Plays – Key Terms
The person who writes a play
Playwright
A character picks up a ring during a play. Is it part of the set or a prop?
Prop
The S.M.I.L.E method analyzes poetry. What does “L” stand for?
What is language (devices/symbolism)?
A stanza with two lines.
What is a couplet?
This word means the text of the play before it’s performed.
script
The prepared area for a scene, like a kitchen or a bedroom.
the Set
Which is usually longer, an act or a scene?
Act
The voice speaking in a poem, not always the poet.
Speaker or Persona
A stanza with four lines.
What is a quatrain?
Name one poet we've mentioned so far.
Who is Olive Senior / Gerard Manley Hopkins / Lorna Goodison?
A cloth that hangs across the stage to provide a background.
Backdrop
The script describes “a rainy evening.” Which element is this?
Setting
What is the speaker (or persona)?
A group of lines in a poem that share one thought or idea.
A 14-line poem often about love.
What is a sonnet?
This element of a play tells us the time, mood, and weather.
setting
The objects used on stage by actors.
props
The backdrop shows a forest, but the script says it’s night. What two elements are working together?
Set and Setting
Rhyme that occurs within a single line.
What is internal rhyme?
Identify the rhyme scheme of:
“The sky is blue (A) / The grass is green (B) / The flowers grew (A) / A lovely scene (B).”
ABAB
“I am short, I am a beat, I live inside an act.” Who am I?
What is a scene?
The major division of a play, usually broken into scenes.
Act
Without these people, the script would be a lonely monologue.
Cast
Words that look like they rhyme but don’t (e.g., love/move).
What are eye rhymes?
Poetry that has no set rhyme or meter.
What is free verse
A stanza with eight lines is called what?
What is an octave