words to use in a drama essay

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200 Irresistible Words To Describe Theatre Performances

Here is an updated list of over 200 words drama and theatre students can use in school essays to help describe theatre performances they have seen . This version includes several easy-to-understand synonyms beside each adjective in case readers are unfamiliar with certain words.

Seeing a professional theatre performance is such a rich and rewarding experience for drama students. But coming back to class and analysing a performance can sometimes be a complex task. Written analyses often need to include aspects of plot, characterisation, acting, production areas, and even performance styles such as absurdism , epic theatre , political theatre , or magical realism . Even very capable students can have trouble using the most appropriate words to describe what they witnessed at the theatre.

This list of adjectives will help students successfully complete a theatre review , performance analysis, or evaluation. It can also be used to describe in-class plays performed by peers. The list should also prove useful for university drama and theatre students .

200 Words to Describe Theatre Performances

All of these words were well thought out! Helped me on my E1 assignment!

This helped me way 2 much like keep the hard work . I entered a competition and this will probably make me win . I’ll give feedback if I win from this amazing vocabulary chart !.

Awesome, Laila! I’m glad the list of words helped. Good luck in the competition! – Justin

This is a great help good work.

Thanks for the feedback Destiney! – Justin

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Essays About Drama: Top 5 Examples and 5 Prompts

The word drama covers many meanings and subjects; if you are writing essays about drama, discover our guide with interesting essay examples and writing prompts featured here.

What is drama to you? Many know it as a situation or event in which emotions run high. For others, the grand, intricate stage plays of Shakespeare and others of his time come to mind. Regardless, these and all other definitions of drama share one thing in common: emotion.

In all its forms, from theatre to television to cinema to even day-to-day interaction, drama is always centered around emotion, tension, and conflict- things we experience daily. Drama is, quite literally, our life, complete with all its imperfections, troubles, twists, and turns. 

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

1. The History of Drama by Homer Stewart

2. why the news is not the truth by peter vanderwicken, 3. drama reflection essay (author unknown), 4. kitchen sink dramas by rodolfo chandler, 5. love yourself, not your drama by crystal jackson, 6. shakespeare’s theater: an essay from the folger shakespeare editions by barbara mowat and paul werstine, 1. what is drama, 2. types of drama, 3. the history of drama, 4. is the world over-dramatized today, 5. a dramatic incident of the past.

“Perhaps the most theatrical form of drama was opera which is still popular in today’s society. Broadway is certainly a sight that attracts thousands of people annually. In addition, the playwrights of today are striving to make the theatrical experience meaningful to the lives of viewers so that it is not just simply “pleasant entertainment”. Many themes that drama plays in modern times focus on are social problems, tragedies involving the elements of love and hate and as well as social problems that affect the inhabitants of today.”

Stewart gives readers a brief history of drama and its subjects. In different eras, the plays were based around themes and ideas prevalent in those times; for example, the Romantic Period focused on the “experiences of ordinary people.” He also references several playwrights, including Friedrich von Schiller and Percy Bysshe Shelley. In modern times, drama is centered around critical social issues while still managing to be engaging and entertaining.

“Pulitzer turned them into stories with a sharp dramatic focus that both implied and aroused intense public interest. Most newspapers of the time looked like the front page of the Wall Street Journal still does. Pulitzer made stories dramatic by adding blaring headlines, big pictures, and eye-catching graphics. His journalism took events out of their dry, institutional contexts and made them emotional rather than rational, immediate rather than considered, and sensational rather than informative.”

Vanderwicken criticizes the state of news today, saying that many stories are dramatized and outright fabricated to make them more entertaining. He attributes this to Joseph Pulitzer of Pulitzer Prize fame, who introduced He also gives historical examples of instances where the media has exaggerated – news today is too dramatic, and it must change.

You might also be interested in these essays about Macbeth .

“I felt that this learning experience is a very huge step because it takes us from doing a play which is very immature in to something that is big and has maturity in it. It helps me to practice in fluency, public speaking and mostly self-confidence. In the play I developed my ways of acting and how to put emotions in to the character, in which those emotions were not really me.”

This essay describes lessons one can learn from performing drama, such as confidence and speaking fluently. The author also reflects on an experience performing in drama, where the author learned to be more expressive, speak better, and become more hardworking. There is also a brief discussion on the elements of drama, including plot and setting. Drama is important and can teach you essential skills and lessons. 

“In the late 1950s in Britain, the “Kitchen Sink movement”, which is also known as “Kitchen Sink realism” occurred. This cultural movement stemed from ideas about working class activities. A typical writer of kitchen sink dramas is John Osborne, for example his drama “Look back in anger” which aroused many strong opinions when it was first performed as a drama. It is set in a small flat in the west midlands, which is typical of working class people.”

Chandler describes a period in drama where “kitchen sink dramas” depicted working-class stories. He uses John Osborne’s “Look Back in Anger” as an example, briefly describing the play. Jimmy, one of the characters, was known as an “angry young man,” This term was later used to describe young people critical of the social and political state of the world.

“We learn to recognize co-dependence, narcissism, and toxicity for what they are rather than making excuses because we liked the look of someone. In other words, we grow up. We stay in love with our own toxic patterns and keep the cycle of damage going, or we recognize the collateral damage of all our drama and start wanting better for ourselves. We make choices. We experience consequences. If we grow up, we’ll even connect the two.”

Jackson’s essay discusses drama from another perspective, the drama that comes with love life. She gives readers tips on how to care for yourself better and look past all the tension, confusion, and drama that comes with dating. If we look at potential partners from a deeper, more constructive point of view, we can avoid toxic relationships and have a healthy love life. 

“When performance required that an actor appear “above,” as when Juliet is imagined to stand at the window of her chamber in the famous and misnamed “balcony scene,” then the actor probably climbed the stairs to the gallery over the back of the stage and temporarily shared it with some of the spectators. The stage was also provided with ropes and winches so that actors could descend from, and reascend to, the “heavens.””

In their essay, Mowat and Werstine discuss the conventions of performing Shakespearean drama during his time, including the performance of some scenes in different areas of the theater and men playing women’s roles. They also discuss how the theaters they performed in, such as the Globe Theatre, enhanced the plays’ dramatic effect.

5 Prompts for Essays About Drama

The word drama has many meanings and is used differently, as seen in the essay examples above. In your essay, give the word’s etymology, explain the different sides of drama, from theatre to school life, and give examples of how they exemplify the meaning. Explain how they are all connected as well. 

Drama in the context of theatre has four primary forms: comedy, tragedy, tragicomedy, and melodrama. Discuss each type of drama and elaborate on its characteristics. If you wish, compare and contrast them as well. Be sure to give examples of plays when explaining them.   

In your essay, you can also discuss the different periods in the history of drama. Explain what occurred in these periods, how drama changed, and their effects on modern drama. You need not explore too many periods; just make sure you write about key developments and explain them adequately. 

In the world today, the resilience of survivors is glorified and dramatized, while we see media outlets making headlines out of mere gossip and celebrity news. From this, it can be argued that society is centered around making a drama out of nothing. Why is this the case? Discuss your opinion on this issue- feel free to research if you need inspiration. 

Look back to a past event marked by tension, emotion, and drama. Narrate the events and explain how they made you feel- did you learn anything from them? This can be either your own experience or just an event from history or the news. You can read this essay for further inspiration. 

Note: drama can mean different things to different people, so what you consider “dramatic” is up to you.For help picking your next essay topic, check out our top essay topics about love .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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How to write a good drama essay?

Essay paper writing

Thinking about the cultural heritage of a country, people usually remember music, paintings, costumes, and even cuisine, but often forget about drama. This art has taken various forms in different countries, and most nations have a great history of its development.

For ages, it has evolved from being merely entertainment for masses to something a lot bigger and more valuable. It started reflecting the real life, presenting both beautiful and ugly sides of it, teaching people important lessons, educating them, delivering certain messages, and raising public awareness.

Therefore, if you were assigned a drama essay, you have a wide variety of topics to choose from and viewpoints to consider. While picking the topic might not be the biggest issue, as you likely know a few plays you might want to review, the writing part might be a little tricky. Let us walk you through it though.

Drama essay outline

There is nothing special about the structure of dramatic essays. Its main elements are:

• Introduction. Start with a hook phrase, provide a few sentences with some background information on the topic, and end the introductory paragraph with a thesis statement showing the purpose of your paper.
• Body. If you are writing a typical 1-2-page essay, the body will likely consist of about 3-5 paragraphs, each with its own main idea and supporting sentences.
• Conclusion. The main task of this section is to restate the thesis statement, briefly overview the discussion you had in the body, and leave your readers some food for thought.

Drama essay format

The question of formatting always concerns students because it constitutes a considerable part of the overall grade. If you are a school student, you will likely be asked to use APA or MLA style. But if you study at a university, then the choice of formatting styles can be wider. Therefore, it is better to clarify which one would be the most suitable with your professor before you start working on your essay.

Drama essay help: best tips

Drama studies, the same as numerous other courses, require their students to work on different kinds of tasks, and many of them involve essay writing. Even though you are familiar with various types of papers and have certainly worked on a wide range of topics, the most frequent task you may be assigned is usually an analysis paper. No matter how many essays you have prepared before, drama writing assignments will be a unique, unusual, and unexpectedly enjoyable experience that will fascinate you each time.

As most professors try to help their students relish each drama essay assignment and approach it creatively, they often leave minimum instructions to follow. While some people see it as an opportunity to learn in comfort and recognize the limits of their own perception, others freeze in confusion, having no idea what to do next. It is completely natural to feel baffled when you are used to staying within limits set by teachers but are suddenly given so much freedom for experiments and action. It is just important to come out of this perplexed state and make a clear plan like this one:

Choose a play

Obviously, a drama analysis essay cannot be done if there is nothing to analyze. Therefore, it is important to pick the play first. Teachers can provide their students with a list of plays to choose from, and as you have no time to watch them all and then pick one, read brief descriptions of them on the Web, and go with the play you liked the most.

If you have no list, the situation gets a bit more complicated, but there is no need to worry, as you can create such a list on your own. Focus on the topic you are currently studying on the course, and search for plays that would have the needed time frame, country, exact theatre, or team of actors. Make your own little research on these plays to figure out what they are about and make the final decision on what you are going to analyze.

Think of the assessment criteria

The type of paper you are working on implies that you need to analyze certain aspects of the play you will watch, and it is crucial to decide what those things will be. If you have to focus on technical attributes of the play, then lights, quality of music, costumes, and decorations are the nice assessment choices. However, writing about drama, you will more often be asked to put the emphasis on something spiritual or emotional. In this case, it is better to examine acting itself, as well as the role of crewmembers, their involvement, language, feelings, and contribution to the play. You can always look up the criteria, but it is better to come up with a few on your own, write them all down, and make sure they all will be suitable for your essay on drama.

Outline, write, and revise

When you feel ready for writing about drama, create proper working conditions for yourself, and prepare an outline first. Find a place where nothing will bother you, turn off your phone, and take everything you need for writing. Look up how to structure the work, check out the outline provided above, or find a suitable sample and check how it is organized.

You can either use a similar structure or outline the drama paper on your own using the data you have. Think about the purpose of the work, the information you want to present, and the way you will shape your discussion. Start writing a drama review only when the outline is ready and make sure to proofread it when you finish.

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Dramatic Opening Sentences: 25+ Examples and Ideas

by Michael Lydon

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.           –Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Tom!” No Answer “Tom!” No Answer. ‘ “What’s Gone with that boy, I wonder. You TOM! No answer.           –Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….           –Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.           –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Writing dramatic opening sentences, I’ve learned from long experience, can be tough.

Writing an opening sentence about writing an opening sentence can be tougher still, and it’s next to impossible to write an opening sentence about writing an opening sentence about writing an opening sentence! Help!

There glows the computer screen, blank and courteously bland, awaiting your command.

You could start with a close up:

Betty stared at her scratchy fingernails; she should have trimmed them before the interview.

—or with a long distant shot:

The prairie stretched out over endless miles of grassy emptiness.

Why not try a snatch of dialogue?:

“No, I’m not going out with you tonight, tomorrow, never in a million years!”

—or a private thought:

John shook his head in disbelief—she just doesn’t get it, not a bit of it.

Reporters often put opening sentences, which they call “ledes,” in one of two categories: first, the who-what-where-when-why lede that gets all the basic info into the opening sentence:

At last night’s Parks Department board meeting, Joe Smith, the department chairman for twenty years, angrily announced his retirement this September.

—and second, using a literary device (such as this rhetorical example below) to transform a standard lede into something more lively:

Joe Smith? Retire? You’re kidding me! Nobody knows our parks like Joe Smith knows our parks. But alas, it’s true. He’ll be gone in a month.

But whether you are a reporter, a novelist or a biographer—the primary goal of a first sentence remains the same: to get the reader to read the second sentence! And then the third, fourth, fifth one after that, and on into the body of the book.

Think of your opening sentence as a fish hook: whatever will get the glistening trout flip-flopping in your canoe, that’s the one to use.

Yet there’s no hard and fast rule that declares that this opening sentence works and that one doesn’t.

Brevity is generally a good rule of thumb, but to open my big biography of Ray Charles I used a rather long sentence:

For a hundred miles west of the Atlantic coast, the land of northern Florida lies flat as a floor covered by a thick rug of gray-green vegetation

—because I knew I was beginning a long book and wanted readers to accept my marathoner’s pace.

Like a friendly smile or a pat on the back, a good opening sentence is touched with warm, soul-to-soul magic.

What works for one writer or for one book may not work for another.

From the many superb opening sentences that you Write-the-Worlders submitted, here are a few that hooked me, though I’d find it hard to say why.

What was the point of continuing the fight? Would it even make a point?           –Thelonelypizzaroll (Australia)

The young girl sat with an expression of someone who had seen more than anyone should see.           –TheLittleElephant23 (United States)

Darkness is bewitching and full of enchanting possibilities, when you have only yourself for company,” the girl scribbled into her diary…           –Piku (India)

I never expected such a wild side of somebody so plain to even exist. Her mousy-brown hair and eyes, paired with the short frame and glasses had always led me to believe that nothing even remotely interesting could be associated with a girl so…boring.             –gabriellew (Australia)

It’s just short of a well known fact that every child hates going back to school, but adults still swear it’s good for us and wake us by whatever means necessary to get us there on time.             –Abigail (United States)

The lights shut off two months ago, and the world was too afraid of the night to turn them back on.           –aryelee (United States)

To tell this story, I must begin with my mother.           –Kate Gardner

In the house by the meadow, there were a thousand open doors.           –Kate Gardner

Why? Why, the only word that came to mind. The only word I could remember. Why me? Why was it that I was alone. I couldn’t fathom why it was me, not him, nor her but me.        –Geysensei (Australia)

The day the sun took the moon’s place was the day the world went absolutely bonkers.       –omicron7889 (Hong Kong)

If you think raining cats and dogs is just an expression then you definitely haven’t seen my life yet.       –omicron7889 (Hong Kong)

“Why can’t you say something else?” he asked me, “Why are you always so negative?”       –hk47isme (United States)

Hassan was a kind and loyal boy, but he created an uneasy tension everywhere he went.       –Nicolas Baroja (Spain)

I eat dogs for breakfast, cats for lunch, snakes for dinner, and, sometimes, beetles for midnight snack.     –Worriedwiredweirdo (Phillipines)

Why do I love these opening sentences? For many reasons that aren’t so easy to pin down.

A sharp insight into life and the human heart, for one thing.

A wicked sense of humor is another. Omicron7889’s “If you think raining cats and dogs is just an expression then you definitely haven’t seen my life yet” made me laugh out loud, and I’m sure I’ll use it soon in conversation.

Worriedwiredweirdo’s daily diet of dog, cat, snakes, and beetles got a hearty “Yu-u-u-k!” out of me just as, I figure, Worriedwiredweirdo hoped it would.

