← English Literature syllabus

SingaporeEnglish Literature

Reading Drama

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How does a playwright reveal character almost entirely through speech, and how do you analyse dialogue rather than just report what characters say?

Analyse how dialogue reveals character and relationships in drama (what is said, how it is said, subtext, interruptions and silences) and explain its dramatic effect
How to analyse character and dialogue in drama for O-Level Literature. How speech reveals character and relationships, reading subtext, interruptions and silences, and moving from reporting what characters say to analysing how it is said and its dramatic effect.
9 min answer →

How does a playwright build tension and use the audience's knowledge against the characters, and how do you analyse dramatic irony and suspense?

Analyse dramatic irony (the audience knowing more than a character) and the techniques that build tension and suspense in drama, and explain their effect on the audience
How to analyse dramatic irony and tension in drama for O-Level Literature. What dramatic irony is and how it works, the techniques playwrights use to build suspense, and how to explain their powerful effect on the audience.
9 min answer →

How is a play built, and how does conflict drive it, so that you can analyse dramatic structure rather than just summarise the action?

Analyse dramatic structure (exposition, rising action, climax and resolution) and the central conflict that drives a play, and explain how the shaping of a scene or act creates dramatic effect
How to analyse dramatic structure and conflict for O-Level Literature drama. Exposition, rising action, climax and resolution, the central conflict that drives a play, and how to move from summarising the action to analysing how a scene is shaped for effect.
9 min answer →

How do you work through an extract from a play to answer a passage-based drama question, combining dialogue, subtext, staging and dramatic technique?

Apply a repeatable method to a passage-based drama question (read for the dramatic situation, attend to dialogue and subtext, read the stage directions, and write analysis of dramatic effect on the audience)
A repeatable method for answering a passage-based drama question for O-Level Literature. How to read for the dramatic situation, attend to dialogue and subtext, read the stage directions, and write analysis focused on dramatic effect on the audience.
9 min answer →

How does a playwright create meaning through the visual and physical side of theatre, and how do you analyse stagecraft and stage directions?

Analyse stagecraft and stage directions (setting, movement, props, lighting and sound, entrances and exits) and explain how the visual and physical dimension of drama creates meaning in performance
How to analyse stagecraft and stage directions for O-Level Literature drama. Setting, movement, props, lighting and sound, entrances and exits, and how to read the visual and physical side of theatre as a source of meaning in performance.
9 min answer →

What ideas does a play explore, and how do you trace and support a theme through conflict, character, dialogue and staging?

Identify the themes of a play and trace and support a theme through conflict, character, dialogue, key scenes and staging, explaining how drama explores ideas in performance
How to find and trace themes in drama for O-Level Literature. Following a theme through conflict, character, dialogue, key scenes and staging, and supporting a thematic reading of a play with well-chosen evidence and attention to performance.
9 min answer →