Worksheet: Analyzing a Greek Drama

A worksheet of questions on setting, characters, plot, theme, and the tragic hero.

By Rick Reed

ENGLISH 11AP - Literature and Composition:

Worksheet ‑ Analyzing a Greek Drama

Mr. Reed

I. Setting
- A. What is the geographical location of the story?
- B. During what era or during whose reign does the story unfold?
- C. What is the atmosphere of the drama?
- D. In what milieu do the characters live? That is, what is significant about the surroundings?
II. Characters
- A. Who is the protagonist?
- B. Who/What is the antagonist?
- C. Who are the other major characters?
  - 1. Are they one‑, two‑, or three‑dimensional characters?
  - 2. Are they sympathetic or unsympathetic characters?
- D. Who constitutes the chorus?
- E. What are the motivations of each character?
III. Plot
- A. What information is conveyed in the exposition?
- B. What is the inciting force?
- C. What complications does the protagonist face?
- D. At what point does the climax take place?
- E. What decline in fortunes does the protagonist experience in the falling action (resolution)?
- F. How are matters left in the conclusion?
IV. Theme
- A. What aspect of human nature does the playwright seem to be examining?
- B. What statement (or observation) about the human condition does the playwright seem to be making?
- C. What universal or archetypal ideas recur throughout the plot? (These are sometimes called MOTIFS, and may also appear in images.)
V. Aristotle’s Poetics
- A. The protagonist
  - 1. Is the protagonist a perfectly good person brought from prosperity to adversity?
  - 2. Is the protagonist a bad person passing from adversity to prosperity?
  - 3. Is the protagonist an utter villain from the start?
  - 4. Is the protagonist a person absolutely or eminently good or wise who is brought to disaster by hamartia?
  - 5. Is the protagonist highly renowned or prosperous or illustrious?
- B. The Unities
  - 1. Is the action restricted to one twenty‑four hour period?
  - 2. Is the action restricted to one geographical location?
  - 3. Does the play consist of one main action – to the carrying on of which everything else in the play is subservient? Does one mood predominate?
- C. Catharsis
  - 1. Does the action arouse either pity or fear? How?
  - 2. Does the action produce a mood of emotional release or intellectual serenity? How?