Kate Gardner’s “To tell this story, I must begin with my mother” instantly gives me the feel, “Oh, this is a book I can settle down to read on a rainy night by the fire. Abigail’s “It’s just short of a well known fact that every child hates going back to school” reminds me of Jane Austen’s famous “It is a truth universally acknowledged…”

All of these opening sentences awaken my curiosity: why did Hassan create tension when he seemed so kind and loyal? The sun took the moon’s place—when, how, why did that catastrophe happen? I’ve just got to know!

By waking my curiosity, each sentence connects me to the “what’s going to happen next?” energy of the narrative, and soon enough, by trying to answer Geysensei’s endless “whys,” I’m hooked, charging through the chapters to find out if the mysterious stranger with the crooked scar is my friend or a—eeeek!!!— deadly foe.

About Michael Lydon

Michael Lydon is a writer and musician who lives in New York City. Author of many books, among them Rock Folk , Boogie Lightning , Ray Charles: Man and Music, and Writing and Life . A founding editor of Rolling Stone, Lydon has written for many periodicals as well, the Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, and Village Voice. He is also a songwriter and playwright and, with Ellen Mandel, has composed an opera, Passion in Pigskin. A Yale graduate, Lydon is a member of ASCAP, AFofM local 802, and on the faculty of St. John’s University.

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• Literary Terms

When & How to Write Drama

• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write Drama

How to Write Drama

• Start with characters . The best dramas are usually character- driven. They have a cast of main characters (usually fewer than 10), plus a handful of supporting characters. These characters should all be very distinct from one another, and the main characters should be authentic and life-like. This way, the audience can relate to them and cares what happens to them.
• Introduce conflict. All stories revolve around conflict, and this is especially true in drama. The conflict could be anything – the simplest example is political conflict or war, but you might also have competing love interests, clashes in personality, or simply a struggle against misfortune.
• Don’t forget about comic relief. Unless you’re writing a tragedy (see section 6), there should be at least some amount of humor in your drama. Otherwise, the negative emotions will get overwhelming and the experience will be too unpleasant for the reader. Give a few funny lines to your characters, or add an amusing situation somewhere to cut the tension – just make sure that this comic relief arises naturally from the story and it doesn’t feel like you’re cramming it in.

When to Use Drama

Drama is great for a creative writing project. It offers opportunities to work on character development, story structure, and a whole other set of writing skills. Every once in a while, you may also find a place for drama in formal essays , but you have to be careful.

For example, history essays are often more enjoyable to read if you craft them with a “dramatic” eye – focusing on a small set of main characters, contrasting these characters and their various desires, and fully describing the conflict at the center of the story. These techniques, in combination with good research and persuasive logic, can turn a good essay into a great one. However, you do have to be careful – too much drama in a formal essay can start to seem distracting, and you don’t want to give the impression that you’re more committed to the entertainment value than to the research and analysis.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

Drama and Theater Research Resources

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Drama and Theater Basics

The history of western drama, theater and the stage , from script to stage , dramatic works, actors, and playwrights , how to read and analyze dramatic works, resources for teaching drama and theater.

Dramatic literature and the performances that bring it to life have captivated the human imagination for centuries. People have gathered everywhere from the open-air theaters of ancient Athens to modern day high school auditoriums to encounter these works of art. The resources compiled here will help you bring those experiences into the home and classroom. Through this guide, you'll learn about the history of drama and theater, find links to archives of dramatic works, and read introductions on everything from stage terminology to early English playbooks.

The resources below will help you understand what drama and theater are, and explain why studying them is an important aspect of any arts education. In addition to dictionary and encyclopedia entries, you'll find resources that distinguish between different dramatic genres and introduce you to each one.

What is Drama and Why is it Unique?

Drama is the only form of literature that is written to be performed, typically by actors on a stage. The resources below will help you understand how "drama" is defined, and how it is different from other works of prose and poetry. 

"Drama" (Wikipedia)  

Wikipedia's entry includes a general definition of drama, as well as sections on dramatic history, genres of drama, and links to many additional external resources. 

"Theater" (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia's entry on theater provides an introduction to the concept, as well as an explanation of the various types of theater. Reading this entry will help clarify what distinguishes drama from theater.

"Dramatic Literature" ( Encyclopedia Britannica ) 

This encyclopedia entry delves more deeply into the difference between drama and literature and how the two forms work together. What constitutes a play, and how does the text of a play differ from its performance? 

"What is Drama?" (Victoria and Albert Museum) 

The Victoria and Albert theater archive provides online access to numerous resources about the history of drama and performance, plus a large collection of data related to the topic. 

"What's the Difference between Drama and Theater?" ( The Guardian )

This post from  T he Guardian 's theater blog explores the difference between drama on the page and theater on the stage. It also introduces a third term: the "post-dramatic theater."

Genres of Drama and Theater  

"List of Genres" (Drama Online)  

Drama Online offers resources on many aspects of drama and theater, including a comprehensive and detailed list of dramatic genres. Each genre includes an explanation, as well as examples of works within that specific genre. 

"Theater Practitioners and Genres" (The British Library)

The British Library's online collection includes resources on a number of different theatrical styles, including the "theater of cruelty" and the "theater of the absurd." It also includes links to interviews, clips, excerpts, and more. 

"Types of Dramatic Literature" (Quizlet)

Quizlet's helpful study set contains dozens of flashcards on the main types of dramatic literature, including melodrama, farce, and satire.

In Our Time : "Tragedy" (BBC)  

This podcast from the BBC focuses exclusively on the popular genre of tragedy, exploring its origins and its place within modern society. 

Drama has been an important part of western culture since the early Greek and Roman empires. Over the centuries and across countless different societies and cultures, the purpose and prominence of dramatic literature has changed significantly. The resources in this section will help you understand those changes by focusing on particular periods in the history of drama.

Greek and Roman Drama

In ancient Greece and Rome, dramatic spectacle was often used to convey political views. Ancient Greek tragedy is also tied to the Aristotelian idea of "catharsis"—the purgation of powerful emotion through pity and fear. Many comedies and tragedies from this era, including those of Sophocles and Aeschylus, remain popular today. The resources below will help you understand classical theater.

"Theater of Ancient Rome" (Wikipedia)  

The Wikipedia entry on the theater of Ancient Rome provides an overview of the characteristics of Roman tragedy and comedy, describes the physical spaces of the Roman theaters, and offers links for further exploration. 

"Theater of Ancient Greece" (Wikipedia)  

The Wikipedia entry on the theater of Ancient Greece is a good starting point for exploring the importance of drama and theater in Greek society. It includes a section on the masks worn in classical Greek theater.

Articles on Greek and Roman Drama (Theatrehistory.com) 

Here, you'll find a collection of articles pertaining to both Greek and Roman drama, most of which are excerpted from Alfred Bates's 1906 book The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization.  

The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization (Internet Archive)

You can download Alfred Bates's seminal book on drama in various formats courtesy of this Internet Archive page, including ePub, Kindle, and PDF.

"Greek and Roman Theater Glossary" (The Ancient Theatre Archive)   

Here, you'll find a sampling of definitions pertaining to Greek and Roman drama. Clicking on each term will bring you to a page with more information and helpful images. 

"Virtual Tour of Greek and Roman Theater" (The Ancient Theatre Archive)  

Check out this "virtual reality" tour of various ancient Greek and Roman theaters. It includes information on the modern-day locations of the ruins, seating capacity, reconstructed floor plans, and a detailed history with external resources. 

"Dr. J's Illustrated Greek Theater" ( Dr. J's Illustrated Guide to the Classical World )  

This illustrated guide, part of a larger guide compiled by Dr. Janice Siegel, outlines the setup and layout of a typical theater in Ancient Greece. 

Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama 

This research project aims to study ancient Greek and Roman texts in performance in a wide variety of different media. The online database contains a broad range of information on dramatic performance.  

Early Modern Drama

Few eras are better known for the quality of their dramatic art than Renaissance England. The theater flourished during the 16th– and 17th–century rules of Queen Elizabeth and King James VI, with plays by Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare drawing crowds by the hundreds. The resources below will introduce you to the period and its many masterpieces.

"English Renaissance Theater" (Wikipedia)   

The Wikipedia entry on English Renaissance theater provides basic information on the period's theaters and playhouses, playwrights, actors, and performances.  

Early Modern Drama Database  

A vast tabular record of every recorded early modern English play performed in London between 1573 and 1642, this database includes each work's date, author, genre, company, and the theater where it was first performed. 

"Elizabethan Theater" (Victoria and Albert Museum)   

This informational article on theater during the Elizabethan era from the Victoria and Albert Museum includes a helpful, introductory section on William Shakespeare. 

"Database of Early English Playbooks" (Univ. of Pennsylvania)   

This database, maintained by the University of Pennsylvania, allows you to search for any early modern English dramatic work and access a wide range of information on each text.  

"Why Should We Study Elizabethan Theater?" (Oxford Univ.)   

In this podcast, Professor Tiffany Stern of Oxford University discusses why Elizabethan theater is still important and relevant in the world today.

Modern and Postmodern Drama

Twentieth-century and postmodern drama deviate from earlier theatrical eras in numerous ways. Below, you'll find resources that delve into the difficult-to-define aspects of postmodernism, and that introduce you to the most famous and experimental texts of the period. 

"A History of British Theater" (BBC)  

This timeline from the BBC details the progression of British theater from 1350 to 2015. Although it's limited in that in only discusses British theater, it is a helpful outline of how drama has changed from the early modern to contemporary periods. 

"A to Z of Modern Drama" ( The Guardian ) 

Michael Billington, theater critic for The Guardian , has a collection of articles about "what makes modern theatre tick," from "absurdism" to the comedic performers he dubs "zanies."

"Postmodern Theater" (Wikipedia)   

This Wikipedia entry covers the basic groundwork of what might constitute the "postmodern" work, which is rooted in mid-20th century European postmodern philosophy.

Examples of Postmodern Dramatic Works (Drama Online Library)   

This collection includes detailed descriptions of many postmodern dramatic texts, including what exactly makes them "postmodern." Each explores contemporary issues in non-normative ways. 

Forced Entertainment Theater Company

Forced Entertainment, based in Sheffield in England, is one of the most well-known experimental theater companies in the world. Through their performances, they push theater to its limits and question what it can express about contemporary society. 

In order to understand how a performance comes together, you must understand the venue in which it is performed. There are many different components of any theater, all of which contribute to and impact the performance itself. In this section, you'll find resources describing these different elements, along with examples of well-known theatrical spaces around the world. 

Types of Stages 

"Stage (Theatre)" (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia's entry on the stage includes a definition of the term, a section on types of staging, and another section on stage terminology. You'll also find links to further resources. 

"What the Types of Theatre Stages and Auditoria?" (Theatre Trust)   

The U.K.'s national advisory public body for theaters offers a list of the most common types of stage arrangements, including some photos and images for reference. 

"What Spaces Make Up a Theatre?" (Theatre Trust) 

This page from Theatre Trust details the most common elements of a theater complex, and includes high-quality photos for reference. 

"Creating and Staging a Devised Performance" (BBC)  

This guide from the BBC's study support resource Bitesize  offers staging diagrams and lists the pros and cons of each stage type. 

Stage Terminology

There are many terms and phrases used in relation to the theater. Did you know that "stage left" refers to the left side of the stage from the performer's point of view, rather than the audience's vantage point? Use the resources below to familiarize yourself with many other theater-related words.

Glossary of Technical Theater Terms (Theatrecrafts.com) 

This beginner's guide, from a website devoted to entertainment technology resources and history, focuses on the fundamentals of technical theater. 

"60+ Theater Terms Every Actor Should Know" (Backstage) 

This list is intended for actors, but it's informative for anyone hoping to learn about theater productions. It includes sections on architecture, tech, the actors, and the crew. 

"The Theater Dictionary" (Theatre Development Fund) 

This dictionary from the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) defines a wide variety of theater-related terms, and each term includes both a written definition and a video explication.

"Drama Vocabulary" (Teachers Pay Teachers)

This resource pack from the popular website Teachers Pay Teachers includes a worksheet with 27 different dramatic terms, as well as an accompanying quiz to test the vocabulary.                                                          

Famous Theaters Around the World

Below, you can find links to the official websites of many well-known theatrical venues. We've directed you to the theater's "About Us" pages, but we invite you to explore each website further. Of course, this is just a small selection of a vast network, so we have also included a list and database to consult for further examples. 

Shakespeare's Globe 

The reconstructed Globe Theatre, located on the south bank of the river Thames in London, is one of the most well-known theaters in the world. Built only a few feet from the site of the original Globe of Shakespeare's day, this theater is renowned for its original practice productions, which aim to mimic the conditions of early modern theater. The theater also puts on more experimental productions. 

The Public Theater 

The Public Theater in Greenwich Village, New York, was designed to provide accessible theater to everyone. The theater group is known for their Shakespeare in the Park performances, they also put on a wide variety of plays and musicals. 

The Old Vic 

Located in South London, the Old Vic is an independent, not-for-profit theater that opened in 1818. To this day, it hosts many of the greatest stage actors in the world. 

"17 Amazing Theater Cities That Aren't London or New York" (Mic)   

This article lists a number of locations that aren't immediately recognized as "theater cities," but that boast thriving theater scenes to rival New York and London. 

"Theaters Database" (Theatre Trust)   

Theatre Trust offers a searchable database of U.K. theaters from the early modern period to the current day. Enter a search term, or click "Browse A - Z." 

Hours upon hours of work precede any successful opening night. In order to mount a production, a director must be chosen and a tech crew brought on board, auditions are needed to select the cast, and an often lengthy rehearsal schedule follows. Below are resources that allow you to explore various approaches to the production process.

Rehearsal and the Cast

The rehearsal process is what brings an entire performance together; from read-throughs to blocking and direction, every aspect of a performance must be rehearsed in order to prepare it for an audience. Everyone's rehearsal experience is different, but the resources below explore some common components. 

"What Really Goes On in the Rehearsal Room?" ( The Guardian )   

This blog post from The Guardian 's theater blog discusses the rehearsal process. It considers the secretive and private nature of the rehearsal room. 

"Can You Ever Have Too Much Rehearsal?" ( The Guardian ) 

This post, also from The Guardian 's theater blog, questions how much rehearsal should precede a performance, and asks whether too much rehearsal can hurt rather than help a production. 

"First Day of Rehearsals" (Royal Shakespeare Company) 

Byron Mondahl, an actor in the Royal Shakespeare Company's recent production of Hamlet,  details his experience of the first day of rehearsal. 

"Rehearsal Process for 'Much Ado About Nothing'" (YouTube) 

In this video, a director and actors from the National Theatre in London discuss the rehearsal process. They speak to the importance of reading classic play texts, understanding why the character say what they do, and translating that into performance. 

Technical Theater Roles

While actors may be the face of a performance, those who work backstage are just as integral to the production. Those in technical theater roles ensure that everything runs smoothly. The links below will help you understand this aspect of the theatrical world.  

"Technical Theatre" (Wikibooks)  

This entry from Wikibooks offers a brief and basic overview of the various roles involved in technical theater, from the costume designer to the master electrician. 

Technical Theater Subreddit (Reddit)   

This subreddit is dedicated to people involved or interested in technical theater, providing a place to ask questions or seek advice on anything regarding the topic. 

"Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms—Jobs" (Theatrecrafts.com)   

Theatrecrafts.com provides another helpful glossary of terms, this one dedicated specifically to the various jobs that occur backstage. 

"Who Works in a Theater?" (Theatre Trust) 

Theatre Trust provides a slightly more in-depth and detailed glossary of different roles in technical theater, and describes all the ways they contribute to making a performance possible. 

Theatrical Performance

If you're acting in a production, you'll need guidance on preparing for the performance and understanding your audience. Here, you'll find resources to help you understand the unique challenges posed by performing live.  

