Playwriting Unit

Lesson Plan One – Writing: As it relates to Theatre

1. Statement (Inform student of objectives)

(a) Description of Activities and Setting
i. Move to the second PowerPoint Slide (Outline of the lesson) and go over what will
be discussed within today's lesson
A. The Playwright
B. Parts of the Script
C. Parts of a Play
D. Plotting the Play - “Activity where students create a diagram visually depicting
the general plot structure of plays”
ii. Mention to the students that by the end of class today they should have a better
understanding of the Playwright, Parts of the Script, Parts of the Play, and even
create a way of visually plotting the general plot of plays.
(b) Materials and Time
i. PowerPoint Presentation (Slide 2)
A. Slide 2 has the Outline of the slides on it, as mentioned in 2(a)i
ii. This segment should only take about 2 min

(c) Refer back to the answers given to the question “What is a play” given at the
beginning of class.
A. Ask students what they think might be part of a play
B. Move to Fourth Slide (Parts of a Play)
• Focus on Theme, Action, and conflict
⁻ Ask students before explaining each, if they are aware of what they may
be and their importance to the play.
⁻ Expound on student responses and come to a conclusion on what they
are
ii. Refer back to the answers given to the question “What is a script” given at the
beginning of class.
A. Ask students what they think might be part of a Script
B. Move to Fifth Slide (Parts of a Script)
• Focus on Characters, Dialog, and Stage Direction
⁻ Ask students before explaining each, if they are aware of what they may
be and their importance to the script.
⁻ Expound on student responses and come to a conclusion on what they
are
iii. Move to the 6th Slide (Plotting the Play)
A. Ask students what a plot is?
• Define Plot: Logical structure that connects events
• Make sure students understand that they must understand the plot in order
to visually diagram how a plot progresses.
B. Ask Students about the Protagonist and Antagonist
• Define both:
⁻ Protagonist: The main character in a literary work or drama
⁻ Antagonist: A person, or a group of people who oppose the main
 character
C. Move to the 7th Slide (Plotting the Play)
• Explain to students that traditionally plays have a typical beginning, middle
and end.
• Within each section there are some key elements that fall into the
beginning, middle, and end.
• The following fall into what can be described in a traditional play as the
beginning segment
• Point of Attack: The first thing the audience will see or hear as the play
begins.
⁻ Exposition: Giving us information about the past -- about what happened
before your Point of Attack.
⁻ Inciting Moment: Introduces the major conflict of the play
• Move to slide 8
• The following fall into the Middle segment
⁻ Raising Action
⁻ Conflict (Arising from the Inciting Moment)
⁻ Climax (Turning Point): The point of greatest intensity in the raising
action
• Move to slide 9
• The following fall into the Ending Segment
⁻ Falling Action
⁻ Dénouement: series of events that follow the climax of a drama or
narrative, and thus serves as the conclusion of the story.
⁻ Catastrophe: The ending/Denouement of a Tragedy
⁻ Resolution: Another word for Denouement