Students learn the special tools of drama — soliloquy, aside, monologue, dramatic irony, and blank verse — and how playwrights like Shakespeare use them to reveal character and build tension, becoming sharper readers of plays.
Students will be able to…
A play has no narrator to tell you what characters think — so how does a playwright reveal a hidden mind, or let you in on a secret the characters don’t know?
Project this and tap each dramatic device. Have students learn how playwrights use it to reveal character and build tension.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
A play has no narrator — so how do you learn a character’s thoughts?
Teacher models.
Class uses the Drama Explorer.
Students analyze a scene.
Students share an analysis.
Aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (Grades 11–12).
Analyze how an author’s choices about dramatic structure create effects.
Analyze how characters develop and interact in drama.
Analyze the impact of specific word choices and figurative language.
Analyze a stage or film production of a drama.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students scan a line of Shakespeare to hear the da-DUM rhythm of iambic pentameter and mark the stressed syllables. A printable scansion sheet is in the ELA library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.