"Exercise Class: Preparing for Performance" ( The Guardian )   

This advice from a RADA graduate gives some suggestions for how to prepare, physically and mentally, before a performance. The exercises are intended for actors to relieve stress and nerves.

"Stage vs. Screen: What the Big Difference" (New York Film Academy)   

This short but informative piece highlights the differences between watching a film and a live theater performance. It is important for any performer to understand these differences, particularly the expectations of a live theater audience.  

Should Stage Actors be Movie Stars? ( Slate )   

This piece also delves into the differences between performing on stage and on screen, questioning whether movie stars should be stage stars and vice versa. 

"What Makes a Great Theatre Actor?" (BBC)   

This guide from the BBC describes what, in the author's opinion, makes great theater actors. It highlights the difficult nature of live performance. 

Now that you understand the basic principles of drama and theater, it's time to delve into some celebrated dramatic works and learn about the people who wrote and performed them.  Below, you'll find links to texts and resources on some of the most familiar figures in the world of drama and theater. 

Famous Playwrights

Provided below are links to the Goodreads pages of some of the most celebrated playwrights of all time. These pages include a helpful biography, complete list of works, as well as quotes and forums. Although this is a very small selection, it is a good starting point to learn about some of the most often-performed and discussed dramatic works. 

• William Shakespeare 
• Anton Chekhov
• Henrik Ibsen
• Oscar Wilde
• Tennessee Williams 
• Luigi Pirandello
• Lorraine Hansberry
• Samuel Beckett
• George Bernard Shaw
• Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Arthur Miller

Famous Dramatic Works

Don't know what plays to read first? Start here. You'll find different authors' lists of the greatest or most popular plays of all time, along with databases that host hundreds of dramatic texts.

"50 Best Plays of All Time" (Time Out)  

Here is one author's list of the 50 best plays ever written, from A Raisin in the Sun to Our Town . While every list is of course subjective, this list will introduce you to well-loved plays that have stood the test of time .

101 Greatest Plays ( The Guardian )  

Michael Billington, a theater critic for The Guardian , wrote a book on his picks for "101 greatest plays." The article above comments on his choices, and considers some of the "greats" he left off the list. 

"50 Classic Plays Every Student Should Read" (Online College Courses)

This list of classic plays from an online learning center contains a brief description of each play and why you should read it, along with a link to Amazon for each one.

"The Most Popular High School Plays and Musicals" (NPR)

This article from NPR discusses the most popularly performed plays and musicals among high school students since the 1940s. 

"Plays" (Drama Online)

Drama Online provides links to over 2,000 plays and accompanying resources. You can listen to a full-cast performance of Arthur Miller's  The Crucible,  or read and interpret Shakespeare's  Macbeth  with the help of the "Play Tools" tab. (Note: while some of the site's content is free, other resources require a subscription that your school or library may have purchased.)

Folger Digital Texts

Here, you'll find meticulously edited digital texts from the Folger Shakespeare Library. When you click the "Read" button on the right, you'll be directed to a page with links to each of Shakespeare's plays.

Famous Dramatic Actors 

Get to know the actors who have brought dramatic literature to life. Below, you'll find a few authors' lists of the greatest actors to point you toward further research, along with articles and books that delve more deeply into the careers of particular stars.

"Greatest Stage Actor Poll in Pictures" ( The Telegraph ) 

Dame Judi Dench was voted the greatest stage actor in a poll by The Stage . Here,  The Telegraph offers a photo and short blurb on each of the other actors who received the most votes. 

"Who is the Greatest Stage Actor Ever?" ( The Guardian )

In this article, The Guardian comments on the same poll by  Th e Stage.  It helpfully critiques it for omissions and an overwhelming focus on British performers, while offering its own suggestions for actors who should have made the list. 

"Thespis" (Wikipedia)

Meet the ancient Greek poet Thespis, who according to Aristotle was the first to appear onstage as a character. This Wikipedia article has sections on Thespis's "alleged works" and legacy.

"Theater Actor" (Biography.com)

Explore Biography.com's webpage on famous theater actors, from Edwin Booth to Ian McKellen. Click on an actor's name and photo, and you'll be redirected to their biography page.

Great Shakespeare Actors: Burbage to Branagh (Amazon)

This series of essays by Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells is aimed at a broad readership. Wells discusses the greatest performers of Shakespeare's works, from great tragedienne Sarah Siddons to the actor and director Kenneth Branagh.

It's often said that plays and dramatic works are meant to be seen on the stage, not read on the page. Still, there is much to be gained from reading the text of a play. You'll become more alert to the nuances of the language, and will gain a greater appreciation for the play's structure and thematic focus. Here, you'll find resources to help you read, interpret, and write about dramatic literature.

"How to Read a Play" (School Theatre)   

This illustrated guide offers 30 steps to better understand and analyze a play text, from paying close attention to the character's journey to analyzing scenic metaphor.

"Writing about Drama" (Univ. of North Carolina)   

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has created a guide to writing an essay on dramatic works that walks you through the important points of analysis to consider. 

"How to Read and Enjoy a Dramatic Play" (ThoughtCo)   

This blog post considers how reading a play-text can enhance understanding of the performance and how to get the most out of it. 

"Top Tip for Analysing Drama" (YouTube)

This short video from an English teacher offers strategies for analyzing drama, noting that different tools must be used to analyze plays and novels.

While many of the resources above may help teachers plan lessons, the links below are designed specifically for that purpose. You'll find suggestions for which plays to teach, websites dedicated to the art of teaching drama, classroom activities, and entire drama units. 

"Best Works of Shakespeare to Teach in High School" (ThoughtCo)

This post from a veteran secondary school educator suggests a list of eight Shakespeare texts that high school students find interesting and informative. 

Theatre Links 

This website by Justin Cash hosts over 5,000 links to resources from across the globe on drama practitioners, styles, scripts, and stagecraft. 

Drama Activities and Games (TPT)

This Teachers Pay Teachers resource for middle school and high school students offers "drama trunk" cards for warm ups, improvisation, storytelling, language activities, and more.

Introduction to Drama (TPT)

Another Teachers Pay Teachers resource, this drama unit for middle school and high school students is comprised of six, 50-minute lesson plans, homework tasks, extension activities, and more.

"Shakespeare Teacher Resources," LitCharts Complete Guide to Shakespeare Resources

For a large selection of resources specifically devoted to teaching Shakespeare, take a look at another guide in this series,  LitCharts Complete Guide to Shakespeare Resources.

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
• Downloads of 1932 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 40,754 quotes across 1932 books
• Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play

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Words to Use in an Essay: 300 Essay Words

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

Words to use in the essay introduction, words to use in the body of the essay, words to use in your essay conclusion, how to improve your essay writing vocabulary.

It’s not easy to write an academic essay .

Many students struggle to word their arguments in a logical and concise way.

To make matters worse, academic essays need to adhere to a certain level of formality, so we can’t always use the same word choices in essay writing that we would use in daily life.

If you’re struggling to choose the right words for your essay, don’t worry—you’ve come to the right place!

In this article, we’ve compiled a list of over 300 words and phrases to use in the introduction, body, and conclusion of your essay.

The introduction is one of the hardest parts of an essay to write.

You have only one chance to make a first impression, and you want to hook your reader. If the introduction isn’t effective, the reader might not even bother to read the rest of the essay.

That’s why it’s important to be thoughtful and deliberate with the words you choose at the beginning of your essay.

Many students use a quote in the introductory paragraph to establish credibility and set the tone for the rest of the essay.

When you’re referencing another author or speaker, try using some of these phrases:

To use the words of X

According to X

As X states

Example: To use the words of Hillary Clinton, “You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health.”

Near the end of the introduction, you should state the thesis to explain the central point of your paper.

If you’re not sure how to introduce your thesis, try using some of these phrases:

In this essay, I will…

The purpose of this essay…

This essay discusses…

In this paper, I put forward the claim that…

There are three main arguments for…

Example: In this essay, I will explain why dress codes in public schools are detrimental to students.

After you’ve stated your thesis, it’s time to start presenting the arguments you’ll use to back up that central idea.

When you’re introducing the first of a series of arguments, you can use the following words:

First and foremost

First of all

To begin with

Example: First , consider the effects that this new social security policy would have on low-income taxpayers.

All these words and phrases will help you create a more successful introduction and convince your audience to read on.

The body of your essay is where you’ll explain your core arguments and present your evidence.

It’s important to choose words and phrases for the body of your essay that will help the reader understand your position and convince them you’ve done your research.

Let’s look at some different types of words and phrases that you can use in the body of your essay, as well as some examples of what these words look like in a sentence.

Transition Words and Phrases

Transitioning from one argument to another is crucial for a good essay.

It’s important to guide your reader from one idea to the next so they don’t get lost or feel like you’re jumping around at random.

Transition phrases and linking words show your reader you’re about to move from one argument to the next, smoothing out their reading experience. They also make your writing look more professional.

The simplest transition involves moving from one idea to a separate one that supports the same overall argument. Try using these phrases when you want to introduce a second correlating idea:

Additionally

In addition

Furthermore

Another key thing to remember

In the same way

Correspondingly

Example: Additionally , public parks increase property value because home buyers prefer houses that are located close to green, open spaces.

Another type of transition involves restating. It’s often useful to restate complex ideas in simpler terms to help the reader digest them. When you’re restating an idea, you can use the following words:

In other words

To put it another way

That is to say

To put it more simply

Example: “The research showed that 53% of students surveyed expressed a mild or strong preference for more on-campus housing. In other words , over half the students wanted more dormitory options.”

Often, you’ll need to provide examples to illustrate your point more clearly for the reader. When you’re about to give an example of something you just said, you can use the following words:

For instance

To give an illustration of

To exemplify

To demonstrate

As evidence

Example: Humans have long tried to exert control over our natural environment. For instance , engineers reversed the Chicago River in 1900, causing it to permanently flow backward.

Sometimes, you’ll need to explain the impact or consequence of something you’ve just said.

When you’re drawing a conclusion from evidence you’ve presented, try using the following words:

As a result

Accordingly

As you can see

This suggests that

It follows that

It can be seen that

For this reason

For all of those reasons

Consequently

Example: “There wasn’t enough government funding to support the rest of the physics experiment. Thus , the team was forced to shut down their experiment in 1996.”

When introducing an idea that bolsters one you’ve already stated, or adds another important aspect to that same argument, you can use the following words:

What’s more

Not only…but also

Not to mention

To say nothing of

Another key point

Example: The volcanic eruption disrupted hundreds of thousands of people. Moreover , it impacted the local flora and fauna as well, causing nearly a hundred species to go extinct.

Often, you'll want to present two sides of the same argument. When you need to compare and contrast ideas, you can use the following words:

On the one hand / on the other hand

Alternatively

In contrast to

On the contrary

By contrast

In comparison

Example: On the one hand , the Black Death was undoubtedly a tragedy because it killed millions of Europeans. On the other hand , it created better living conditions for the peasants who survived.

Finally, when you’re introducing a new angle that contradicts your previous idea, you can use the following phrases:

Having said that

Differing from

In spite of

With this in mind

Provided that

Nevertheless

Nonetheless

Notwithstanding

Example: Shakespearean plays are classic works of literature that have stood the test of time. Having said that , I would argue that Shakespeare isn’t the most accessible form of literature to teach students in the twenty-first century.

Good essays include multiple types of logic. You can use a combination of the transitions above to create a strong, clear structure throughout the body of your essay.

Strong Verbs for Academic Writing

Verbs are especially important for writing clear essays. Often, you can convey a nuanced meaning simply by choosing the right verb.

You should use strong verbs that are precise and dynamic. Whenever possible, you should use an unambiguous verb, rather than a generic verb.

For example, alter and fluctuate are stronger verbs than change , because they give the reader more descriptive detail.

Here are some useful verbs that will help make your essay shine.

Verbs that show change:

Accommodate

Verbs that relate to causing or impacting something:

Verbs that show increase:

Verbs that show decrease:

Deteriorate

Verbs that relate to parts of a whole:

Comprises of

Is composed of

Constitutes

Encompasses

Incorporates

Verbs that show a negative stance:

Misconstrue

Verbs that show a positive stance:

Substantiate

Verbs that relate to drawing conclusions from evidence:

Corroborate

Demonstrate

Verbs that relate to thinking and analysis:

Contemplate

Hypothesize

Investigate

Verbs that relate to showing information in a visual format:

Useful Adjectives and Adverbs for Academic Essays

You should use adjectives and adverbs more sparingly than verbs when writing essays, since they sometimes add unnecessary fluff to sentences.

However, choosing the right adjectives and adverbs can help add detail and sophistication to your essay.

Sometimes you'll need to use an adjective to show that a finding or argument is useful and should be taken seriously. Here are some adjectives that create positive emphasis:

Significant

Other times, you'll need to use an adjective to show that a finding or argument is harmful or ineffective. Here are some adjectives that create a negative emphasis:

Controversial

Insignificant

Questionable

Unnecessary

Unrealistic

Finally, you might need to use an adverb to lend nuance to a sentence, or to express a specific degree of certainty. Here are some examples of adverbs that are often used in essays:

Comprehensively

Exhaustively

Extensively

Respectively

Surprisingly

Using these words will help you successfully convey the key points you want to express. Once you’ve nailed the body of your essay, it’s time to move on to the conclusion.

The conclusion of your paper is important for synthesizing the arguments you’ve laid out and restating your thesis.

In your concluding paragraph, try using some of these essay words:

In conclusion

To summarize

In a nutshell

Given the above

As described

All things considered

Example: In conclusion , it’s imperative that we take action to address climate change before we lose our coral reefs forever.

In addition to simply summarizing the key points from the body of your essay, you should also add some final takeaways. Give the reader your final opinion and a bit of a food for thought.

To place emphasis on a certain point or a key fact, use these essay words:

Unquestionably

Undoubtedly

Particularly

Importantly

Conclusively

It should be noted

On the whole

Example: Ada Lovelace is unquestionably a powerful role model for young girls around the world, and more of our public school curricula should include her as a historical figure.

These concluding phrases will help you finish writing your essay in a strong, confident way.

There are many useful essay words out there that we didn't include in this article, because they are specific to certain topics.

If you're writing about biology, for example, you will need to use different terminology than if you're writing about literature.

So how do you improve your vocabulary skills?

The vocabulary you use in your academic writing is a toolkit you can build up over time, as long as you take the time to learn new words.

One way to increase your vocabulary is by looking up words you don’t know when you’re reading.

Try reading more books and academic articles in the field you’re writing about and jotting down all the new words you find. You can use these words to bolster your own essays.

You can also consult a dictionary or a thesaurus. When you’re using a word you’re not confident about, researching its meaning and common synonyms can help you make sure it belongs in your essay.

Don't be afraid of using simpler words. Good essay writing boils down to choosing the best word to convey what you need to say, not the fanciest word possible.

Finally, you can use ProWritingAid’s synonym tool or essay checker to find more precise and sophisticated vocabulary. Click on weak words in your essay to find stronger alternatives.

There you have it: our compilation of the best words and phrases to use in your next essay . Good luck!

Good writing = better grades

ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of all your assignments.

Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

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• 40 Useful Words and Phrases for Top-Notch Essays

To be truly brilliant, an essay needs to utilise the right language. You could make a great point, but if it’s not intelligently articulated, you almost needn’t have bothered.

Developing the language skills to build an argument and to write persuasively is crucial if you’re to write outstanding essays every time. In this article, we’re going to equip you with the words and phrases you need to write a top-notch essay, along with examples of how to utilise them.

It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and there will often be other ways of using the words and phrases we describe that we won’t have room to include, but there should be more than enough below to help you make an instant improvement to your essay-writing skills.

If you’re interested in developing your language and persuasive skills, Oxford Royale offers summer courses at its Oxford Summer School , Cambridge Summer School , London Summer School , San Francisco Summer School and Yale Summer School . You can study courses to learn english , prepare for careers in law , medicine , business , engineering and leadership.

