Dramatic Techniques
What is the name given to instructions in a script that tell actors how to move, speak or behave on stage?
Stage directions.
What sport do Jamal and Bibi love to play?
Football/soccer.
What visual technique describes the part of an image that attracts the viewer's attention first?
Sailence
What punctuation mark should appear at the end of this sentence?
Where did Jamal go
A question mark (?).
What figurative technique compares two things using "like" or "as"?
Simile.
What dramatic form involves one character delivering an extended speech to express their thoughts, feelings or experiences?
A monologue.
Why is Jamal's family forced to leave Afghanistan?
hey are forced to flee after the government discovers that Jamal’s parents are running an illegal school. This begins the family's dangerous journey towards Australia.
A character looks directly into the viewer's eyes on a film poster. Is this an offer gaze or a demand gaze?
Demand gaze
Identify the adjective in this sentence:
The frightened boy entered the crowded room.
Frightened or crowded.
Identify the figurative technique:
"The ocean whispered secrets to the shore."
Personification.
The ocean is given the human ability to whisper.
A playwright writes [Jamal looks nervously towards the door and lowers his voice]. What dramatic technique is being used, and what information does it provide?
Stage directions. They tell the actor how the character should move, behave or deliver the scene, helping communicate Jamal’s nervousness.
Why is football particularly important to Bibi in Boy Overboard?
Bibi loves football but is prevented from freely playing it because she is a girl. Football therefore represents freedom and the opportunities she hopes to have. The text explores discrimination by showing that girls and women in Afghanistan do not have the same opportunities as boys and men.
On a film poster, a tiny character is positioned underneath an enormous threatening creature. Name TWO visual techniques being used to make the creature appear more dangerous.
Any two appropriate answers, such as:
Correct the apostrophe error:
The students books were sitting on the teachers desk.
The students' books were sitting on the teacher's desk.
In Carrina Hendricks’ Abandoned Places, what figurative technique is used in “weeping floorboards” and “walls crying tears of yellow paint”?
Personification. The house is given human qualities of weeping and crying, creating a feeling of sadness and abandonment.
A character is alone on stage and speaks directly about their fears and hopes. Explain one advantage of using a monologue instead of dialogue with other characters in this scene.
A monologue gives the audience direct access to the character’s thoughts, feelings and perspective, helping them understand the character more deeply.
Jamal repeatedly dreams about becoming a successful football player. What important theme do these dreams represent?
Hope. His football dreams give him something positive to imagine during frightening and difficult experiences and allow him to picture a better future for himself and his family.
A villain is shown from a low camera angle and takes up most of the poster. Explain the likely effect of these two visual choices.
The low angle and large size make the villain appear powerful, dominant or threatening, making the audience feel smaller or more vulnerable.
What is wrong with this sentence?
Running through the streets. Jamal searched for his family.
"Running through the streets." is a sentence fragment.
A corrected version could be:
"Running through the streets, Jamal searched for his family."
In Jack Davis’ Death of a Tree, what technique is used when the power saw “screamed” and then “turned to a muttering”, and what effect does it create?
The power saw is given human qualities, making its sounds seem like a human voice and emphasising the violence and sadness of the tree being cut down.
A character delivers a serious monologue while another character silently performs exaggerated actions behind them that the speaker cannot see. What dramatic technique could this create, and why?
Dramatic irony, because the audience knows or sees something that the speaking character does not.
Jamal's mother's candlestick is more than simply an object she carries. What does it symbolise?
It symbolises the family's connection to Afghanistan, their home and their identity. Leaving Afghanistan means leaving behind more than their house; they are also separated from their community and history.
A poster places a brightly lit hero against a dark villain on opposite sides of the image. Identify the main visual technique AND explain the idea it could represent.
Contrast/juxtaposition. Placing the characters and contrasting colours against each other could symbolise their opposition, such as good versus evil.
Correct ALL the errors in this sentence:
“where are we going” asked jamal nervously
Where are we going? (Jamal asked nervously).
Students would need to recognise capitalisation, dialogue punctuation, a question mark, a proper noun, the final full stop and stage directions
In Abandoned Places, Hendricks repeats “never” in the description of what will happen to the abandoned home. What technique is this, and what does the repetition emphasise?
It emphasises a sense of finality and defeat, suggesting the home has been permanently abandoned and will not be cared for again. The annotated resource explicitly connects this repetition with “finality and defeat.”