Canary Islands PAU Dramatic Literature Exam study plan
Canary Islands PAU Dramatic Literature Exam · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Tragedy and comedy in Greek and Roman theatre & Theatrical terminology and dramatic theory
Map the structural vocabulary of Greek tragedy (párodos, episodios, estásimos, éxodo) onto a single Sophocles play and label each section in your own outline
Distinguish the dramatic functions of the three actors and the chorus by writing a one-page comparison of how each conveys information to the audience
Define in your own words twenty core theatrical terms (catarsis, hamartía, hybris, peripecia, anagnórisis, aparte, acotación) and give one ancient example for each
Compare Aristophanic Old Comedy with Menippean satire and Roman comedy (Plauto, Terencio) in a table of five shared conventions and three differences
Your checkpoint
A 1,200-word glossary-plus-structure dossier covering twenty terms and a labelled scene breakdown of one Greek tragedy
Tragedy and comedy in Greek and Roman theatre & Medieval and Renaissance dramatic forms
Trace how Roman comedy's stock types (el senex, el miles gloriosus, el esclavo astuto) survive into later European drama and list three concrete descendants
Summarise the staging conditions of medieval religious drama (carros, mansiones, teatro de calle) and explain how they constrain the text
Identify the defining features of the auto sacramental and the égloga dramática and annotate one short passage of each
Outline the transition from medieval to Renaissance dramaturgy using La Celestina and the early pasos as hinge points
Your checkpoint
A comparative two-column chart of medieval and Renaissance dramatic conventions with at least twelve annotated entries
Baroque theatre: Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, Tirso de Molina
Reconstruct the Arte nuevo de hacer comedias argument and state five of Lope's rules in your own words with a concrete example from a Lope play
Analyse the three-act structure and the figure of the gracioso in one Lope comedy, quoting at least four short passages
Map the honour-and-jealousy machinery of a Calderón drama and explain how the desenlace resolves the conflict
Characterise Tirso's treatment of the burlador figure and distinguish it from later Don Juan versions without relying on secondary summaries
Your checkpoint
A 1,500-word analytical essay on one Baroque play, plus a one-page timeline placing Lope, Tirso and Calderón in their theatrical context
Baroque theatre: Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, Tirso de Molina & Neoclassical theatre and the Enlightenment
Write a side-by-side comparison of Baroque polymetry and Neoclassical unities, explaining what each system gains and loses dramatically
State the Neoclassical rules of the three unities and verisimilitude, then test one Baroque play against them and predict the objections a Neoclassical critic would raise
Summarise the Enlightenment debate on the didactic function of theatre and identify its main arguments for and against
Explain how the comedia de figurón and the sainete relate to the Neoclassical reform of Spanish stage practice
Your checkpoint
A mock Neoclassical review (600 words) of a Baroque play, applying the unities explicitly and citing the text
Romantic and realist drama in the 19th century
Contrast Romantic dramaturgy (mixture of comic and tragic, historical setting, the rebel hero) with realist dramaturgy (verisimilitude, social milieu, prose dialogue) in a structured comparison
Analyse the Don Juan Tenorio tradition as a Romantic reworking and note three concrete changes from earlier versions
Explain the rise of the drama de tesis and the alta comedia and identify what each assumes about audience and morality
Trace the influence of Ibsen's well-made play on Spanish realist drama and name specific structural borrowings
Your checkpoint
A 1,200-word comparative commentary on one Romantic and one realist scene, with close reading of dialogue and stage directions
20th-century theatre: avant-garde movements and contemporary drama
Summarise the aims of the historical avant-gardes (expressionism, surrealism, futurism) and state how each attacked realist stage convention
Explain the theatrical theories of at least three twentieth-century innovators and link each to a concrete staging technique
Analyse the use of the grotesque and the esperpento and locate its stylistic markers in a specific passage
Outline the postwar Spanish theatrical landscape (commercial theatre, committed theatre, experimental theatre) and place three representative authors within it
Your checkpoint
A one-page annotated map of twentieth-century theatrical movements with author, technique and one representative work each
20th-century theatre: avant-garde movements and contemporary drama & Analysis and commentary of dramatic texts
Apply a fixed commentary method (context, structure, characters, language, staging, interpretation) to an unseen dramatic excerpt under timed conditions
Produce a close reading of a passage's dialogue and acotaciones, distinguishing what the text says from what the stage directions imply
Revise your own timed commentary against a checklist and rewrite the weakest section to full marks standard
Practise identifying period and genre from textual clues alone in five short unseen fragments
Your checkpoint
Two timed 90-minute commentaries on unseen excerpts, each followed by a self-assessed correction sheet
Tragedy and comedy in Greek and Roman theatre & Medieval and Renaissance dramatic forms & Baroque theatre: Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, Tirso de Molina & Neoclassical theatre and the Enlightenment & Romantic and realist drama in the 19th century & 20th-century theatre: avant-garde movements and contemporary drama & Analysis and commentary of dramatic texts & Theatrical terminology and dramatic theory
Consolidate weak areas by re-testing the five domains where your practice scores were lowest and logging every corrected error
Memorise a compact quotation bank of twelve short passages spanning at least four periods for use in essays
Rehearse full essay plans for six likely exam prompts, timing each plan to ten minutes
Complete one full mock exam under real time conditions and mark it against the commentary and essay criteria
Your checkpoint
A full mock exam script plus an error log and a one-page final revision sheet of key dates, authors and terms
Milestones
Week 2: You can name the structural parts of a Greek tragedy, define twenty dramatic terms from memory, and explain three continuities from Roman comedy to later European drama without notes
Week 4: You can write a 600-word Baroque analysis and a mock Neoclassical critique back to back, correctly applying the unities and quoting the text at least three times
Week 6: You can place any given dramatic excerpt within a period and justify the placement with three textual features, and you can explain three avant-garde challenges to realism
Week 8: You score at least 70% on the full mock exam, with both timed commentaries completed inside 90 minutes and at least ten quotations recalled accurately