General explaining

Let’s start by looking at language for general explanations of complex points.

1. In order to

Usage: “In order to” can be used to introduce an explanation for the purpose of an argument. Example: “In order to understand X, we need first to understand Y.”

2. In other words

Usage: Use “in other words” when you want to express something in a different way (more simply), to make it easier to understand, or to emphasise or expand on a point. Example: “Frogs are amphibians. In other words, they live on the land and in the water.”

3. To put it another way

Usage: This phrase is another way of saying “in other words”, and can be used in particularly complex points, when you feel that an alternative way of wording a problem may help the reader achieve a better understanding of its significance. Example: “Plants rely on photosynthesis. To put it another way, they will die without the sun.”

4. That is to say

Usage: “That is” and “that is to say” can be used to add further detail to your explanation, or to be more precise. Example: “Whales are mammals. That is to say, they must breathe air.”

5. To that end

Usage: Use “to that end” or “to this end” in a similar way to “in order to” or “so”. Example: “Zoologists have long sought to understand how animals communicate with each other. To that end, a new study has been launched that looks at elephant sounds and their possible meanings.”

Adding additional information to support a point

Students often make the mistake of using synonyms of “and” each time they want to add further information in support of a point they’re making, or to build an argument . Here are some cleverer ways of doing this.

6. Moreover

Usage: Employ “moreover” at the start of a sentence to add extra information in support of a point you’re making. Example: “Moreover, the results of a recent piece of research provide compelling evidence in support of…”

7. Furthermore

Usage:This is also generally used at the start of a sentence, to add extra information. Example: “Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that…”

8. What’s more

Usage: This is used in the same way as “moreover” and “furthermore”. Example: “What’s more, this isn’t the only evidence that supports this hypothesis.”

9. Likewise

Usage: Use “likewise” when you want to talk about something that agrees with what you’ve just mentioned. Example: “Scholar A believes X. Likewise, Scholar B argues compellingly in favour of this point of view.”

10. Similarly

Usage: Use “similarly” in the same way as “likewise”. Example: “Audiences at the time reacted with shock to Beethoven’s new work, because it was very different to what they were used to. Similarly, we have a tendency to react with surprise to the unfamiliar.”

11. Another key thing to remember

Usage: Use the phrase “another key point to remember” or “another key fact to remember” to introduce additional facts without using the word “also”. Example: “As a Romantic, Blake was a proponent of a closer relationship between humans and nature. Another key point to remember is that Blake was writing during the Industrial Revolution, which had a major impact on the world around him.”

12. As well as

Usage: Use “as well as” instead of “also” or “and”. Example: “Scholar A argued that this was due to X, as well as Y.”

13. Not only… but also

Usage: This wording is used to add an extra piece of information, often something that’s in some way more surprising or unexpected than the first piece of information. Example: “Not only did Edmund Hillary have the honour of being the first to reach the summit of Everest, but he was also appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.”

14. Coupled with

Usage: Used when considering two or more arguments at a time. Example: “Coupled with the literary evidence, the statistics paint a compelling view of…”

15. Firstly, secondly, thirdly…

Usage: This can be used to structure an argument, presenting facts clearly one after the other. Example: “There are many points in support of this view. Firstly, X. Secondly, Y. And thirdly, Z.

16. Not to mention/to say nothing of

Usage: “Not to mention” and “to say nothing of” can be used to add extra information with a bit of emphasis. Example: “The war caused unprecedented suffering to millions of people, not to mention its impact on the country’s economy.”

Words and phrases for demonstrating contrast

When you’re developing an argument, you will often need to present contrasting or opposing opinions or evidence – “it could show this, but it could also show this”, or “X says this, but Y disagrees”. This section covers words you can use instead of the “but” in these examples, to make your writing sound more intelligent and interesting.

17. However

Usage: Use “however” to introduce a point that disagrees with what you’ve just said. Example: “Scholar A thinks this. However, Scholar B reached a different conclusion.”

18. On the other hand

Usage: Usage of this phrase includes introducing a contrasting interpretation of the same piece of evidence, a different piece of evidence that suggests something else, or an opposing opinion. Example: “The historical evidence appears to suggest a clear-cut situation. On the other hand, the archaeological evidence presents a somewhat less straightforward picture of what happened that day.”

19. Having said that

Usage: Used in a similar manner to “on the other hand” or “but”. Example: “The historians are unanimous in telling us X, an agreement that suggests that this version of events must be an accurate account. Having said that, the archaeology tells a different story.”

20. By contrast/in comparison

Usage: Use “by contrast” or “in comparison” when you’re comparing and contrasting pieces of evidence. Example: “Scholar A’s opinion, then, is based on insufficient evidence. By contrast, Scholar B’s opinion seems more plausible.”

21. Then again

Usage: Use this to cast doubt on an assertion. Example: “Writer A asserts that this was the reason for what happened. Then again, it’s possible that he was being paid to say this.”

22. That said

Usage: This is used in the same way as “then again”. Example: “The evidence ostensibly appears to point to this conclusion. That said, much of the evidence is unreliable at best.”

Usage: Use this when you want to introduce a contrasting idea. Example: “Much of scholarship has focused on this evidence. Yet not everyone agrees that this is the most important aspect of the situation.”

Adding a proviso or acknowledging reservations

Sometimes, you may need to acknowledge a shortfalling in a piece of evidence, or add a proviso. Here are some ways of doing so.

24. Despite this

Usage: Use “despite this” or “in spite of this” when you want to outline a point that stands regardless of a shortfalling in the evidence. Example: “The sample size was small, but the results were important despite this.”

25. With this in mind

Usage: Use this when you want your reader to consider a point in the knowledge of something else. Example: “We’ve seen that the methods used in the 19th century study did not always live up to the rigorous standards expected in scientific research today, which makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions. With this in mind, let’s look at a more recent study to see how the results compare.”

26. Provided that

Usage: This means “on condition that”. You can also say “providing that” or just “providing” to mean the same thing. Example: “We may use this as evidence to support our argument, provided that we bear in mind the limitations of the methods used to obtain it.”

27. In view of/in light of

Usage: These phrases are used when something has shed light on something else. Example: “In light of the evidence from the 2013 study, we have a better understanding of…”

28. Nonetheless

Usage: This is similar to “despite this”. Example: “The study had its limitations, but it was nonetheless groundbreaking for its day.”

29. Nevertheless

Usage: This is the same as “nonetheless”. Example: “The study was flawed, but it was important nevertheless.”

30. Notwithstanding

Usage: This is another way of saying “nonetheless”. Example: “Notwithstanding the limitations of the methodology used, it was an important study in the development of how we view the workings of the human mind.”

Giving examples

Good essays always back up points with examples, but it’s going to get boring if you use the expression “for example” every time. Here are a couple of other ways of saying the same thing.

31. For instance

Example: “Some birds migrate to avoid harsher winter climates. Swallows, for instance, leave the UK in early winter and fly south…”

32. To give an illustration

Example: “To give an illustration of what I mean, let’s look at the case of…”

Signifying importance

When you want to demonstrate that a point is particularly important, there are several ways of highlighting it as such.

33. Significantly

Usage: Used to introduce a point that is loaded with meaning that might not be immediately apparent. Example: “Significantly, Tacitus omits to tell us the kind of gossip prevalent in Suetonius’ accounts of the same period.”

34. Notably

Usage: This can be used to mean “significantly” (as above), and it can also be used interchangeably with “in particular” (the example below demonstrates the first of these ways of using it). Example: “Actual figures are notably absent from Scholar A’s analysis.”

35. Importantly

Usage: Use “importantly” interchangeably with “significantly”. Example: “Importantly, Scholar A was being employed by X when he wrote this work, and was presumably therefore under pressure to portray the situation more favourably than he perhaps might otherwise have done.”

Summarising

You’ve almost made it to the end of the essay, but your work isn’t over yet. You need to end by wrapping up everything you’ve talked about, showing that you’ve considered the arguments on both sides and reached the most likely conclusion. Here are some words and phrases to help you.

36. In conclusion

Usage: Typically used to introduce the concluding paragraph or sentence of an essay, summarising what you’ve discussed in a broad overview. Example: “In conclusion, the evidence points almost exclusively to Argument A.”

37. Above all

Usage: Used to signify what you believe to be the most significant point, and the main takeaway from the essay. Example: “Above all, it seems pertinent to remember that…”

38. Persuasive

Usage: This is a useful word to use when summarising which argument you find most convincing. Example: “Scholar A’s point – that Constanze Mozart was motivated by financial gain – seems to me to be the most persuasive argument for her actions following Mozart’s death.”

39. Compelling

Usage: Use in the same way as “persuasive” above. Example: “The most compelling argument is presented by Scholar A.”

40. All things considered

Usage: This means “taking everything into account”. Example: “All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that…”

How many of these words and phrases will you get into your next essay? And are any of your favourite essay terms missing from our list? Let us know in the comments below, or get in touch here to find out more about courses that can help you with your essays.

At Oxford Royale Academy, we offer a number of  summer school courses for young people who are keen to improve their essay writing skills. Click here to apply for one of our courses today, including law , business , medicine  and engineering .

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What this handout is about

This handout identifies common questions about drama, describes the elements of drama that are most often discussed in theater classes, provides a few strategies for planning and writing an effective drama paper, and identifies various resources for research in theater history and dramatic criticism. We’ll give special attention to writing about productions and performances of plays.

What is drama? And how do you write about it?

When we describe a situation or a person’s behavior as “dramatic,” we usually mean that it is intense, exciting (or excited), striking, or vivid. The works of drama that we study in a classroom share those elements. For example, if you are watching a play in a theatre, feelings of tension and anticipation often arise because you are wondering what will happen between the characters on stage. Will they shoot each other? Will they finally confess their undying love for one another? When you are reading a play, you may have similar questions. Will Oedipus figure out that he was the one who caused the plague by killing his father and sleeping with his mother? Will Hamlet successfully avenge his father’s murder?

For instructors in academic departments—whether their classes are about theatrical literature, theater history, performance studies, acting, or the technical aspects of a production—writing about drama often means explaining what makes the plays we watch or read so exciting. Of course, one particular production of a play may not be as exciting as it’s supposed to be. In fact, it may not be exciting at all. Writing about drama can also involve figuring out why and how a production went wrong.

What’s the difference between plays, productions, and performances?

Talking about plays, productions, and performances can be difficult, especially since there’s so much overlap in the uses of these terms. Although there are some exceptions, usually plays are what’s on the written page. A production of a play is a series of performances, each of which may have its own idiosyncratic features. For example, one production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night might set the play in 1940’s Manhattan, and another might set the play on an Alpaca farm in New Zealand. Furthermore, in a particular performance (say, Tuesday night) of that production, the actor playing Malvolio might get fed up with playing the role as an Alpaca herder, shout about the indignity of the whole thing, curse Shakespeare for ever writing the play, and stomp off the stage. See how that works?

Be aware that the above terms are sometimes used interchangeably—but the overlapping elements of each are often the most exciting things to talk about. For example, a series of particularly bad performances might distract from excellent production values: If the actor playing Falstaff repeatedly trips over a lance and falls off the stage, the audience may not notice the spectacular set design behind him. In the same way, a particularly dynamic and inventive script (play) may so bedazzle an audience that they never notice the inept lighting scheme.

A few analyzable elements of plays

Plays have many different elements or aspects, which means that you should have lots of different options for focusing your analysis. Playwrights—writers of plays—are called “wrights” because this word means “builder.” Just as shipwrights build ships, playwrights build plays. A playwright’s raw materials are words, but to create a successful play, they must also think about the performance—about what will be happening on stage with sets, sounds, actors, etc. To put it another way: the words of a play have their meanings within a larger context—the context of the production. When you watch or read a play, think about how all of the parts work (or could work) together.

For the play itself, some important contexts to consider are:

• The time period in which the play was written
• The playwright’s biography and their other writing
• Contemporaneous works of theater (plays written or produced by other artists at roughly the same time)
• The language of the play

Depending on your assignment, you may want to focus on one of these elements exclusively or compare and contrast two or more of them. Keep in mind that any one of these elements may be more than enough for a dissertation, let alone a short reaction paper. Also remember that in most cases, your assignment will ask you to provide some kind of analysis, not simply a plot summary—so don’t think that you can write a paper about A Doll’s House that simply describes the events leading up to Nora’s fateful decision.

Since a number of academic assignments ask you to pay attention to the language of the play and since it might be the most complicated thing to work with, it’s worth looking at a few of the ways you might be asked to deal with it in more detail.

There are countless ways that you can talk about how language works in a play, a production, or a particular performance. Given a choice, you should probably focus on words, phrases, lines, or scenes that really struck you, things that you still remember weeks after reading the play or seeing the performance. You’ll have a much easier time writing about a bit of language that you feel strongly about (love it or hate it).

That said, here are two common ways to talk about how language works in a play:

How characters are constructed by their language

If you have a strong impression of a character, especially if you haven’t seen that character depicted on stage, you probably remember one line or bit of dialogue that really captures who that character is. Playwrights often distinguish their characters with idiosyncratic or at least individualized manners of speaking. Take this example from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest :

ALGERNON: Did you hear what I was playing, Lane? LANE: I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir. ALGERNON: I’m sorry for that, for your sake. I don’t play accurately—anyone can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life. LANE: Yes, sir. ALGERNON: And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?

This early moment in the play contributes enormously to what the audience thinks about the aristocratic Algernon and his servant, Lane. If you were to talk about language in this scene, you could discuss Lane’s reserved replies: Are they funny? Do they indicate familiarity or sarcasm? How do you react to a servant who replies in that way? Or you could focus on Algernon’s witty responses. Does Algernon really care what Lane thinks? Is he talking more to hear himself? What does that say about how the audience is supposed to see Algernon? Algernon’s manner of speech is part of who his character is. If you are analyzing a particular performance, you might want to comment on the actor’s delivery of these lines: Was his vocal inflection appropriate? Did it show something about the character?

How language contributes to scene and mood

Ancient, medieval, and Renaissance plays often use verbal tricks and nuances to convey the setting and time of the play because performers during these periods didn’t have elaborate special-effects technology to create theatrical illusions. For example, most scenes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth take place at night. The play was originally performed in an open-air theatre in the bright and sunny afternoon. How did Shakespeare communicate the fact that it was night-time in the play? Mainly by starting scenes like this:

BANQUO: How goes the night, boy? FLEANCE: The moon is down; I have not heard the clock. BANQUO: And she goes down at twelve. FLEANCE: I take’t, ’tis later, sir. BANQUO: Hold, take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose!

Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch

Give me my sword. Who’s there?

Characters entering with torches is a pretty big clue, as is having a character say, “It’s night.” Later in the play, the question, “Who’s there?” recurs a number of times, establishing the illusion that the characters can’t see each other. The sense of encroaching darkness and the general mysteriousness of night contributes to a number of other themes and motifs in the play.

Productions and performances

Productions.

For productions as a whole, some important elements to consider are:

• Venue: How big is the theatre? Is this a professional or amateur acting company? What kind of resources do they have? How does this affect the show?
• Costumes: What is everyone wearing? Is it appropriate to the historical period? Modern? Trendy? Old-fashioned? Does it fit the character? What does their costume make you think about each character? How does this affect the show?
• Set design: What does the set look like? Does it try to create a sense of “realism”? Does it set the play in a particular historical period? What impressions does the set create? Does the set change, and if so, when and why? How does this affect the show?
• Lighting design: Are characters ever in the dark? Are there spotlights? Does light come through windows? From above? From below? Is any tinted or colored light projected? How does this affect the show?
• “Idea” or “concept”: Do the set and lighting designs seem to work together to produce a certain interpretation? Do costumes and other elements seem coordinated? How does this affect the show?

