Drama 6– to 12

Test Format and Sample Questions

The Drama 6– to 12 subject area test consists of approximately 80 multiple-choice questions. You will have two and one-half hours to complete the test.

Each question will contain four response options, and you will indicate your answer by selecting A, B, C, or D.

The table below presents types of questions on the exam and directs you to examples of these formats among the sample items that follow.

Table of Question Formats

Type of Question	Sample Question
Direct Question Choose the response option that best answers the question.	Question 1
Sequence Review a list of elements and then select the response option that contains the correct sequence.	Question 10
Graphics Examine a drawing or a diagram and select the response option that best answers the question.	Question 11
Sentence Completion Select the response option that best completes the sentence.	Question 12
Scenario Examine a situation, problem, or case study. Then answer a question, make a diagnosis, or recommend a course of action by selecting the best response option.	Question 22
Command Select the best response option.	Question 30

Sample Questions

The following questions represent both the form and content of questions on the examination. These questions will acquaint you with the general format of the examination; however, these sample questions do not cover all of the competencies and skills that are tested and will only approximate the degree of examination difficulty.

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Competency 1—Knowledge of acting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Which element most contributes to the pitch of an actor's voice?

Choose an answer

1. the rate of inhalation and exhalation
2. the frequency of vocal cord vibrations
3. the shape created by the mouth
4. the up and down movement of the epiglottis

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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Competency 1—Knowledge of acting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

The primary goal of an actor's physical warm-up should be to

Choose an answer

1. release energy.
2. prepare the body for performance.
3. build strength.
4. connect character to the voice.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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Competency 1—Knowledge of acting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Actors who connect their characters' situations to important events in their own lives are practicing

Choose an answer

1. psychological gesture.
2. internal composition.
3. emotional memory.
4. inner monologue.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 1—Knowledge of acting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

If student actors find it difficult to "relax" physically during crowd scenes, the director should

Choose an answer

1. request that individual actors describe their characters' actions to the other actors.
2. place the actors at arm's length from one another to give them a feel for the space.
3. help the actors open up by encouraging them to improvise stage pictures and statues.
4. cut some of the actors from the scenes to provide more room for movement on stage.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 1—Knowledge of acting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A group of actors is performing in a classic American drama that was inspired by the playwright's own life. Which research method would provide the best insight into this play's characters?

Choose an answer

1. looking up the playwright in an online encyclopedia
2. learning about the social and economic conditions of the period
3. reading a biography of the playwright
4. studying other plays from the same period

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 1—Knowledge of acting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Which technique is used to increase the clarity of pantomime?

Choose an answer

1. accentuating the moments when movement stops and starts
2. making actions twice as large as they are in real life
3. concentrating movement into quick bursts
4. focusing the energy of actions toward the ground

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A.

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Competency 2—Knowledge of creative dramatics

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Which creative dramatics activity would be most effective for activating students' creative thinking skills?

Choose an answer

1. Students read a play aloud, with different students being assigned different roles.
2. Students move to music, focusing on moving particular body parts as the teacher calls them out.
3. Each member of a small group of students reads the same poem aloud, putting emphasis on different words.
4. Small groups of students receive several props and each group creates a scene using all of the props.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D.

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Competency 2—Knowledge of creative dramatics

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

In which creative dramatics activity do students typically create characters through games and improvisation, develop a script based on those characters, and perform the resulting play?

Choose an answer

1. children's theatre
2. playmaking
3. participation theatre
4. storytelling

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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Competency 3—Knowledge of theatre production and design

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A drop that is opaque when lit from the front and translucent or transparent when lit from the rear is called a

Choose an answer

1. cyclorama.
2. scrim.
3. tab.
4. portal.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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Competency 3—Knowledge of theatre production and design

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Which of the following best describes the sequence of flat painting?

1. base coat
2. sizing
3. texture
4. detail

Choose an answer

1. I, III, IV, II
2. IV, III, II, I
3. II, I, III, IV
4. I, III, II, IV

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 3—Knowledge of theatre production and design

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A ground plan symbol. The symbol is perfectly symmetrical and is approximately two and one-half inches wide. From each outside edge, there is a solid horizontal base line that is approximately three-quarters of an inch long. Attached below each of these solid base lines is a solid rectangle, approximately one-eighth inch high and one-quarter inch long, placed approximately three-eighths of an inch from the outer edge and running horizontally. A dotted line connects the two solid base lines. The solid base line on each side then takes a ninety-degree turn upward for approximately one-eighth of an inch. The solid line on each side then takes a thirty-degree turn toward the center and continues for approximately one-half an inch. The two sides are then connected by a solid horizontal line that is approximately three-quarters of an inch long. Approximately one-quarter of an inch from the outer edges of each solid base line, a dotted vertical line emerges, traveling downward for approximately one-quarter of an inch. These vertical dotted lines are then conn

This ground plan symbol represents a

Choose an answer

1. curtained area.
2. fireplace and mantel.
3. platform.
4. ramp.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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Competency 3—Knowledge of theatre production and design

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

An ellipsoidal reflector spotlight is most likely to require an iris when it is being used as a

Choose an answer

1. cyc light.
2. wash light.
3. follow spot.
4. beam projector.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 3—Knowledge of theatre production and design

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Which sound device allows the operator to listen to the incoming sound signal, adjust the volume and tone of that signal, and then send that signal out to the speakers?

