Paper 2 HL Drama Questions

Drama

1. Either

(a) “Plays consist, mostly, of talking.”

In light of this statement, consider the extent to which dialogue and monologue are used to advance the principal themes of the plays you have studied.

Or

(b) Plays often depend on various forms of irony to add complexity and interest for the audience. How have plays in your study enriched the theatrical experience through the use of irony?

Either

(a) “The reason we will pay money to spend our leisure time watching two or three hours of unhappiness and frustration is that most of us never give up hope.”

Say to what degree this observation is a satisfactory account of the attractions of the

drama you have studied, and compare the means by which playwrights achieve the

willing engagement of their audiences.

or

(b) “Within the complexity of a play, there are points of emphasis which allow the audience to connect events or feelings, or make conclusions and evaluations.”

Compare the means by which different playwrights create such moments of significance and their success in doing so.

Drama

1. Either

(a) Using two or three plays you have studied, compare the presentation of two or three characters (e.g. introduction, dramatic interactions with other characters), saying in each case how the presentation furthered the dramatists purposes, and how it rewarded your study.

Or

(b) .Time and place are the basic elements of a play. In what ways does your study of two or three plays lead you to support (or modify) this generalization?

1. Either

(a) .As the action of the play unfolds, dramatic tension is often produced by the contrast of concealment and revelation. Compare at least two of the plays,which you have studied in the light of this statement.

or

(b) Compare and contrast the presentation of any three or four characters in plays you have studied. Say how, and how effectively, each character seems to you to further the dramatic force of the play in which he or she appears. 1. Either

(a) Compare and contrast the role of symbolism in two or three plays you have studied.

Or

(b) “Long after the words are forgotten, the spectacle of the drama is remembered.” Compare two or three plays you have studied in the light of this quotation.

1. Either

(a) “Visual action can be as important on the stage as speech.” How far do you agree with this claim? In your answer you should refer to two or three plays you have studied.

Or

(b) Compare the dramatic effectiveness of the relationship between setting and plot in two or three plays you have studied.

1. Either

(a) “It is through speech primarily that a dramatist reveals who his characters are.”

Using at least two works you have studied, show how far you can agree that this is a valid statement about the writing of plays.

Or

(b) The audience’s expectation and the fulfilment or reversal of expectation are both used by playwrights. How have at least two of the plays you have studied satisfied or disappointed expectation, and with what effect?

1. In at least two works you have studied, explore specific techniques by which dramatists shape and pattern the speech in their plays and with what significant effect.

2. In at least two works you have studied, discuss the use of minor characters in either supporting or undermining what appear to be the goals of the protagonist.

1. Either

(a) Most plays have stage directions; some have none or almost none. What do you see as the relevance of stage directions in at least two plays you have studied?

Or

(b) Plays frequently explore moral or ethical dimensions of choices people make. Discuss in at least two plays the dramatic handling of such issues.