You’ve probably noticed that each of these ends with the question, “How does this affect the show?” That’s because you should be connecting every detail that you analyze back to this question. If a particularly weird costume (like King Henry in scuba gear) suggests something about the character (King Henry has gone off the deep end, literally and figuratively), then you can ask yourself, “Does this add or detract from the show?” (King Henry having an interest in aquatic mammals may not have been what Shakespeare had in mind.)

Performances

For individual performances, you can analyze all the items considered above in light of how they might have been different the night before. For example, some important elements to consider are:

• Individual acting performances: What did the actor playing the part bring to the performance? Was there anything particularly moving about the performance that night that surprised you, that you didn’t imagine from reading the play beforehand (if you did so)?
• Mishaps, flubs, and fire alarms: Did the actors mess up? Did the performance grind to a halt or did it continue?
• Audience reactions: Was there applause? At inappropriate points? Did someone fall asleep and snore loudly in the second act? Did anyone cry? Did anyone walk out in utter outrage?

Response papers

Instructors in drama classes often want to know what you really think. Sometimes they’ll give you very open-ended assignments, allowing you to choose your own topic; this freedom can have its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you may find it easier to express yourself without the pressure of specific guidelines or restrictions. On the other hand, it can be challenging to decide what to write about. The elements and topics listed above may provide you with a jumping-off point for more open-ended assignments. Once you’ve identified a possible area of interest, you can ask yourself questions to further develop your ideas about it and decide whether it might make for a good paper topic. For example, if you were especially interested in the lighting, how did the lighting make you feel? Nervous? Bored? Distracted? It’s usually a good idea to be as specific as possible. You’ll have a much more difficult time if you start out writing about “imagery” or “language” in a play than if you start by writing about that ridiculous face Helena made when she found out Lysander didn’t love her anymore.

If you’re really having trouble getting started, here’s a three point plan for responding to a piece of theater—say, a performance you recently observed:

• Make a list of five or six specific words, images, or moments that caught your attention while you were sitting in your seat.
• Answer one of the following questions: Did any of the words, images, or moments you listed contribute to your enjoyment or loathing of the play? Did any of them seem to add to or detract from any overall theme that the play may have had? Did any of them make you think of something completely different and wholly irrelevant to the play? If so, what connection might there be?
• Write a few sentences about how each of the items you picked out for the second question affected you and/or the play.

This list of ideas can help you begin to develop an analysis of the performance and your own reactions to it.

If you need to do research in the specialized field of performance studies (a branch of communication studies) or want to focus especially closely on poetic or powerful language in a play, see our handout on communication studies and handout on poetry explications . For additional tips on writing about plays as a form of literature, see our handout on writing about fiction .

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Carter, Paul. 1994. The Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information , 3rd ed. Shelter Island, NY: Broadway Press.

Vandermeer, Philip. 2021. “A to Z Databases: Dramatic Art.” Subject Research Guides, University of North Carolina. Last updated March 3, 2021. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/az.php?a=d&s=1113 .

Worthen, William B. 2010. The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama , 6th ed. Boston: Cengage.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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100+ Useful Words and Phrases to Write a Great Essay

By: Author Sophia

Posted on Last updated: October 25, 2023

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How to Write a Great Essay in English! This lesson provides 100+ useful words, transition words and expressions used in writing an essay. Let’s take a look!

The secret to a successful essay doesn’t just lie in the clever things you talk about and the way you structure your points.

Useful Words and Phrases to Write a Great Essay

Overview of an essay.

Useful Phrases for Proficiency Essays

Developing the argument

• The first aspect to point out is that…
• Let us start by considering the facts.
• The novel portrays, deals with, revolves around…
• Central to the novel is…
• The character of xxx embodies/ epitomizes…

The other side of the argument

• It would also be interesting to see…
• One should, nevertheless, consider the problem from another angle.
• Equally relevant to the issue are the questions of…
• The arguments we have presented… suggest that…/ prove that…/ would indicate that…
• From these arguments one must…/ could…/ might… conclude that…
• All of this points to the conclusion that…
• To conclude…

Ordering elements

• Firstly,…/ Secondly,…/ Finally,… (note the comma after all these introductory words.)
• As a final point…
• On the one hand, …. on the other hand…
• If on the one hand it can be said that… the same is not true for…
• The first argument suggests that… whilst the second suggests that…
• There are at least xxx points to highlight.

Adding elements

• Furthermore, one should not forget that…
• In addition to…
• Moreover…
• It is important to add that…

Accepting other points of view

• Nevertheless, one should accept that…
• However, we also agree that…

Personal opinion

• We/I personally believe that…
• Our/My own point of view is that…
• It is my contention that…
• I am convinced that…
• My own opinion is…

Others’ opinions

• According to some critics… Critics:
• believe that
• suggest that
• are convinced that
• point out that
• emphasize that
• contend that
• go as far as to say that
• argue for this

Introducing examples

• For example…
• For instance…
• To illustrate this point…

Introducing facts

• It is… true that…/ clear that…/ noticeable that…
• One should note here that…

Saying what you think is true

• This leads us to believe that…
• It is very possible that…
• In view of these facts, it is quite likely that…
• Doubtless,…
• One cannot deny that…
• It is (very) clear from these observations that…
• All the same, it is possible that…
• It is difficult to believe that…

Accepting other points to a certain degree

• One can agree up to a certain point with…
• Certainly,… However,…
• It cannot be denied that…

Emphasizing particular points

• The last example highlights the fact that…
• Not only… but also…
• We would even go so far as to say that…

Moderating, agreeing, disagreeing

• By and large…
• Perhaps we should also point out the fact that…
• It would be unfair not to mention the fact that…
• One must admit that…
• We cannot ignore the fact that…
• One cannot possibly accept the fact that…

Consequences

• From these facts, one may conclude that…
• That is why, in our opinion, …
• Which seems to confirm the idea that…
• Thus,…/ Therefore,…
• Some critics suggest…, whereas others…
• Compared to…
• On the one hand, there is the firm belief that… On the other hand, many people are convinced that…

How to Write a Great Essay | Image 1

How to Write a Great Essay | Image 2

Phrases For Balanced Arguments

Introduction

• It is often said that…
• It is undeniable that…
• It is a well-known fact that…
• One of the most striking features of this text is…
• The first thing that needs to be said is…
• First of all, let us try to analyze…
• One argument in support of…
• We must distinguish carefully between…
• The second reason for…
• An important aspect of the text is…
• It is worth stating at this point that…
• On the other hand, we can observe that…
• The other side of the coin is, however, that…
• Another way of looking at this question is to…
• What conclusions can be drawn from all this?
• The most satisfactory conclusion that we can come to is…
• To sum up… we are convinced that…/ …we believe that…/ …we have to accept that…

How to Write a Great Essay | Image 3

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Essay on Drama

Students are often asked to write an essay on Drama in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Drama

Introduction.

Drama is a unique tool to explore and express human feeling. It’s an art form that allows people to communicate and connect with each other.

Types of Drama

Drama can be categorized into genres like tragedy, comedy, and melodrama. Each one has its own style and way of engaging the audience.

Role of Drama

Drama plays a significant role in education. It helps students develop critical thinking and boosts their confidence.

In conclusion, drama is a powerful medium that can entertain, educate, and inspire. It’s an integral part of our culture and society.

250 Words Essay on Drama

Introduction to drama.

Drama, originating from the Greek word “dran” meaning “to do,” is a genre of literature that utilizes performance as its primary medium. It is a mirror of society, reflecting the intricacies of human nature, our relationships, and the societal issues we grapple with.

The Evolution of Drama

Drama has evolved significantly from its inception in ancient Greece, where it was intertwined with religious rituals. The Renaissance period saw the rise of dramatic forms like tragedy and comedy, with playwrights like Shakespeare and Marlowe leading the way. The 20th century brought about realism, absurdism, and postmodernism, pushing the boundaries of traditional drama.

Elements of Drama

Drama comprises various elements such as plot, character, theme, dialogue, and spectacle. The plot is the sequence of events, the backbone of the drama. Characters are the individuals involved in these events. The theme represents the underlying message or the main idea. Dialogue is the spoken words by characters, and the spectacle includes all visual aspects of the performance.

Impact of Drama

Drama has a profound impact on society and individuals. It can challenge our perspectives, evoke emotions, and promote empathy by allowing us to experience different realities. Moreover, it serves as a platform for social commentary and critique, often inciting change.

In conclusion, drama is a dynamic and influential form of literature that has the power to reflect and shape society. Its evolution and elements make it a compelling study, offering insights into the human condition and our societal structures.

500 Words Essay on Drama

Drama, a genre of literature, is a complex and influential art form that has been an integral part of human culture for thousands of years. It is a medium through which stories are told and emotions are expressed, using a combination of dialogues, actions, and visual elements.

Historical Overview

The roots of drama are deep-seated in the ancient world, where the Greeks pioneered the art form in 5th century BC. They used drama as a means to explore philosophical ideas, moral dilemmas, and the human condition. Over the years, drama evolved, incorporating elements from different cultures and societies, resulting in a rich and diverse tapestry of theatrical forms.

The core elements of drama include plot, character, theme, dialogue, rhythm, and spectacle. The plot provides the structure, while characters bring life to the story. Themes present underlying messages or moral lessons. Dialogue acts as the vehicle for characters to express their emotions and thoughts. Rhythm, often achieved through the pace of dialogue and action, creates a sense of timing and flow. Lastly, spectacle, which encompasses visual elements like costumes, sets, and special effects, adds a sensory dimension to the experience.

Drama can be categorized into various types, each with its distinct characteristics. Tragedy, a form that dates back to ancient Greece, focuses on the downfall of a heroic or noble character. Comedy, on the other hand, aims to amuse the audience, often using satire, wit, and humor. Melodrama, characterized by exaggerated characters and exciting events, appeals to the audience’s emotions. Lastly, tragicomedy, a hybrid of tragedy and comedy, balances elements of both to explore the complexities of life.

Drama’s Influence on Society

Drama plays a significant role in society, often reflecting and shaping cultural and societal norms. It can be a powerful tool for social commentary, shedding light on societal issues and sparking discussions. Moreover, drama can also serve as a form of escapism, providing audiences a break from reality and allowing them to immerse themselves in different worlds.

In conclusion, drama is a multifaceted and dynamic art form that continues to evolve and adapt to the changing times. It offers a unique blend of storytelling, visual spectacle, and emotional engagement, making it an enduring and impactful part of human culture. Whether it’s on a grand theater stage or a small community playhouse, drama continues to captivate audiences, offering them a mirror to reflect on their own lives and the world around them.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Dr Rajendra Prasad
• Essay on Dowry System
• Essay on Dowry

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Essay on Drama in English

A drama is a medium through which any kind of story is enacted through performance and dialogue. It has a plot, characters, conflict, music and dialogue. It tries to entertain an individual or a group of individuals. Generally, dramas are performed by the actors in a place called stage or theatre.

A theatre is a place in which a play is performed. It can be big or small. It can also be an indoor theatre or outdoor one. A theatre needs at least one character. A drama always aims to reach to a large number of audience or people.

The actors in a drama are normally humans. But, broadly speaking, actors also are seen in the form of cartoons, puppets, or sometimes robots that perform with the help of human.

Today, dramas can be seen in the forms of television serials, movies, and radio plays. The T.V. serials like Motu Patlu, Chhota Bheem are all had cartoons as their actors.

Generally, drama is divided into four categories. One is comedy, tragedy, Melodrama and tragicomedy.

Drama activities in schools are very much fruitful for children. They make learning entertaining and as well as memorable. By taking part in any of the dramas performed in the classroom, children can improve their communication skill as well as self-confidence.

Dramas are seen performing in many functions organized in the schools. They are generally based on any social cause like ‘Stop Cutting Trees’, ‘Save Water etc. It helps students to improve their knowledge of a particular subject. Likewise, drama has become an important part of human life.

In many schools, different drama clubs are formed. The aim is to allow students to think creatively. It helps students to be enough confident so to live a better life.

Table of Contents

Questions on Drama

What is drama explain.

A drama is a medium through which any kind of story is enacted through performance and dialogue. It tries to entertain an individual or a group of individuals.

What are drama and its forms?

A drama is a medium through which any kind of story is enacted through performance and dialogue. Drama is divided into four categories. One is comedy, tragedy, Melodrama and tragicomedy.

What are the characteristics of drama?

The characteristics of drama are plot, characters, conflict, music and dialogue.

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Analyzing the Movie “Suits”: a Study in Legal Drama and Character Development

This essay is about the television series “Suits,” analyzing its success as a legal drama through its narrative structure, character development, and thematic depth. It explores the central relationship between Mike Ross and Harvey Specter, the high-stakes environment of their law firm, and the personal and professional struggles of the characters. The essay highlights the show’s exploration of themes such as loyalty, integrity, and ambition, as well as its sharp dialogue and stylish visual presentation. “Suits” is praised for its ability to create compelling, multi-dimensional characters and for offering a nuanced look at the complexities of the legal profession.

How it works

The television series “Suits,” which premiered in 2011, quickly became a cultural phenomenon, renowned for its sharp dialogue, complex characters, and high-stakes legal drama. The show is set in a fictional New York City law firm and follows the exploits of talented college dropout Mike Ross, who lands a job as an associate despite not having a law degree, and the brilliant, charismatic lawyer Harvey Specter. This essay delves into the core elements that made “Suits” a standout series, focusing on its narrative structure, character arcs, and thematic depth.

“Suits” masterfully blends legal drama with character-driven storytelling. At its heart, the series is about the relationship between Mike Ross, played by Patrick J. Adams, and Harvey Specter, portrayed by Gabriel Macht. Their dynamic is central to the show’s appeal, evolving from mentor-mentee to a deep, mutual respect and partnership. Harvey, initially depicted as a suave, somewhat aloof figure, gradually reveals layers of vulnerability and loyalty, especially in his interactions with Mike. This character development is one of the series’ strengths, showcasing the human side of its legal protagonists.

The show’s setting in a high-powered law firm serves as more than just a backdrop; it is integral to the plot and character development. Pearson Hardman, later known as Pearson Specter and other iterations, represents the pinnacle of legal ambition, a place where the stakes are always high. The legal cases, often involving corporate disputes, mergers, and ethical dilemmas, mirror the personal conflicts of the characters, adding a layer of complexity to the narrative. This parallel between professional and personal struggles is a recurring theme, emphasizing the intertwined nature of the characters’ lives and careers.

One of the most compelling aspects of “Suits” is its exploration of themes such as loyalty, integrity, and the cost of ambition. Each character grapples with these issues in different ways. Harvey’s journey, for example, is marked by his struggle to balance his ruthless professional persona with his deep-seated need for personal connections and loyalty. Mike’s story, on the other hand, revolves around his efforts to prove himself in a world that values credentials over talent, all while hiding a secret that could destroy his career. This tension between ambition and integrity drives much of the show’s drama and character development.

The supporting cast of “Suits” adds further depth to the series. Characters like Jessica Pearson, Louis Litt, and Donna Paulsen are more than just foils to the main duo; they are fully realized individuals with their own arcs and complexities. Jessica, played by Gina Torres, embodies power and control, often serving as a moral compass for Harvey. Louis, portrayed by Rick Hoffman, provides both comic relief and poignant moments of vulnerability, particularly in his quest for respect and acceptance. Sarah Rafferty’s Donna is the glue that holds the firm together, with her sharp wit and unwavering loyalty. Each of these characters brings a unique dimension to the series, enriching the narrative and highlighting different facets of the legal world.

The dialogue in “Suits” is another standout feature. The rapid-fire exchanges, laced with legal jargon and cultural references, contribute to the show’s dynamic pace and intellectual appeal. This witty, often sharp-tongued banter not only entertains but also underscores the characters’ intelligence and the high-pressure environment they operate in. The dialogue is a testament to the show’s writing, which balances humor, drama, and legal intricacies with finesse.

