Test Bank The Playwright Chapter 4

Theatre, Brief, 12e (Cohen)

Chapter 4 The Playwright

1) The term "playwright" refers to

A) a person who has the "right" to write a play.

B) a person whose knowledge of dramaturgy is so skilled that he or she is always right.

C) a person who constructs and composes a play as a wheelwright makes a wheel.

D) a person whose sense of dialogue is so adept that it verges on a musical talent.

2) Writing plays differs from other literary forms in that

A) playwrighting occurs only on computers.

B) plays are written to be performed rather than simply read.

C) playwrights avoid the use of literary devices such as allusion.

D) playwrighting is a newer discipline.

3) The core element of every play is

A) character.

B) action.

C) language.

D) theme.

4) The playwright works with which two fundamental tools?

A) the psychology of the characters and the viewpoint of the author

B) the impact of the social environment and the audience's sense of values

C) the actors and the set designer

D) dialogue and physical action

5) A play in which events are connected to each other in strict, chronological, cause-effect continuity, and in which dramatic experience attempts to convey a lifelike progression of experience through time, is classified as

A) discontinuous in structure and linear in chronology.

B) continuous in structure and nonlinear in chronology.

C) not being an imaginative piece of art.

D) continuous in structure and linear in chronology.

6) ________ is the audience-imposed demand that requires a play's actions to flow logically from its characters.

A) Credibility

B) Intrigue

C) Continuity

D) Pertinence

7) Which of the following is the most accurate statement of the audience's response to the drama?

A) Surprise draws us into the world of the play; our ticket prices keeps us there.

B) Intense focus draws us into the world of the play; intelligence keeps us there.

C) Curiosity draws us into the world of the play; being a member of the audience keeps us there.

D) Intrigue draws us into the world of the play; credibility keeps us there.

8) ________ is the quality of a play that makes the audience curious to see what will happen next.

A) Credibility

B) Intrigue

C) Gravity

D) Pertinence

9) To accomplish ________, playwrights must closely consider rhythm, meaning, focus, and power in order to achieve the maximum impact when lines are spoken.

A) stageability

B) credibility

C) speakability

D) flow

10) A ________ script is one in which dialogue and stage business are intrinsic to the nature of the play.

A) credible

B) flowing

C) speakable

D) stageable

11) A play that is continually saying something, doing something, and meaning something to the audience is said to have

A) credibility.

B) flow.

C) stageability.

D) speakability.

12) In a play with ________, every detail strengthens our insight into the world of the play.

A) gravity

B) intrigue

C) credibility

D) richness

13) A play in which every character possesses an independence of intention and expression, and whose motivation appears sensible in light of our general knowledge of psychology and human behavior, possesses

A) gravity.

B) depth of characterization.

C) pertinence.

D) stageability.

14) All of the following are signs of good characterization EXCEPT

A) the character appears as a pawn in the playwright's grand design and exists only to symbolize trivial ideas.

B) the characters convey the impression that they believe in themselves and in the fundamental rightness of their cause even though other characters or the audience may disagree with that estimation.

C) even though haunted by self-doubts, the character sustains a belief in himself or herself.

D) the character conveys the complexities of real human beings.

15) A play that deals with an issue of serious and lasting significance in humanity's spiritual or intellectual life beyond the mere attempt to imitate profundity is said to possess

A) credibility.

B) gravity.

C) pertinence.

D) stageability.

16) ________ describes the degree to which a play addresses both of-the-moment and timeless audience concerns.

A) Gravity

B) Intrigue

C) Pertinence

D) Flow

17) The playwright's skill at condensing a story that may span many days or years of chronological time into a theatrical time frame is called

A) compression.

B) stageability.

C) intensity.

D) gravity.

18) Scenes of conflict are important because

A) they make the dialogue dramatic and are highly actable.

B) these scenes display the playwright's virtuosity and highlight the director's finesse.

C) such scenes bracket theatrical pauses or breaks, which can accommodate commercials, should the script go to film.

D) no conflict ever comes naturally.

19) A play's ________ is the overall order of scenes.

A) structure

B) plot

C) continuity

D) flow

20) A linear plot proceeds by

A) the point-to-point storytelling of events linked in chronological, cause-effect continuity.

B) one episode jumping to another.

C) one character's passing a symbol or token to another.

D) one image fading into another related image.

21) Step one of a fundamental playwriting exercise is writing down

A) imagined conversations between groups of people.

B) excerpts from his/her personal diary.

C) memorable dialogue from famous playwrights.

D) overheard conversations.

22) Which of the following playwrights made history as the first female Asian American playwright to have her work presented on Broadway?

A) Annie Baker

B) Suzan-Lori Parks

C) Young Jean Lee

D) Ayad Akhtar

23) Which playwright gained national recognition in 2009 with Circle Mirror Transformation, a play that details acting exercises at a community theatre in a small town?

A) Annie Baker

B) Young Jean Lee

C) Suzan-Lori Parks

D) Tarell Alvin McCraney

24) ________ is known for writing plays that integrate complex elements of black history such as Yoruban culture and explorations of the horrors of slavery into the text.

A) Suzan-Lori Parks

B) Annie Baker

C) Ayad Akhtar

D) Tarell Alvin McCraney

25) ________ is the author of a number of plays that include their own internal logic, such as In the Blood and The America Play.

A) Annie Baker

B) Ayad Akhtar

C) Suzan-Lori Parks

D) Young Jean Lee

26) The audience's demand for internal consistency in a play, in which the characters, the situation, and the theatrical context are combined to generate the action, creates credibility.

27) Playwrights are always welcomed into the rehearsal hall.

28) The theatre does not need new playwrights that present new drama.

29) The quality of a play that describes the way the playwright creates a world in which every detail fortifies our insight into the play is called richness.

30) A play that relates in some fashion to the current personal concerns of the audience is said to possess pertinence.

31) Speakability requires that spoken dialogue reflect the character's personality, rather than just the author's perspective.

32) Richness in a play demands that the author have an excellent vocabulary, a gift for close observation, and significant attention to detail.

33) Plays that celebrate rely on happy endings and noble sentiments.

34) The primary reward for a successful playwright is the opportunity to transition to writing for television.

35) Ayad Akhtar was the most produced playwright of the 2014–2015 American theatre season.

36) Discuss the attributes of a good play script. Consider the elements of story or narrative, the element of played or performed text, and the practical requirements of a stage.

37) What can a playwright do to check the speakability of his or her lines?

38) You are a brand new playwright. Explain how an overheard dialogue can be turned into an interesting scene or even an entire play. Use your imagination!

39) To what extent is playwriting a literary activity?

40) Explain how credibility is created in a play and, perhaps using a play with which you are familiar as an example, how it is related, if at all, to your understanding of reality.