Choose an answer

1. amplifier
2. monitor
3. mixer
4. cable snake

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 3—Knowledge of theatre production and design

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Which is typically a responsibility of a production's stage crew?

Choose an answer

1. organizing the prop table for performances
2. building and painting the sets
3. shifting the sets during performances
4. executing lighting and sound cues

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 4—Knowledge of dramatic literature and criticism

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A drama teacher would like to have his students work on an allegory.

Which of the following would be a good choice?

Choose an answer

1. Everyman
2. The Women
3. What Every Woman Knows
4. Man and Superman

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A.

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Competency 4—Knowledge of dramatic literature and criticism

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Uta Hagen's works are mostly concerned with

Choose an answer

1. the art of directing.
2. women's theatre.
3. the craft of acting.
4. collective theatre.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 4—Knowledge of dramatic literature and criticism

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Which Spanish playwright is renowned for writing a trilogy of plays focusing on strong female protagonists?

Choose an answer

1. Ramón del Valle-Inclán
2. Federico García Lorca
3. Alejandro Casona
4. Miguel de Unamuno

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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Competency 5—Knowledge of theatre history

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

The building which served as a dressing area and a background in a Greek theatre was called the

Choose an answer

1. dress house.
2. stage.
3. rotund.
4. skene.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D.

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Competency 5—Knowledge of theatre history

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Who was a Roman architect who wrote a highly influential technical manual on Greek and Roman theatre design?

Choose an answer

1. Aeschylus
2. Vitruvius
3. Sophocles
4. Plautus

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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Competency 5—Knowledge of theatre history

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

The Actors Studio, founded in 1947 by Robert Lewis, Elia Kazan, and Cheryl Crawford, emphasized the development of

Choose an answer

1. improvisation techniques.
2. biomechanics.
3. the alienation effect.
4. method acting.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D.

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Competency 5—Knowledge of theatre history

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Hair, Tommy, and Jesus Christ Superstar exemplify

Choose an answer

1. performance art.
2. the Golden Age of Broadway.
3. music spectacles.
4. the rock musical.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D.

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Competency 6—Knowledge of directing

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A drama teacher wants to find a play for the school's drama club to perform, but the budget is very limited. The teacher could avoid royalty fees by selecting a play that is

Choose an answer

1. no more than one act long.
2. at least 25 years old.
3. in the public domain.
4. performed rarely by school groups.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 6—Knowledge of directing

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A director can best help actors discover their characters' objectives by

Choose an answer

1. planning an early rehearsal in which the actors explore possible objectives based on the text.
2. giving each actor a list of objectives to use as a guide during the rehearsal process.
3. leading an improvisation during which the actors will develop their own personal objectives.
4. stopping the actors in rehearsal every time they begin to stray from the correct objectives.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A.

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Competency 6—Knowledge of directing

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

In making the transition from directing nonmusical plays to directing musicals, a director must be prepared to

Choose an answer

1. spend more time on character discovery and development during rehearsals.
2. rely more on technical effects to convey changing moods to the audience throughout the show.
3. plan stage composition and movement for larger groups of people.
4. incorporate more symbolic features into the show's visual environment.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 7—Knowledge of playwriting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A playwright is beginning research for a play set in Virginia during the American Revolution and wants to ensure that the dialogue is authentic to the historical period. Which of the following approaches is likely to be most effective for this purpose?

Choose an answer

1. reviewing numerous history textbooks that cover that period
2. visiting Virginia and listening to residents' speech patterns
3. interviewing historians who are experts in everyday life of that time
4. reading letters and journals written by people in that time and location

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D.

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Competency 7—Knowledge of playwriting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

In a play, the climax represents which of the following?

Choose an answer

1. the conclusion of the story line
2. the initial incident that captures the audience's attention
3. the turning point of the plot
4. the ongoing through line that links the scenes together

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C.

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Competency 7—Knowledge of playwriting

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

A stage play written by a 9^th-grade student includes an explosion. Because this is a stage play instead of a multimedia production, the drama teacher should suggest achieving this effect by

Choose an answer

1. using lighting techniques.
2. using available pyrotechnics.
3. enlisting the help of a chemistry teacher.
4. working with a trained explosives expert.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A.

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Competency 8—Knowledge of career opportunities

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

During high school, a student excelled in language arts, marketing, management, and psychology. As president of the drama club in her senior year, she demonstrated accuracy as the business manager and publicity director for the year's productions. Logical advice would guide her to investigate a theatre major in

Choose an answer

1. arts management.
2. drama therapy.
3. stage management.
4. publicity.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A.

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Competency 8—Knowledge of career opportunities

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

The Educational Theatre Association's major purpose is to

Choose an answer

1. promote theatre arts in secondary schools.
2. develop technical theatre programs.
3. support middle school theatre arts students.
4. locate grants for theatre arts students.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A.

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Competency 8—Knowledge of career opportunities

DIRECTIONS: Read the question and select the best response.

Identify the best publication for an aspiring playwright, composer, or lyricist to read.

Choose an answer

1. Stage Directions
2. The Dramatist
3. Variety
4. Back Stage

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B.

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