In addition to its narrative and character strengths, “Suits” also excels in its visual style. The sleek, modern aesthetic of the law firm, with its glass walls and stylish interiors, reflects the polished, high-stakes world of corporate law. The costumes, particularly the impeccably tailored suits, are a visual extension of the characters themselves, symbolizing their power, ambition, and professionalism. This attention to visual detail enhances the show’s overall impact, making it not just a story about lawyers, but a stylish portrayal of their world.

In conclusion, “Suits” is a remarkable series that blends legal drama with rich character development and thematic depth. Its success lies in its ability to create compelling, multi-dimensional characters and to weave their personal and professional struggles into a cohesive, engaging narrative. The show’s exploration of themes like loyalty, integrity, and ambition, combined with its sharp dialogue and stylish visual presentation, make it a standout in the genre of legal dramas. “Suits” not only entertains but also offers a nuanced look at the complexities of the legal profession and the personal lives intertwined with it.

Remember, this essay is a starting point for inspiration and further research. For more personalized assistance and to ensure your essay meets all academic standards, consider reaching out to professionals at EduBirdie.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Drama — Using Drama In The EFL Teaching

Using Drama in The Efl Teaching

• Categories: Drama Human Physiology

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Words: 1861 |

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Published: Oct 2, 2020

Words: 1861 | Pages: 4 | 10 min read

Table of contents

What is drama, the history of drama, the importance of drama, the benefits of drama, drama for languge teaching, benefits of using drama, using drama in teaching language, dramatic performance in teaching drama in efl contexts, facilitating english language teaching (elt) through drama, using local drama in writing and speaking: efl learners’ creative expression, nine drama activities for foreign language classrooms: benefits and challenges, drama in the mixed-ability efl classroom, the effectiveness of drama techniques on foreign language classroom, drama and clil: the power of connection, effects of teaching of modern drama as a method for speaking fluency.

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13.1: Fiction and Drama - types, terms and sample essay

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WHAT ARE THE MAIN LITERARY FORMS?

The main literary forms are Fiction, Drama & Poetry .

Although each of the three major literary genres, fiction, drama, and poetry are different, they have many elements in common. For example, in all three genres, authors make purposeful use of diction (word choice), employ imagery (significant detail) and each piece of literature has its own unique tone (emotional quality). An important element that you will find in all three genres is theme, the larger meaning(s) the reader derives from the poem, story, novel or play.

Each of the literary genres is distinguished by its form: Fiction is written in sentences and paragraphs. Poetry is written in lines and stanzas. Drama is written in dialogue.

WHY IS KNOWING THEM IMPORTANT?

As you read different forms of literature you will need to know specialized vocabulary to be able to best understand, interpret, and write about what you are reading. Also, how you approach a literary text and what you focus on will depend on its literary form. For instance, fiction and drama are typically anchored by a reader’s engagement with characters while many poems do not contain a character or tell a story. Therefore, plot is often not a factor in a poem . A poem can be an impression or reflection about a person, a place, an experience or an idea.

HOW DO I APPROACH EACH FORM?

KNOW THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FICTION:

Short Stories are usually defined as being between 2000-6000 words long. Most short stories have at least one “rounded” (developed and complex) character and any number of “flat” (less-developed, simpler) characters. Short stories tend to focus on one major source of conflict and often take place within one basic time period.

Novellas generally run between 50-150 pages, halfway between a story and a novel.

Novels don’t have a prescribed length. Because they are a longer form of fiction, an author has more freedom to work with plot and characters, as well as develop sub-plots and move freely through time. Characters can change and develop over the course of time and the theme(s) can be broader and more intricate than in shorter forms of fiction.

KNOW THE DIFFERENT TYPES AND STRUCTURE OF DRAMA:

Drama Types

Tragedy – generally serious in tone, focusing on a protagonist who experiences an eventual downfall

Comedy – light in tone, employs humor and ends happily

Satire – exaggerated and comic in tone for the purpose of criticism or ridicule

Experimental – can be light or serious in tone. It creates its own style through experimentation with language, characters, plot, etc.

Musical – can be light or serious. The majority of the dialogue is sung rather than spoken.

Drama Structure

Plays are organized into dialogue, scenes and acts. A play can be made up one act or multiple acts. Each act is divided into scenes, in which a character, or characters, come on or off stage and speak their lines. A play can have only one character or many characters. The main character is the protagonist and a character who opposes him/her is the antagonist .

The plots of plays typically follow this pattern:

• Rising Action – complications the protagonist must face, composed of any number of conflicts and crises
• Climax – the peak of the rising action and the turning point for the protagonist
• Falling Action – the movement toward a resolution

COMMONALITIES OF FICTION AND DRAMA TERMS

Both fiction and drama are typically anchored by plot and character. They also contain literary themes as well as having other elements in common, so we will look at literary terms that can be applied to both of these literary forms.

Fiction and Drama Terms

PLOT: Plot is the unfolding of a dramatic situation; it is what happens in the narrative. Be aware that writers of fiction arrange fictional events into patterns. They select these events carefully, they establish causal relationships among events, and they enliven these events with conflict. Therefore, more accurately defined, plot is a pattern of carefully selected, casually related events that contain conflict. There are two general categories of conflict: internal conflict , takes place within the minds of the characters and external conflict , takes place between individuals or between individuals and the world external to the individuals (the forces of nature, human created objects, and environments). The forces in a conflict are usually embodied by characters, the most relevant being the protagonist , the main character, and the antagonist , the opponent of the protagonist (the antagonist is usually a person but can also be a nonhuman force or even an aspect of the protagonist—his or her tendency toward evil and self-destruction for example). QUESTIONS ABOUT PLOT: What conflicts does it dramatize?

CHARACTERS: There are two broad categories of character development: simple and complex. Simple (or “flat”) characters have only one or two personality traits and are easily recognizable as stereotypes—the shrewish wife, the lazy husband, the egomaniac, etc. Complex (or “rounded”) characters have multiple personality traits and therefore resemble real people. They are much harder to understand and describe than simple characters. No single description or interpretation can fully contain them. For the characters in modern fiction, the hero has often been replaced by the antihero , an ordinary, unglamorous person often confused, frustrated and at odds with modern life. QUESTIONS ABOUT CHARACTERS: What is revealed by the characters and how they are portrayed?

THEME: The theme is an idea or point that is central to a story, which can often be summed up in a word or a few words (e.g. loneliness, fate, oppression, rebirth, coming of age; humans in conflict with technology; nostalgia; the dangers of unchecked power). A story may have several themes. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas, such as ethical questions and commentary on the human condition, and are usually implied rather than stated explicitly.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THEME: To help identify themes ask yourself questions such as these:

SYMBOLISM: In the broadest sense, a symbol is something that represents something else. Words, for example, are symbols. But in literature, a symbol is an object that has meaning beyond itself. The object is concrete and the meanings are abstract. QUESTIONS ABOUT SYMBOLS: Not every work uses symbols, and not every character, incident, or object in a work has symbolic value. You should ask fundamental questions in locating and interpreting symbols:

SETTING: The social mores, values, and customs of the world in which the characters live; the physical world; and the time of the action, including historical circumstances.

TONE: The narrator’s predominant attitude toward the subject, whether that subject is a particular setting, an event, a character, or an idea.

POINT OF VIEW: The author’s relationship to his or her fictional world, especially to the minds of the characters. Put another way, point of view is the position from which the story is told. There are four common points of view:

• Omniscient point of view —the author tells the story and assumes complete knowledge of the characters’ actions and thoughts.
• Limited omniscient point of view —the author still narrates the story but restricts his or her revelation—and therefore our knowledge—to the thoughts of just one character.
• First person point of view —one of the characters tells the story, eliminating the author as narrator. The narration is restricted to what one character says he or she observes.
• Objective point of view —the author is the narrator but does not enter the minds of any of the characters. The writer sees them (and lets us see them) as we would in real life.

FORESHADOWING: The anticipation of something, which will happen later. It is often done subtlety with symbols or other indirect devices. We have to use inferential thinking to identify foreshadowing in some stories, and often it occurs on an almost emotional level as we're reading, leading us further into the heart of the story.

EXPOSITION : The opening portion of a story that sets the scene, introduces characters and gives background information we may need to understand the story.

INTERIOR MONOLOGUE : An extended exploration of one character's thoughts told from the inside but as if spoken out loud for the reader to overhear.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: A style of presenting thoughts and sense impressions in a lifelike fashion, the way thoughts move freely through the mind, often chaotic or dreamlike.

IRONY: Generally irony makes visible a contrast between appearance and reality. More fully and specifically, it exposes and underscores a contrast between (1) what is and what seems to be, (2) between what is and what ought to be, (3) between what is and what one wishes to be, (4) and between what is and what one expects to be. Incongruity is the method of irony; opposites come suddenly together so that the disparity is obvious.

CLIMAX: The moment of greatest tension when a problem or complication may be resolved or, at least, confronted.

RESolution, CONCLUSION or DENOUEMENT ("untying of the knot"): Brings the problem to some sort of finality, not necessarily a happy ending, but a resolution.

Using the literary vocabulary and questions, let’s analyze a literary text.

Read the memoir, “Learning to Read,” by Jessica Powers which can be located in Chapter 1: Critical Reading in the “Faculty-Written Texts” section. Powers employs many of the elements of fiction in this autobiographical piece. When you have finished reading, answer the questions below.

Questions about plot :

• What is the main conflict in the story?
• What causes the conflict?
• Is the conflict external or internal?
• What is the turning point in the story?
• How is the main conflict resolved?

Questions about character:

• Is the main character simple or complex? Explain.
• What are the traits of the main character? Make a list.
• Does the main character change? Describe.
• What steps does she go through to change? Make a list.
• What does she learn? Describe.
• Does the main character experience an epiphany? Describe.

Questions about theme:

• What does the story show us about human behavior?
• Are there moral issues raised by the story? Describe.
• What does the story tell us about why people change?

Example A sample essay written on fiction (a short story)

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English 110

Women, Are You Living for Yourself or for a Man?

A woman in her 40s who never marries or has children is often met with concern, suspicion or pity and there is even a pejorative word for her, "spinster." In contrast, a man in his 40s who never marries or has children is often viewed positively as a bachelor or a playboy or simply as a free man. This double standard forces many women to live for others first and themselves second, something a man is never asked to do. This was especially true in the early 1900s when women were discouraged from having careers outside of the home and were encouraged to have their primary focus in life be caring for their husband, children and home. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman the author of the short story "A New England Nun," presented women from this era with a story of a woman who rebels against the usual adherence to duty, submission, and self-sacrifice. Through the story of her main character Louisa, Freeman offers an alternative to the role American society had expected women to play. Freeman proves there are advantages to be had for women who break the bonds of socially created gender roles by declining to get married and have children, and instead create a life entirely their own, one in which they are not tied down by the needs of others and advantageously avoid the negative influence brought on by the judgement and expectations of a man.

Although Louisa's engagement promised security and stability, it is immediately clear that the return of Louisa's long-awaited fiance threatens to destabilize the ordered and serene life she had created for herself. Because her finace Joe Dagget had to work overseas for 14 years, Louisa had a taste of something not many women of her time experienced, socially approved independence. During this time, Louisa became quite content with her solitary life. Louisa developed a passion for caring for her home and did chores because it pleased her, which is a far cry from the feelings most women in that era experienced in caring for a house, husband and children. Upon her fiance's return, the presence of masculinity upsets the ideal environment Louisa had established in her life and Freeman illustrates this when the couple's first reunion ends in chaos. As Joe is leaving Louisa's house, he stumbles over a rug which knocks over her basket of sewing supplies, and as the yarn spools helplessly unravel across the floor Louisa says stiffly to Joe, "Never mind, I'll pick them up after you're gone" (65). As her yarn unravels, Louisa gets a preview of what Joe's presence will do to her life. Louisa's meticulous care for her home and her appreciation for cleanliness and order shows that having a place of her own and maintaining her preferred surroundings gave her a sense of price and placed power and control over her life in her own hands.

Another way marriage threatens Louisa is that it would make her dependent. A stipulation for marriage during the early 20th century that would have had a devastating impact on Louisa's life was that all her treasured possessions would legally become her husband's property. Louisa discovered many of her passions whilst living independently. Among those were her china set that she used daily, her photo albums, her books, her sewing supplies that she grew to call good friends, her dog Caesar, and most of all her home. In addition to the transfer of possessions following matrimony, women also no longer had control over what they did with their time. In Louisa's case, she would be forced to become a servant of both her new husband, his mother, and their future children. Her time would no longer be her own as she would become the cook, laundress, seamstress, and caretaker for others. The independence that Louisa cherished would be replaced with servitude, duty, and dependence on a man she barely knew.

The predominate message for women, yet not for men, is that their lives will be incomplete, empty, and without purpose if they do not marry and have children, trapping some women in miserable lives. Without socially accepted alternatives, some women get married and have children who would be better off doing neither. Shouldn't a person want to take on the challenging task of caring for others rather than producing more unhappy marriages and checked out parents who feel distanced from and resentful of their children? The pressures, however, on women to marry and have children back then persist today, and this needs to change. The ending that Freeman created in her story proposes that some women should choose to live for themselves. After Louisa breaks off her engagement, she sees the endless possibilities for her future, "She gazed ahead, through a long reach of future days strung together like pearls on a rosary, every one like the others, and all smooth and flawless and innocent, and her heart went up in thankfulness" (71). At this point, Louisa is no longer marrying Joe, but she does not perceive life without love or intimacy as any terrible loss. Instead, she sees a life full of freedom and potential.

We mustn't continue to limit the potential of women by making them conform to limited gender roles. An article written by the UN Women's Secretary General for International Women's Day 2017 claims that, "Around the world, tradition, cultural values and religion are being misused to curtail women's rights, to entrench sexism and defend misogynistic practices." Even though women in the 21st century have deviated from being dependent on the financial stability provided by a man, conventional views continue to limit their growth by assigning them to feminine type jobs and denying them leadership positions. In addition to Inequality in the workplace, women are often juggling both work-life and domestic-life. Louisa's story stresses the importance of being a strong woman in a restrictive society and emphasizes the previous rewards that are yours to possess when you alter your path based on your own decisions. The worth of a women should not be judged by marriage and children because the worth of man certainly is not.

Works Citied

Freeman Wilkins, Mary E. "A New England Nun." Great Short Stories by American Women, edited by

Candace Ward, Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1996, pp. 61-71.

Guterres, Antonio. "UN Secretary-General's Message for International Women's day." UN Women, 6

Mar. 2017, http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stori...omens-day-2017 .

America deserves to know if the rumored racist ‘Apprentice’ tapes exist

Even the greatest con men in history have needed accomplices to help pull off their schemes. Bill Pruitt, a former producer on “The Apprentice,” made that point explicit in an essay published in Slate on Thursday, hours before his former boss was convicted in Manhattan of 34 felony counts . He also says he heard the show’s host, Donald Trump , use the N-word during the taping of the show’s first season in 2004 and that, importantly, the exchange was caught on tape. If Pruitt’s account is true, then the video he described could shift the course of the 2024 election — but it’s doubtful Americans will ever get the chance to see it.

If Pruitt’s account is true, then the video he described could shift the course of the 2024 election — but it’s doubtful Americans will ever get the chance to see it.

NBC, which is owned by MSNBC’s parent company, NBCUniversal, aired “The Apprentice” during its 15 seasons. NBC dropped Trump as the host of “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2015 soon after he launched his presidential campaign.

But in the early days Pruitt describes, the show was drawing huge ratings as the crew’s editing trickery made Trump seem much more competent than he really was. Pruitt describes laying out the pros and cons of the first season’s two finalists, Bill Rancic and Kwame Jackson, to Trump and then hearing the host express discomfort at the idea of Jackson, who’s Black, winning a one-year contract at his company. He says Trump asked, “Would America buy a n— winning?” Trump, Pruitt writes, was “adamant about not hiring Jackson.”

