BECE JHS
Drama tells a story through people acting in a space. The story needs a plot, characters, and a reason they cannot all have what they want.
The plot is what happens, in order. A character is a person in that story, shown by what they say and do, not only by a costume. The setting is where and when the action happens. Dialogue is the words the characters speak to each other. Conflict is the struggle: one character against another, against a rule, or against a fear. A short play still needs a change. Something is different at the end because of what the characters did. Listing events with no struggle is a report, not yet a plot.
Performance uses the body and the voice. Mime tells the action without spoken words, so the gesture has to be clear enough for the audience to name the object that is not there. Spoken drama uses dialogue, and the voice has volume, pace, pause and pitch. A whisper can be more powerful than a shout if the room is quiet and the pause before it was earned. Stage areas help a director: downstage is toward the audience, upstage is away from the audience. An actor who turns fully away for a long speech loses the audience. Face the listeners when the line matters.
The Creative Arts and Design tips guide sets out dance and drama beside the rest of the paper. BECE Creative Arts and Design tips
Plot is events with a conflict, not a list of costumes. Character is shown by action and speech. Mime and dialogue are different: mime has no spoken words. Voice answers should name a feature, such as pace or pause, and what it does for the audience. "Act well" earns nothing. Upstage and downstage are positions, not moods.
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
4 marks
(a) Define plot. (2 marks)
(b) State two other features of a drama. (2 marks)
(a) The plot is the ordered events of the story, including a conflict.
(b) Characters and dialogue. Setting would also count.
4 marks
Distinguish between mime and dialogue. (4 marks)
Mime tells the action with the body and with no spoken words. The audience must be able to tell what the invisible object is. Dialogue is the words characters speak to each other, and the voice carries meaning as well as the words.
2 marks
A character is about to admit a mistake. State two ways the actor can use the voice so the audience believes the moment. (2 marks)
The actor can slow the pace, and leave a short pause before the admission.
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Practise Creative Arts and Design freeThe plot is what happens in the drama, in order, with a conflict. Characters are the people. Dialogue is what they say. The setting is where and when the action happens.
Mime uses gesture and no spoken words, so the action has to be readable on its own. Dialogue uses spoken words. The voice still matters: pace, pause, volume and pitch tell the audience how the character feels. All BECE Creative Arts and Design past questions