Dramatic monologue
Task:
Having read My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning and Education
for Leisure and Stealing by Carol Ann Duffy, you should now have a fairly good
understanding of dramatic monologues. Now it’s your turn.
We are going to prepare and present dramatic monologues as part of your GCSE
Speaking and Listening Coursework. Your dramatic monologue will need to reveal
aspects of the character and the situation within 3–5 minutes.
You are being assessed on your speaking and listening skills and you will need to consider
things such as words used, volume and pace of voice, tone, expression, body language
and actions.
Creating a character:
You will be creating your own characters for a dramatic monologue. You will need to think
of a character who is in an interesting situation. Your character may possibly be a lot
different from yourself.
Brainstorm situations:
Situation/ event/
character
Write a paragraph about the situation/ event/ character. Be as creative and imaginative as
you can be.
Your character:
You do not need to discuss all of these aspects in your script, but the more information you
have the better you will be able to prepare.
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name
gender
age
ethnicity
accent
occupation
family
interests / hobbies
personality
likes and dislikes
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Dramatic monologue
Preparing your script:
Answer the following questions to help you write your script:
1. Who is your character speaking to? (themselves, someone else, the mirror, the
audience, invisible friends, etc)
2. Where is the character? (setting: time, date, place)
3. How does your character feel?
4. How will you show your character’s emotions in your script? (think about words
used, actions, tone of voice, attitude, facial expressions, etc)
5. Does your character’s mood change throughout your performance?
6. How do you want the audience to respond? (laugh, sadness, curious, thoughtprovoking, etc)
7. How do you want the performance to end? (situation resolved, cliff hanger, happy
feelings, complete change from beginning, etc.)
Draft your script
Write a draft script considering how you are going to say and act what you are writing. Put
your actions, expressions, etc in brackets next to the words you will be speaking.
When you have written a draft, read it out to someone else, putting in some of the actions
and expressions of your character.
Edit your draft until you are happy with what you have got.
Presenting your monologue
You will be presenting your monologue in front of the rest of your classmates.
You do not need to memorise your script, but you do need to have practised it and be very
familiar with your script. You may use palm cards to help you.
You can use props and costumes if you wish, but these are not necessary to get top
marks.
© 2006 www.teachit.co.uk
5627.doc
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