Pruitt writes that later in the day “Jackson and Rancic are scrutinized by Trump, who, we already know, favors Rancic. Then we wrap production, pack up, and head home. There is no discussion about what Trump said in the boardroom, about how the damning evidence was caught on tape. Nothing happens.” (Stephen Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump 2024 campaign, denied the story in a statement to Slate: “This is a completely fabricated and bull--- story that was already peddled in 2016.”)

The casual racism Pruitt says Trump displayed is consistent with a man who was quick to lean into birtherism a few years later. Trump’s refusal to accept that President Barack Obama was born in the U.S. catapulted him into politics . It’s easier to believe that Trump said what Pruitt says he said because it would tap into a similar racist skepticism on the campaign trail. Many Americans didn’t buy that Obama had legitimately won the presidency, helping propel Trump to the presidency in 2016.

Former “Apprentice” contestant-turned-Trump White House staffer-turned-Trump enemy Omarosa Manigault Newman previously claimed to have heard the alleged “N-word tape.”  But as NPR pointed out , Manigault Newman, in a 2018 memoir, says only that she was told about the tape. Manigault Newman did provide CBS News with a recording of Trump campaign staffers fretting in October 2016 about the tape’s potential release. Katrina Pierson, a communications staffer on the 2016 campaign, initially denied to CNN that the recorded conversation took place before trying to downplay it as an Omarosa obsession.

The concerns about fallout from the release of their boss’ offensive language were validated when the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape dropped. While it can be hard to remember now, the tape’s release on Oct. 8, 2016, was a bombshell that shook the race. A major presidential candidate’s being so vulgar and misogynistic nearly tanked his campaign as many Republican officials put distance between themselves and their nominee . It’s only because Trump won, and went on to even greater feats of offensiveness, that the “Access Hollywood” tape now feels quaint.

Some seem to be assuming that America will only shrug if the tape Pruitt says exists is played publicly. But I believe it could be a game changer. Consider how close the race is now. NBC News’ latest survey shows Trump’s lead over President Joe Biden within the margin of error. Much of Trump’s position in this race comes from winning over low-information voters who have mostly tuned out the race at this stage. A video (or even audio) of Trump dropping the N-word is the kind of thing that could cut through and lodge within voters’ memories.

The problem is that obtaining such a tape would be difficult. A 2018 profile in The New Yorker of Mark Burnett, the creator of “The Apprentice,” laid out the legal hurdles preventing MGM Studios, which bought Burnett’s company in 2015 and was later acquired by Amazon, from releasing the tapes:

Marvin Putnam, a lawyer who represents M-G-M, told me, “Mark Burnett cannot release the tapes. Period. Even if Mark Burnett wanted to release the tapes, Mark Burnett cannot release the tapes.” Putnam explained that the contracts that Trump and other cast members signed contained standard industry stipulations limiting the manner in which outtakes and other footage could be used. These are binding obligations, which means that if M-G-M were to violate them—by releasing footage not just of Trump but of anyone who appeared with him onscreen—the studio could be sued.

On one hand, this does mean that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who could certainly eat the costs of any lawsuit filed, has the opportunity to, in the internet’s parlance, do the funniest thing ever. But the odds he would slip a copy of the scene Pruitt described to The Washington Post, which he also owns, feel like they very swiftly approach zero. And if a staffer at MGM with access to the tapes hasn’t leaked them by now, it feels improbable that such a drop will be coming any time soon.

I am willing to admit that “N-word tape,” if it even exists, fits neatly into a category of potential dei ex machina that have cropped up over the years in the hopes of finally convincing anyone still on the fence that Trump is unfit for office.

Jackson, the finalist Trump was referring to in Pruitt’s anecdote, went on to lose the first season. He hasn’t been quiet about his dismay at Trump’s rise, speaking out alongside other former contestants back in 2016. Jackson could theoretically be able to pry them loose should he sue the show’s producers for discrimination. But onetime reality show competitors who’ve previously attempted to sue for racism haven’t fared well in court , with many of their cases thrown out before they come close to being able to issue subpoenas.

The last potential avenue to get the tapes from MGM is also an unlikely one: congressional Democrats. Congress has the power to issue investigative subpoenas to gather information that will help them draft legislation. It’s a power that Republicans have blatantly abused over the years, as they’ve pretended that their fishing expeditions to help Trump or injure Biden politically are about writing laws. In theory, Senate Democrats could subpoena the video in the name of reviewing legislation pertaining to the Federal Communications Commission’s regulatory powers over game shows . But given their baffling refusal to use hearings to their advantage on more pressing issues, it’s doubtful that Senate Democrats will even entertain such an idea.

I am willing to admit that “N-word tape,” if it even exists, fits neatly into a category of potential dei ex machina that have cropped up over the years in the hopes of finally convincing anyone still on the fence that Trump is unfit for office. He was finally convicted of 34 felony counts on Thursday, but his loyal supporters are already dismissing that as part of a biased plot against him. It’d be hard for them to do the same about a tape of Trump saying what Pruitt says he said. They can attempt to spin that all they want — and, frankly, I’d love to hear them try.

Hayes Brown is a writer and editor for MSNBC Daily, where he helps frame the news of the day for readers. He was previously at BuzzFeed News and holds a degree in international relations from Michigan State University.

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The Donald Trump I Saw on The Apprentice

For 20 years, i couldn’t say what i watched the former president do on the set of the show that changed everything. now i can..

On Jan. 8, 2004, just more than 20 years ago, the first episode of The Apprentice aired. It was called “Meet the Billionaire,” and 18 million people watched. The episodes that followed climbed to roughly 20 million each week. A staggering 28 million viewers tuned in to watch the first season finale. The series won an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, and the Television Critics Association called it one of the best TV shows of the year, alongside The Sopranos and Arrested Development . The series—alongside its bawdy sibling, The Celebrity Apprentice —appeared on NBC in coveted prime-time slots for more than a decade.

The Apprentice was an instant success in another way too. It elevated Donald J. Trump from sleazy New York tabloid hustler to respectable household name. In the show, he appeared to demonstrate impeccable business instincts and unparalleled wealth, even though his businesses had barely survived multiple bankruptcies and faced yet another when he was cast. By carefully misleading viewers about Trump—his wealth, his stature, his character, and his intent—the competition reality show set about an American fraud that would balloon beyond its creators’ wildest imaginations.

I should know. I was one of four producers involved in the first two seasons. During that time, I signed an expansive nondisclosure agreement that promised a fine of $5 million and even jail time if I were to ever divulge what actually happened. It expired this year.

No one involved in The Apprentice —from the production company or the network, to the cast and crew—was involved in a con with malicious intent. It was a TV show , and it was made for entertainment . I still believe that. But we played fast and loose with the facts, particularly regarding Trump, and if you were one of the 28 million who tuned in, chances are you were conned.

As Trump answers for another of his alleged deception schemes in New York and gears up to try to persuade Americans to elect him again, in part thanks to the myth we created, I can finally tell you what making Trump into what he is today looked like from my side. Most days were revealing. Some still haunt me, two decades later.

Nearly everything I ever learned about deception I learned from my friend Apollo Robbins. He’s been called a professional pickpocket, but he’s actually a “perceptions expert.” Apollo has spent his life studying the psychology of how we distort other people’s perceptions of reality and has done so by picking pockets onstage for the entertainment of others. He is a master of deception, a skill that made him, back in the day, the so-called best-kept secret in Las Vegas. After “fanning” his marks with casual, unobtrusive touch designed to make them feel safe or at ease, Apollo determines where the items reside—the wallet inside a breast pocket, the Rolex fastened to a wrist—and he removes these items without detection. He’ll even tell you what he intends to steal before he does it. He does this not to hurt people or bewilder them with a puzzle but to challenge their maps of reality. The results are marvelous. A lot of magic is designed to appeal to people visually, but what he’s trying to affect is your mind, your moods, your perceptions.

As a producer working in unscripted, or “reality,” television, I have the same goal. Like Apollo, I want to entertain, make people joyful, maybe even challenge their ways of thinking. But because I often lack the cinematic power of a movie, with its visual pyrotechnics or rehearsed dialogue, I rely on shaping the perceptions of viewers, manipulating their maps of reality toward something I want them to think or feel.

The presumption is that reality TV is scripted. What actually happens is the illusion of reality by staging situations against an authentic backdrop. The more authentic it is to, say, have a 40-foot wave bearing down on a crab boat in the Bering Sea for Deadliest Catch , the more we can trick you into thinking a malevolent Russian trawler is out there messing with the crabber’s bait. There is a trick to it, and when it works, you feel as if you’re watching a scripted show. Although very few programs are out-and-out fake, there is deception at play in every single reality program. The producers and editors are ostensibly con artists, distracting you with grand notions while we steal from you your precious time.

But the real con that drove The Apprentice is far older than television. The “pig in the poke” comes from an idiom dating to 1555: “I’ll never buy a pig in a poke / There’s many a foul pig in a fair cloak.” It refers to the time-honored scam of selling a suckling pig at market but handing over a bag (the poke) to the purchaser, who never looks inside it. Eventually, he discovers he’s purchased something quite different.

Our show became a 21 st -century version. It’s a long con played out over a decade of watching Trump dominate prime time by shouting orders, appearing to lead, and confidently firing some of the most capable people on television, all before awarding one eligible person a job. Audiences responded to Trump’s arrogance, his perceived abilities and prescience, but mostly his confidence . The centerpiece to any confidence game is precisely that— confidence .

As I walk into my interview for The Apprentice , I inadvertently learn how important it is for every one of us involved to demonstrate confidence above all else.

I sit down with Jay Bienstock, the showrunner, who has one last producer position to fill and needs somebody capable and hardworking. His office is sparse, and the desk is strategically placed directly across from the couch, with a noticeable angle downward from his desk to whomever is seated across from him. (I’m recalling all of the quoted conversations here to the best of my ability; they are not verbatim.)

He is smiling and even laughing throughout the interview, but from the steep angle at which he gazes down on me, there is no mistaking who is in charge. He seems to like what he hears and offers to follow up with my agent. “But I have to check your references before I can hire you,” he says. “You’d be crazy not to,” I reply. He laughs, claps his hands together, and grins. “ THAT’S what I’m talking about,” he says. “That’s the confidence this show needs!”

I sit there, several inches below eyeline, and ponder what just happened. What, I wonder, is so “confident” about suggesting he’d be crazy to not check my references? Then it dawns on me. He thinks I meant “You’d be crazy not to hire me.” The signal to noise begins.

Listen to Bill Pruitt discuss this story on What Next , Slate’s daily news podcast:

Before I leave, I have to ask: Why Trump? Bienstock discovers that we both lived in New York for a time. Knowing what we know about Trump, selling the idea that intelligent people would compete to land a job working for him will be a challenge.

“The idea is to have a new and different billionaire every season—just like there’s a new and different island on Survivor . We reached out to Spielberg, Katzenberg, Geffen, among others,” he says. “Trump is the only one who agreed to sign on.” (Bienstock didn’t respond to a request for comment.)

“We’ll make it work,” Bienstock says confidently. I rise, shake his hand, and leave, and head over to Dutton’s bookstore to pick up a used copy of Trump’s The Art of the Deal . It is filled with takeaways about branding and strategizing but conveniently omits Trump bluffing his way through meetings with contractors, stiffing them when it is convenient to do so, and betraying his most trusted colleagues to get what he wants. (The book’s ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, has since tried to get the bestseller recategorized in the Library of Congress as a work of fiction.)

Another show of confidence is the budget the series commands. It’s not as expensive as a scripted series, but for a reality show, the price is high. Never have I worked on a series with this level of funding, but the cost is justified. This needs to feel real.

New York City is the perfect—though expensive—backdrop. Trump’s actual offices are, however, less than telegenic. They are cramped, and a lot of the wood furniture is chipped or peeling. None of it is suitable to appear on camera. We need what grifters call the Big Store: a fake but authentic-looking establishment in which the con goes down. Trump Tower, at the time, is mostly condos and some offices situated in the high-rise. The mezzanine comprises vacant and overpriced retail space, all of it unfinished. Trump offers the space to the production—at a premium, naturally—and it is inside this location that we create our own “reception area” with doors leading to a fake, dimly lit, and appropriately ominous-feeling “boardroom.”

Next door, there’s the “suite” where the contestants will live, which is made to look like a trendy loft-style apartment they all share. The lodgings are made up of partitions surrounding tiny, hard bunks upon which the candidates sleep; the illusion comes from elegantly appointed common areas, where most of the interplay will go down.

During a tour of the set, I have my first encounter with Trump. I leave the suite and enter the gear room, the only vacant retail space that will remain unfinished. It is filled with equipment and crew members milling about. In walks a trio of men. In the middle is Trump, in a navy blue suit and scarlet tie. He’s surprisingly tall, and not just because of the hair. He is flanked by two even taller men. Bienstock makes introductions, and I watch as Trump shakes hands with everyone. I’d been told he would never do this, something about fearing unwanted germs. When it is my turn, I decide on the convivial two-hander and place my right hand into his and my left onto his wrist as we shake. His eye contact is limited but thorough. He is sizing me up. He looks like a wolf about to rip my throat out before turning away, offering me my first glimpse at the superstructure—his hairstyle—buttressed atop his head with what must be gallons of Aqua Net.

I watch as Trump saunters around the room, snatches up a fistful of M&Ms from the craft service table set aside for the crew, and shoves them into his mouth. Then he is gone, ushered away toward some important meeting he must attend, as if to say, to one and all present, This is unimportant .

Eventually, it’s time to roll cameras. When Trump is called to perform, we are filming the first scene of the first episode on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and he is about to deliver the first task. Filming inside this beacon of capitalism and wealth gives the series the legitimacy it needs. A con artist would call staging the scam inside a legitimate institution “playing a man against the wall.”

From the balcony overlooking the famed trading room floor, Trump will set up the entire premise of the show on camera and engage in a little banter with the other participants. This includes introducing his advisers, George Ross, an older, grouchy attorney devoted to Trump’s legal affairs, and Carolyn Kepcher, a perpetual skeptic who runs his hospitality units and one of his golf clubs. (They might be called “the shills,” others in on the con who will act as Trump’s eyes and ears.)

The contestants are there, lined up and zeroed in on by camera operators getting reaction shots to whatever it is Trump says. Although they mostly just stand and wait, they patiently go along with the proceedings. They are not in on the con. They act as “the little blind mice,” who, in fraudster terms, convey a sense of authenticity by reacting to the goings-on, like lab rats caught in a maze.

Nothing is scripted—except for what Trump needs to say. Cue cards are present, but mostly it is Bienstock running up, coaching Trump, tossing out suggestions from the script he has written for the man. The feeling is that while doing a fair job of repeating the necessary words verbatim, Trump also appears to be inadvertently shouting at the contestants. His hands shuttle back and forth as if holding an invisible accordion, a gesture now famous in memes .

Each episode is filmed over three days. For the first episode, the two teams of contestants, divided by gender, take to the streets to carry out the initial task of trying to sell lemonade for the most money. The women pulverize the men.

Having won, the women are invited upstairs for a direct look at Trump’s very own apartment in Trump Tower, a reward designed specifically to introduce viewers to the gaudy but elevated world of Donald Trump at home. The men, who lost, go back to the loft to await their fate at the hands of Trump. He will be sending one of them home.

Inside the now-empty boardroom set, a meeting with the producers is called for the first briefing of Trump before the anticipated firing. With Trump are his cronies, Ross and Kepcher. Trump is “too busy,” so they have each observed both teams in the field and make an assessment of who prevailed and who fell behind.

Now, this is important. The Apprentice is a game show regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. In the 1950s, scandals arose when producers of quiz shows fed answers to likable, ratings-generating contestants while withholding those answers from unlikable but truly knowledgeable players. Any of us involved in The Apprentice swinging the outcome of prize money by telling Trump whom to fire is forbidden.

