theater ch 8

Which of the following are examples of the suspension of natural law in comedy?

-A bank president slipping on a banana peel. -A cartoon character getting hit on the head with a sledgehammer.

Which would be considered a tragic circumstance for traditional tragedy?

-A queen falls hopelessly in love with her stepson -A noblewoman must decide between her own death and dishonoring her dead brother -A king unknowingly murders his father and marries his mother

Which of the following are examples of comedy of character?

-A stock or stereotypical character -A character who believes she is the most witty but is really not very smart. -A character pretending to be a surgeon.

Which of the following are examples of an absurdist plot?

-A woman is buried deeper in a pile of sand as the play progresses. -Two men wait for another who never shows up.

Which of the following is true of satire?

-Can focus on specific figures or instances -Exposes evil and foolishness -Uses wit and irony

The techniques of comedy come from a premise of which of the following?

-Incongruity -Contradiction -Exaggeration

Which of the following describes heroic drama?

-It includes characters of high rank -It is written in verse -It is serious but optimistic

Which of the following are examples of a tragic character accepting responsibility?

-King Lear's suffering on the heath -Antigone's acceptance of her own death -Oedipus putting out his own eyes

Which of the following are characteristics of Theatre of the Absurd?

-Loneliness and futility -Sense of alienation -Illogical world -Characters are lost

Which of the following are usually included in a melodrama?

-Musical underscoring -Villains and heroes -Action and spectacle

Which of the following is true of absurdist characters?

-No real purpose -No personal history -An element of the ridiculous

Which of the following are true of absurdist language?

-Non sequiturs -Illogical language -Heavy use of nonsense

Which of the following are examples of modern film melodramas?

-Science fiction -Westerns -Superhero films

How does the photo represent the characteristics of traditional tragedy?

-The characters are of the upper class. -The innocent woman seems to be suffering at the hands of someone more powerful. -The subject matter seems to be serious in nature.

Which of the following are characteristics of tragicomedy?

-The comic often underscores the serious nature of the circumstances -A sense that all will end well but characters actions often take on very serious repercussions.

Which of the following are true of domestic comedy?

-The equivalent of domestic drama but in comic form. -Deals with domestic or family situations. -Similar to a situation comedy on TV.

How does this photo reflect the characteristics of domestic drama?

-The people are recognizable and cause the audience to feel empathy for them. -The subject matter is recognizable and often heartbreaking. -The settings are places the audience can fully imagine themselves inhabiting.

How does the photo reflect the characteristics of farce?

-The purpose of this play seems to be to entertain the audience and make them laugh. -The situation appears to be ridiculous. -The characters seem to be moving quickly and with exaggeration.

Which of the following are traits that many Asian plays share with heroic drama?

-The ultimate effect of the play is not considered tragic -The plays ultimately end happily -The hero or heroine undergoes a series of dangerous adventures

Which of the following are true of domestic or bourgeois drama?

-This type of drama came about because of the rise of the middle class. -It is the most popular type of modern drama. -Audience members could identify with characters.

Which questions might a tragedy explore?

-Why is the world unjust? -To what heights of courage, strength, generosity, and integrity can human beings rise? -What are the limits of human suffering and endurance?

Which of the following are characteristics of Modern tragedy?

-Written after the late 1800's. -Written in prose -Characters are everyday people

Which of the following are characteristics of farce?

-broad physical humor -accelerated pace -mock violence

Which of the following are examples of verbal humor?

-epigrams -puns -malapropisms

The main character in a traditional tragedy should be classified as

-high-born -in a position of leadership -a person of stature

Which of the following are techniques of comedy?

-humor from wordplay -humor from ridiculous situations -humor from larger than life characters

Which of the following are characteristics of American burlesque?

-low comedy skits -attractive women -variety show

Which of the following are considered plot complications?

-mistaken identity -coincidence

Which of the following are characteristic of Theatre of the Absurd?

-plots without logic -characters without logical purpose -nonsense language

When a tragic character does this, they teach us about life through their abundant capacity for suffering.

Accept responsibility

What is the genre of a play that deals with lower or middle class people in a serious domestic crisis?

Bourgeois drama

This kind of comedy relies on physical comedy, gross exaggeration sometimes including vulgarity, and extreme amounts of imitation of other forms of drama or plays.

Burlesque

This type of comedy is similar to a drama of the same name. It usually revolves around a family or neighborhood caught up in complicated and amusing situations.

Domestic comedy

This type of comedy includes excessive plot complications, stereotyped characters, pratfalls and horseplay.

Farce

Melodramas primarily strive for what emotional response from their audiences?

Fear

What is the name of the genre when the characters are nobles and heroes, it is written using verse and it has a happy or hopeful ending?

Heroic drama

Which of the following is a common subject in tragedy?

Human suffering

What is verbal humor?

Humor deriving from the words of the play themselves.

What is it called when actions, logic, and cause and effect are ignored in a play to make people laugh?

Suspension of natural law

Why is the comic premise set in motion?

The audience can enjoy the incongruity.

Which of the following types of theatre highlights the futility, the injustice and the ridiculousness of life through its dramatic techniques?

Theatre of the absurd

What type of play blends the elements of serious drama and comedy so that the two points of view become one?

Tragicomedy

Traditional tragedy is written in this form in order to scale the heights of the ideas and the emotions.

Verse

In a traditional tragedy the characters are caught up ______ in a web of tragic in which they are trapped.

circumstances, circumstance, or events

The two main genres of drama are tragedy and

comedy

Which main genre of drama has a light tone, mocks human folly and has a happy ending?

comedy

When characters see themselves far differently than we view them and when their misguided belief about themselves results in outrageous situations this is called:

comedy of character

In comedy, when what you expect or know to be true is "turned upside down," this is called:

comic premise

Unlike traditional tragedy modern tragedy was written for and about

everyday people

The characters in absurdist theatre are often called ____________ in their point of view.

existential

Plots in an absurdist play mirror traditional plays with orderly sequences and lots of cause and effect

false

Plots in an absurdist play mirror traditional plays with orderly sequences and lots of cause and effect.

false

Which of the following characters could be found as the hero or heroine in a traditional tragedy?

general king noblewoman

When a character in a traditional tragedy understands that there is no turning back and must continue on despite the circumstances this is called tragic:

irretrievability

Tragedy that was written between the 1800's and the present day is called

modern tragedy

When contradiction, ludicrous coincidences, and mistaken identity combine in comedy this is called:

plot complication

A type of comedy that derived from burlesque but includes higher comedy, wit, irony, poking fun of serious subjects, and often political content is called:

satire

Tragedy from the distant past is called:

traditional tragedy

When the tragic character in traditional tragedy is on a course from which there is no turning back, this is called

tragic irretrievability

The category of heroic drama may also include a play which doesn't have an overall tragic effect even though the play ends with the death of the hero or heroine.

true

Traditional tragedy is written in verse or poetry because the content cannot be expressed in everyday language or prose and the tragic character's language needs to reflect their higher stature.

true