Youtube Exercise » English Grammar Homework

The emergence of drama as a literary art – Mindy Ploeckelmann

TED-Ed

269K views 13 years ago

Warm-up Questions

When you hear the word “drama,” what kinds of stories or performances do you think of?
How do you think drama could have started as a “literary art” if many people couldn’t read?
What role do you think religion might have played in the early history of theater?

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Start With: Word Definition

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The emergence of drama as a literary art – Mindy Ploeckelmann

From Bible teaching to mystery and miracle plays (00:00 – 01:25)

Transcript will load here…

1. Why did the clergy start creating plays in the 11th and 12th centuries?

To train professional actors for the church
To teach Bible stories to people who couldn’t read
To entertain wealthy nobles who were bored
To compete with traveling musicians

2. What were “mystery plays” called that because they…

revealed the mystery of God’s word
included detective stories from towns
were performed only at night
had secret actors with hidden identities

3. What were the movable carts used for performances called?

pageants
charters
revelations
galleries

The emergence of drama as a literary art – Mindy Ploeckelmann

Guilds take over and the morality play evolves (01:25 – 02:54)

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1. By the 13th century, who was asked to act out different parts of the play cycles?

university professors
different guilds
the king’s soldiers
foreign actors from France

2. In morality plays, characters like Faith, Truth, Charity, and Good Deeds are examples of…

virtues made into characters
historical kings
villains from miracle plays
members of the clergy

3. How did some spectators interact with morality plays?

They sat behind curtains to avoid being seen
They stayed silent and prayed during the performance
They sometimes threw rotten food and got into scuffles
They judged the plays and gave written scores

The emergence of drama as a literary art – Mindy Ploeckelmann

Bans, early theaters, and the path to Shakespeare (02:54 – 03:47)

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1. What did town charters require after the church started to outlaw these performances?

All plays had to be performed inside cathedrals
Only guild members could attend plays
Actors had to perform only Bible stories
Any theater had to be built outside the city wall

2. Which famous playwright is mentioned as developing his craft at one of these theaters?

Christopher Marlowe
Geoffrey Chaucer
William Shakespeare
Ben Jonson

3. According to the speaker, Renaissance playwrights were inspired by the…

building techniques of pageant carts
strict rules written by town guilds
inner struggles and conscience of man
shipping routes between medieval towns

The emergence of drama as a literary art – Mindy Ploeckelmann

Transcript will load here…

1. What is the main idea of the video?

Drama was invented by guilds to advertise their professions
Drama began as professional entertainment for the rich and later became religious
Drama started in ancient Rome and then spread to medieval England unchanged
Drama developed from church teaching plays into more complex theater forms that influenced Renaissance drama

2. Why did the content of the plays begin to change significantly over time?

Because actors stopped using costumes and props
Because non-clergy groups performed them and added new elements
Because the clergy banned all Bible reading
Because audiences refused to watch any religious story

3. What makes morality plays different from the earlier mystery/miracle plays?

They used allegorical characters representing virtues and vices
They avoided any audience reaction
They were always performed in palaces
They were silent performances with no speaking

Discussion Questions

Discuss the ideas from this video

The emergence of drama as a literary art – Mindy Ploeckelmann

Do you think plays are an effective way to teach important ideas to people who can’t read? Why or why not?
The video suggests audiences enjoyed “immoral” characters. Why do you think people are often attracted to villains or troublemakers in stories?
How might a performance change when it moves from a church setting to the street and town square?
In what ways do modern movies or TV shows still focus on “inner struggles and conscience,” like the speaker describes?