Use a stage direction

Supplied materials

• Paper and pencil, or a browser text area. All named people/events/records are fictional learning inputs.
• Worked case: Line: The path is like a ribbon. Layout: four lines with no blank line. Direction: [whispers]. Narration: I opened the gate.
• Primary check: Line: The lake is a mirror. Layout: two lines, blank line, two lines. Direction: [walks left]. Narration: We opened the gate.
• Original two-stanza poem: A lamp beside the open gate Keeps company while I wait. The wind whispers through the tree; The next small step belongs to me. Original script adaptation: JO: I can see the gate now. LEA: Take your time. [Jo pauses, then steps forward.] The poem’s break separates waiting from deciding. Wind whispers is personification; the script makes a pause and movement explicit.

Learn the idea

A play’s stage directions indicate actions or delivery, while speaker labels identify who says the dialogue. Directions are usually not spoken as character lines.

Read the bracketed phrase as an acting instruction. Distinguish movement, voice, face and timing.

Example to read or listen to: Line: The path is like a ribbon. Layout: four lines with no blank line. Direction: [whispers]. Narration: I opened the gate. The answer is whisper. The relevant input states: Direction: [whispers]. This fits whisper. A play’s stage directions indicate actions or delivery, while speaker labels identify who says the dialogue. Directions are usually not spoken as character lines. Do not make the actor say the brackets aloud.

1. Read or listen to the worked example. Say what the reading or writing task asks you to find. An adult can help with unfamiliar words.
2. Read the bracketed phrase as an acting instruction. Distinguish movement, voice, face and timing.
3. Check the worked solution: whisper. The relevant input states: Direction: [whispers]. This fits whisper. A play’s stage directions indicate actions or delivery, while speaker labels identify who says the dialogue. Directions are usually not spoken as character lines. Do not make the actor say the brackets aloud.
4. Try the question and the practice questions. Point to the words that helped you choose before checking the feedback.

Check your reasoning

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Take it further

Optional extra practice: Write a four-line original poem in two two-line stanzas, including a simile and personification. Turn one line into a speaker-labeled script line and add a bracketed pause. Explain the differences among poem layout, dialogue and narration. Practice this lesson’s skill as you complete the task. Use this idea to check your work: A play’s stage directions indicate actions or delivery, while speaker labels identify who says the dialogue. Directions are usually not spoken as character lines.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback. It does not include choices from the separate More practice section. Download that section separately.