:

It looks like a
list of names.
List of
characters

OBJECTIVE: On your poster paper, write

Features of a Play as the title. Then, list the
features that you noticed in your play AND
what you think it means. (10 minutes)

Features of a Play:

List of Characters: A list of people in the play

You will do this in groups of FOUR.

Group 1: Footloose (6)
Dahmair, Ameer, Kydae, Halima
Group 2: A Raisin in the Sun (7)
Kya-meer, Zymir, Victoria, Aboudalahe
Group 3: Romeo and Juliet (7)
Elise, Zafirah, Jules, Christian
Group 4: A Streetcar Named Desire (6)
Yasin, Tayshaun, Nyla, Talia
Group 5: Hamlet (8)
Jahniyus, Fodie, Amadou, Abdullah
Group 6: The Crucible (7)
Jamere, Calmiyah, Honesty, Darryl

If you finish before the other groups, stay in your

groups and write the features and what you think they
mean in your ELA book.
When every group is finished, we will do a gallery walk.
This means as a group, you will walk to the next group
to look at their poster. You will write down the features
that they noticed in your ELA book (NOT THEIR
DEFINITION, JUST THE FEATURE). If you do not get to
copy down every feature, that is OKAY.
When we finish our gallery walk (you might not get to
see every groups poster), you will return to your seat
with your ELA book. I will tell you the features of plays
that you should know and their definitions.

Step 1: Get into your group of 4.

Step 2: Look at the script to identify the features of a
play.
Step 3: Write the feature and what you think it means
on your poster.
Step 4: If you finish early, copy it into your ELA book.
Step 5: Leave your poster on a desk. Get your ELA book.
Ms. Anna will direct the gallery walk.
Step 6: Groups will look at the features in other plays
and write them down in their ELA books.
Step 7: Go back to your seat.
Step 8: We will talk about the features we noticed.
Step 9: Ms. Anna will give you the definitions and you
will copy them into your ELA book.

Features of a Play:
Title: the name of an artistic work
Author/Playwright: a person who writes plays
Cast/List of Characters: the actors taking part
in a play
Narrator: the person who tells the story
Setting: where the story takes place
Stage Directions: an instruction indicating the
movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the
sound effects and lighting
Entrance/Exits: when an actor comes on/off
stage or enters/exits the scene

Acts: division in the performance of a play (Part

1, Part 2, Part 3)
Scene: a sequence of continuous action in a
play, movie, opera, or book.
Dialogue: conversation between two or more
people as a feature of a book, play, or movie
Monologue: a long speech by one actor in a play
or movie