Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What are the main differences between plays and novels? What, if anything, is lost when a work of fiction is recreated for the stage? Compared to watching a live performance or reading a novel, how would you describe the experience of reading a play?

Teaching Suggestion: There was debate about the eighth story in the Harry Potter series being a play rather than a novel, as some worried the well-known story would not translate well into dramatic structure. Students might begin by reviewing dramatic structure and components of a typical drama (e.g., acts, scenes, stage directions, monologues, dialogue), taking note of the unusual number of scenes in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

• This resource guide on plays provides information about the genre’s history, elements, and forms.
• This article from MasterClass covers the five elements of dramatic structure, including the stages of plot progression.

2.   How does a playwright reveal elements of time—such as the hour, day, or year—in drama? In what ways might the playwright establish the setting? How does time and place impact a story?