Considering this, Bienstock wisely chooses to record these off-camera briefings in case the FCC ever rolls up on us. Rather than blurt out who they think should get canned, the two producers of that week’s episode—each following one team—are coached to equitably share with Trump the virtues and deficiencies of each member of the losing team. This renders a balanced depiction of how and why they lost. There are obvious choices of whom to fire, but we want it to be something of a horse race, to sustain the drama and keep people watching.

Satisfied he has what he needs, Trump dismisses the prefiring discussion with the wave of a hand, claiming he has places to be, let’s get on with it, etc. We proceed to set up for what will be our first boardroom.

The producers retreat to the adjacent control room to watch the event unfold. Per the show’s format, the losing team is summoned in anticipation of one of its members being sent home. Leaving their luggage in the reception area, the men walk into the boardroom, where Trump is flanked by Ross and Kepcher, waiting for them solemnly. Trump just frowns from a gigantic red leather chair, his eyeline noticeably well above those sitting across from him.

The men proceed to verbally go after one another like gladiators jousting before the emperor. Trump takes the conversation into potentially dangerous terrain, asking one contestant, who is Jewish, whether he believes in “the genetic pool.” The contestant’s retort is swift and resolute: He tells Trump that he does, in fact, have the genes, “just like you got from your father, Fred Trump, and your mother, Mary Trump.” It pours out of him. It is dramatic. It is good reality TV.

The project manager must then choose two of the men to come back to the boardroom with him while everyone else is dismissed. An off-camera prefiring consultation with Trump takes place (and is recorded), right before the three men are brought back for the eventual firing. We film Trump, Ross, and Kepcher deliberating and giving the pluses and minuses of each, remarking on how risky it was for one of the contestants to stand up for himself the way that he did. Trump turns back and forth to each, listening. His cronies stick to their stories and give added deferential treatment toward Trump, with Ross strategically reminding him, “You’ve been taking risks your entire life.”

Trump summons the three men back into the boardroom for final judging. Trump grills one and says, “I will let you stay.” ( Wow! we think. A benevolent leader. ) When he turns his attention to the other man—the one he asked about genetics—it looks clear. He is doomed. So much so that the man stands when Trump tells him, “It seems unanimous.” Trump then offhandedly tells him to sit down, calling him “a wild card,” echoing Ross’ earlier observation of the boss, Trump.

After this comes an unwieldy moment when, at the behest of Bienstock, Trump fumbles through a given line. “We have an elevator,” he says to the remaining contestant, named David, “that goes up to the suite and an elevator that goes down”—he pauses to recall the exact wording—“to the street. And, David, I’m going to ask you to take the down elevator.”

The men react and awkwardly rise. It is an unsatisfactory conclusion, given all the preceding drama.

From the control room, we all watch as the three men depart the boardroom. A quick huddle takes place between the producers and the executive from NBC. We bolt from the control room out into the boardroom and confer with Trump, telling him we will need him to say something more direct to conclude the moment when David is let go.

“Well, I’d probably just fire him,” Trump says. “Why not just say that?” Bienstock asks. “Fine,” Trump says.

We return to the control room. The three men from the losing team are brought back into the boardroom, and Trump repeats his line about the elevator, then turns to David, who already knows his fate, and adds, “David, you’re fired.”

The line insertion happened in a perilously scripted way, but it is deemed satisfactory. “You’re fired” becomes the expression we will stick with. It works. Trump comes off as decisive and to the point.

Later, Trump will try to trademark “You’re fired.” He is not successful.

Trump’s appearances make up so little of our shooting schedule that whenever he shows up to film, it isn’t just the wild-card on-camera moments we both hope for and are terrified of that put everyone on edge. It is the way he, the star (and half owner) of the show, targets people on the crew with the gaze of a hungry lion.

While leering at a female camera assistant or assessing the physical attributes of a female contestant for whoever is listening, he orders a female camera operator off an elevator on which she is about to film him. “She’s too heavy,” I hear him say.

Another female camera operator, who happens to have blond hair and blue eyes, draws from Trump comparisons to his own Ivanka Trump. “There’s a beautiful woman behind that camera,” he says toward a line of 10 different operators set up in the foyer of Trump Tower one day. “That’s all I want to look at.”

Trump corners a female producer and asks her whom he should fire. She demurs, saying something about how one of the contestants blamed another for their team losing. Trump then raises his hands, cupping them to his chest: “You mean the one with the …?” He doesn’t know the contestant’s name. Trump eventually fires her.

(In response to detailed questions about this and other incidents reported in this article, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump 2024 campaign, wrote, “This is a completely fabricated and bullshit story that was already peddled in 2016.” He said that it is surfacing now because Democrats are “desperate.”)

Trump goes about knocking off every one of the contestants in the boardroom until only two remain. The finalists are Kwame Jackson, a Black broker from Goldman Sachs, and Bill Rancic, a white entrepreneur from Chicago who runs his own cigar business. Trump assigns them each a task devoted to one of his crown-jewel properties. Jackson will oversee a Jessica Simpson benefit concert at Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, while Rancic will oversee a celebrity golf tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

Viewers need to believe that whatever Trump touches turns to gold. These properties that bear his name are supposed to glitter and gleam. All thanks to him.

Reality is another matter altogether. The lights in the casino’s sign are out. Hong Kong investors actually own the place—Trump merely lends his name. The carpet stinks, and the surroundings for Simpson’s concert are ramshackle at best. We shoot around all that.

Both Rancic and Jackson do a round-robin recruitment of former contestants, and Jackson makes the fateful decision to team up with the notorious Omarosa, among others, to help him carry out his final challenge.

With her tenure on the series nearly over, Omarosa launches several simultaneous attacks on her fellow teammates in support of her “brother” Kwame. For the fame-seeking beauty queen, it is a do-or-die play for some much-coveted screen time. As on previous tasks, Ross and Kepcher will observe both events.

Over at Trump National Golf Club, where I am stationed, it is sunny and bright, set against luscious fall colors. I am driven up to the golf club from Manhattan to scout. With me are the other producers, all of whom are men. We meet Trump at one of the homes he keeps for himself on the grounds of the club.

“Melania doesn’t even know about this place,” he says out loud to us, snickering, implying that the home’s function is as his personal lair for his sexual exploits, all of which are unknown to his then-fiancée Melania Knauss.

We are taken around the rest of the club’s property and told what to feature on camera and what to stay away from. The clubhouse is a particularly necessary inclusion, and it is inside these luxurious confines where I have the privilege of meeting the architect. Finding myself alone with him, I make a point of commending him for what I feel is a remarkable building. The place is genuinely spectacular. He thanks me.

“It’s bittersweet,” he tells me. “I’m very proud of this place, but …” He hesitates. “I wasn’t paid what was promised,” he says. I just listen. “Trump pays half upfront,” he says, “but he’ll stiff you for the rest once the project is completed.”

“He stiffed you?”

“If I tried to sue, the legal bills would be more than what I was owed. He knew that. He basically said Take what I’m offering ,” and I see how heavy this is for the man, all these years later. “So, we sent the invoice. He didn’t even pay that,” he says. None of this will be in the show. Not Trump’s suggested infidelities, nor his aversion toward paying those who work for him.

When the tasks are over, we are back in the boardroom, having our conference with Trump about how the two finalists compare—a conversation that I know to be recorded. We huddle around him and set up the last moments of the candidates, Jackson and Rancic.

Trump will make his decision live on camera months later, so what we are about to film is the setup to that reveal. The race between Jackson and Rancic should seem close, and that’s how we’ll edit the footage. Since we don’t know who’ll be chosen, it must appear close, even if it’s not.

We lay out the virtues and deficiencies of each finalist to Trump in a fair and balanced way, but sensing the moment at hand, Kepcher sort of comes out of herself. She expresses how she observed Jackson at the casino overcoming more obstacles than Rancic, particularly with the way he managed the troublesome Omarosa. Jackson, Kepcher maintains, handled the calamity with grace.

“I think Kwame would be a great addition to the organization,” Kepcher says to Trump, who winces while his head bobs around in reaction to what he is hearing and clearly resisting.

“Why didn’t he just fire her?” Trump asks, referring to Omarosa. It’s a reasonable question. Given that this the first time we’ve ever been in this situation, none of this is something we expected.

“That’s not his job,” Bienstock says to Trump. “That’s yours.” Trump’s head continues to bob.

“I don’t think he knew he had the ability to do that,” Kepcher says. Trump winces again.

“Yeah,” he says to no one in particular, “but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?”

Kepcher’s pale skin goes bright red. I turn my gaze toward Trump. He continues to wince. He is serious, and he is adamant about not hiring Jackson.

Bienstock does a half cough, half laugh, and swiftly changes the topic or throws to Ross for his assessment. What happens next I don’t entirely recall. I am still processing what I have just heard. We all are. Only Bienstock knows well enough to keep the train moving. None of us thinks to walk out the door and never return. I still wish I had. (Bienstock and Kepcher didn’t respond to requests for comment.)

Afterward, we film the final meeting in the boardroom, where Jackson and Rancic are scrutinized by Trump, who, we already know, favors Rancic. Then we wrap production, pack up, and head home. There is no discussion about what Trump said in the boardroom, about how the damning evidence was caught on tape. Nothing happens.

We go home and face the next phase of our assignment, the editing. In stitching the footage together, the swindle we are now involved in ascends to new levels.

Editing in a reality TV show is what script writing is to a narrative series. A lot of effort goes into the storytelling because, basically, in every single unscripted series—whether it’s a daytime talk show, an adventure documentary, or a shiny floor dance-off—there are three versions: There’s what happens, there’s what gets filmed, and there’s what gets cut down into 43 minutes squeezed between commercial breaks. Especially for a competition series, it’s important that the third version represent the first as much as possible. A defeated contestant could show up in the press and cry foul if they’re misrepresented. Best to let people fail of their own accord. That said, we look after our prized possessions in how we edit the series, and some people fare better than others.

We attend to our thesis that only the best and brightest deserve a job working for Donald Trump. Luckily, the winner, Bill Rancic, and his rival, Kwame Jackson, come off as capable and confident throughout the season. If for some reason they had not, we would have conveniently left their shortcomings on the cutting room floor. In actuality, both men did deserve to win.

Without a doubt, the hardest decisions we faced in postproduction were how to edit together sequences involving Trump. We needed him to sound sharp, dignified, and clear on what he was looking for and not as if he was yelling at people. You see him today: When he reads from a teleprompter, he comes off as loud and stoic. Go to one of his rallies and he’s the off-the-cuff rambler rousing his followers into a frenzy. While filming, he struggled to convey even the most basic items. But as he became more comfortable with filming, Trump made raucous comments he found funny or amusing—some of them misogynistic as well as racist. We cut those comments. Go to one of his rallies today and you can hear many of them.

If you listen carefully, especially to that first episode, you will notice clearly altered dialogue from Trump in both the task delivery and the boardroom. Trump was overwhelmed with remembering the contestants’ names, the way they would ride the elevator back upstairs or down to the street, the mechanics of what he needed to convey. Bienstock instigated additional dialogue recording that came late in the edit phase. We set Trump up in the soundproof boardroom set and fed him lines he would read into a microphone with Bienstock on the phone, directing from L.A. And suddenly Trump knows the names of every one of the contestants and says them while the camera cuts to each of their faces. Wow , you think, how does he remember everyone’s name? While on location, he could barely put a sentence together regarding how a task would work. Listen now, and he speaks directly to what needs to happen while the camera conveniently cuts away to the contestants, who are listening and nodding. He sounds articulate and concise through some editing sleight of hand.

Then comes the note from NBC about the fact that after Trump delivers the task assignment to the contestants, he disappears from the episode after the first act and doesn’t show up again until the next-to-last. That’s too long for the (high-priced) star of the show to be absent.

There is a convenient solution. At the top of the second act, right after the task has been assigned but right before the teams embark on their assignment, we insert a sequence with Trump, seated inside his gilded apartment, dispensing a carefully crafted bit of wisdom. He speaks to whatever the theme of each episode is—why someone gets fired or what would lead to a win. The net effect is not only that Trump appears once more in each episode but that he also now seems prophetic in how he just knows the way things will go right or wrong with each individual task. He comes off as all-seeing and all-knowing. We are led to believe that Donald Trump is a natural-born leader.

Through the editorial nudge we provide him, Trump prevails. So much so that NBC asks for more time in the boardroom to appear at the end of all the remaining episodes. (NBC declined to comment for this article.)

When it comes to the long con, the cherry on top is the prologue to the premiere. It’s a five-minute-long soliloquy delivered by Trump at the beginning of the first episode, the one titled “Meet the Billionaire.” Over a rousing score, it features Trump pulling out all the stops, calling New York “ my city” and confessing to crawling out from under “billions of dollars in debt.” There’s Trump in the back of limousines. Trump arriving before throngs of cheering crowds outside Trump Tower. Trump in his very own helicopter as it banks over midtown—the same helicopter with the Trump logo that, just like the airplane, is actually for sale to the highest bidder. The truth is, almost nothing was how we made it seem.

So, we scammed. We swindled. Nobody heard the racist and misogynistic comments or saw the alleged cheating, the bluffing, or his hair taking off in the wind. Those tapes, I’ve come to believe, will never be found.

No one lost their retirement fund or fell on hard times from watching The Apprentice . But Trump rose in stature to the point where he could finally eye a run for the White House, something he had intended to do all the way back in 1998. Along the way, he could now feed his appetite for defrauding the public with various shady practices.

In 2005 thousands of students enrolled in what was called Trump University, hoping to gain insight from the Donald and his “handpicked” professors. Each paid as much as $35,000 to listen to some huckster trade on Trump’s name. In a sworn affidavit, salesman Ronald Schnackenberg testified that Trump University was “fraudulent.” The scam swiftly went from online videoconferencing courses to live events held by high-pressure sales professionals whose only job was to persuade attendees to sign up for the course. The sales were for the course “tuition” and had nothing whatsoever to do with real estate investments. A class action suit was filed against Trump.

That same year, Trump was caught bragging to Access Hollywood co-host Billy Bush that he likes to grab married women “by the pussy,” adding, “When you’re a star, they let you do it.” He later tried to recruit porn actor Stormy Daniels for The Apprentice despite her profession and, according to Daniels, had sex with her right after his last son was born. (His alleged attempt to pay off Daniels is, of course, the subject of his recent trial.)

In October 2016—a month before the election—the Access Hollywood tapes were released and written off as “locker room banter.” Trump paid Daniels to keep silent about their alleged affair. He paid $25 million to settle the Trump University lawsuit and make it go away.

He went on to become the first elected president to possess neither public service nor military experience. And although he lost the popular vote, Trump beat out Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College, winning in the Rust Belt by just 80,000 votes.

Trump has been called the “reality TV president,” and not just because of The Apprentice . The Situation Room, where top advisers gathered, became a place for photo-ops, a bigger, better boardroom. Trump swaggered and cajoled, just as he had on the show. Whom would he listen to? Whom would he fire? Stay tuned. Trump even has his own spinoff, called the House of Representatives, where women hurl racist taunts and body-shame one another with impunity. The State of the Union is basically a cage fight. The demands of public office now include blowhard buffoonery.

I reached out to Apollo, the Vegas perceptions expert, to discuss all of this. He reminded me how if a person wants to manipulate the signal, they simply turn up the noise. “In a world that is so uncertain,” he said, “a confidence man comes along and fills in the blanks. The more confident they are, the more we’re inclined to go along with what they suggest.”

A reality TV show gave rise to an avaricious hustler, and a deal was made: Subvert the facts, look past the deficiencies, deceive where necessary, and prevail in the name of television ratings and good, clean fun.

Trump is making another run at the White House and is leading in certain polls. People I know enthusiastically support him and expect he’ll return to office. It’s not just hats, sneakers, a fragrance, or Bibles. Donald Trump is selling his vision of the world, and people are buying it.

Knowing all they know, how could these people still think he’s capable of being president of the United States?

Perhaps they watched our show and were conned by the pig in the poke.