Literature: Drama and Fiction
This domain covers the prescribed drama and fiction texts. For drama, examiners test plot, conflict, character, dialogue, stage directions, and techniques such as dramatic irony and soliloquy. For fiction, they test narrative point of view, setting, characterisation, plot structure, and theme.
Drama rules
- Read stage directions as part of the text: they reveal setting, costume, and action.
- Dramatic irony: the audience knows something a character does not; explain the gap.
- Soliloquy reveals private thought; an aside addresses the audience.
Fiction rules
- Identify the narrator: first person (limited), third person omniscient (all-knowing), or third person limited.
- Track the plot arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.
- Characterisation can be direct (told) or indirect (shown through action and speech). Quote a short phrase to support character claims.
Worked example
Question: Why is a scene dramatically ironic? Reasoning: State what the character believes, then what the audience knows, then the effect. Draft: The character believes the guest is friendly, but the audience has seen the warning letter. The gap creates tension and makes her welcome speech painful to read.
Traps
- Retelling the plot rather than analysing technique.
- Ignoring stage directions in drama answers.
- Confusing the author with the narrator.
- Writing the theme is without naming the theme precisely.