Classwork Series and Exercises {English Language – JSS3}: How to Write a Play

Literature: Features of a Play

Plays have the following features:

• The speakers’ names are printed in capitals at the beginning of their speech, with a colon following the name. E.g. DANIEL:, TOLU: e.t.c
• A play may also contain stage directions e.g. (Takes her hand.) These always appear in italics, and in brackets. E.g. DANIEL (He turns off the light): 
• The setting of the play may change from time to time. For example, this scene takes place one morning ‘in a clearing at the edge of the market’. This is also put in brackets, and italics.
• The costumes  can be very important. For example, Soyinka suggets that Lakunle is dressed in an old-style English suit – whereas Sidi is dressed in traditional clothing. What do the costumes tell you about the characters?
• Certain items may be required for use during the play. For example, in this scene, Lakunle tries to carry Sidi’s pail – such items are called ‘properties’, or props for short.
• The performance can feature not just the words spoken by the actors – it can also include singing and dancing
• The director of the play will decide how, when and where the actors should stand and move – and exactly how the singing and dancing should be performed.
• Sometimes, the director may wish to encourage the audience to take part in the singing – and even the dancing. Audience participation often features in traditional performances in Africa.

Skill Focus: How to Write a Play

Here are some suggestions on how to write a play. Let us suppose you want to write a short play about Toli, Ocol and Clady. You need a title! Let’s call it The Tangled Web ( a spider’s web  that has been messed up perhaps by the wind).

You need to decide where and when the play takes place (the setting). This needs to be stated at the beginning along with suitable stage directions. e.g.

The Tangled Web

{Scene: A roadside near the market. Toli enters – and sees  Ocol and Clady walking towards her}

Notice the stage directions (such as Toli enters) use present simple tense
To be interesting, a play must involve conflict of some kind: for example, one of the characters want X, another wants Y. So you need to think of what each character wants – and then imagine the kind of dialogue that takes place. It’s best to keep the dialogue comparatively calm and low key to start with, so that it gradually builds up to a climax – when the exchanges become more heated.

Ideally, there should be some kind of resolution or satisfactory ending – It’s not always easy. We suggest you end your play when you feel like ending it – just allow the audience to imagine the ending for themselves!

Skill Focus: How to Write a Speech

A speech should take into account three main factors:

Situation:

What is the occasion? Formal, Semi-formal or Informal?
Solemn (such as funeral or memorial service) or light-hearted?

Audience: 
Just your fellow students – or very mixed?

Purpose:
What is the purpose of your speech?
What is the purpose of the meeting/occasion?
In what way can your speech help the meeting to be more successful?

There are two ways of giving a speech:

1. Writing it out in full

Some people like to write out a speech in full anyway, because it gives them confidence. Even if you do this, however, it is always best to give the speech – not read it. You can of course refer to notes. But if you avoid reading a speech, it is always much more impressive.

2. Writing your own speech in note form

Jotting down what you have to say in note form, point by point, is usually a much more effective way of giving a speech. Your audience feels that you will speak more naturally and more interestingly. You may forget a point or two, that is true but the way you speak will be much  more impressive.

Your note introducing a Dr. Garba will be like this

Vote of thanks

1. Welcome distinguished visitor Dr Muhammed Garba of African Studies ABU
2. Department near the school – ex-students
3. Title: ‘Am. Today – Dream or Nightmare?
4. Qualification: Phd. Social historian. Visited US many times visiting lecturer L.A. Uni. 
5. Questions allowed!
6. Without more ado …….

All the main points are here, and can go on the back of a postcard. Once you’ve listed them, you hardly need to refer to them!

How to Study a Novel!

Many students faced with a novel immediately worry about its length. How can one cope with this one, long book?
These notes will help!

1. Enjoy it!
The first rule is this: Read it through, as quickly as you can, for enjoyment. The book is an opportunity for enjoyment, not a threat to one’s well being!

Developing a positive attitude as much as you can will greatly ease any problems you might have. Getting a general idea of what the book is about, who the main characters are, and what happens in the novel, will give you a useful overview.

2. Make notes

Next get to grips with the major events described in the novel – the plot. Chapter by chapter, or section by section, make very brief notes summarising the main events that take place. Compare your notes with those of a partner. You will almost always find things you missed, or misunderstood. It is usual to use the Present Simple tense for this purpose. For example, your notes summarising the extract in this unit might read as follows:

Odili offers Edna a lift to the hospital on his bike, and tries to impress her with his strength. 
But his attempt to impress her is spoilt when they have an accident.

3. Chunking

It may be there are no chapters or sections: the novel just goes on and on!  In that case, you will need to ‘chunk’ it. That is, you divide it into sections which seem to you to make sense. Before, during and after a particular major incident could be three such sections.

4. Character Study

So, you’ve made notes on the plot, what next? You can look at the main characters. Who are they, and what are they like? What do they do, and why? The novel gives you two clues about their characters:

• it says what they did, or how they behaved.
• it indicates what they say
• sometimes it states the reasons for their actions; sometimes we have to infer this.

5. Point of view

As you get further into the novel you will notice that it typically consists of different kinds of text:

Description (of people and places)
Dialogue (what people say to each other)
Narrative (the events described)

There are several different kinds of narrative, depending on the writer’s point of view.

First-person narrative

Here, the novelist imagines himself (or herself – many novelists are women) to be one of the characters. So, many of the sentences start with ‘I’! Normally, this is an invitation to readers to identify themselves with the person referred to.

Third-person narrative

Many novels are written as though by an unseen observer, who knows and sees everything that is going on. This kind of narrative is sometimes called ‘omniscient’ (from the latin word ‘all-knowing’). Most novels are examples of this kind of narrative.