English Project

IA: Term I: Individual Project

Std: VIII                                                                                                                          Subject: English
Total Marks: 10
Topic: Script writing

Summary: A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that
occur over several acts. The script of a one act play must consist of one scene. The
students are expected to write a script on the topics given below. They have the
liberty to give it the dimension they wish to.
Learning Outcome: Students will develop a character as part of a one act ensemble
play that showcases vocal characteristics and techniques, posture, and movement
to include the physical, social, and psychological dimensions of a character (living or
non-living).
Script Writing
A one-act play, as the name suggests, is a play that takes place, from beginning to
end, in a single act. If plays are the small siblings of movies, then a one act play is the
infant of the family. One act plays are short plays, but complete stories. They are
plays that take place in only one scene and are generally less than an hour long.
Instructions for writing a one act play:
1. Each speaker gets his or her own paragraph; a return and indent. This mimics
real conversation, indicating pauses and so forth.
2. Attributions (“He said, “She said” and variations) should be used, but not too
much, and varied so they’re not repetitious; they can be used at the start of
quotes, in the middle, or at the end. When attributions are overused, they get
in the way; the key is that the reader should always know who is speaking.
3. Always use a comma after attribution (She said,) when introducing a quote.

Example:
Tree: Well hi there! You’re pretty weird looking, why’s your trunk that funny pinkish
colour instead of brown? And why does it split into two at the bottom!?
Human: I’m a baby! I’m supposed to look like this. I don’t have a trunk, and these
are my legs. If you ask me, you’re the funny looking one. You have green hair!
Tree: These are my leaves, not hair. You’re pretty silly. What did you say you were
again?
Human: I’m a human baby, but not for long…check it out! I’m growing! It looks like
you’re growing too… but we’re not the same are we? I don’t have funny green hair
all over me…
Students to attempt Script writing on any of the following topics.

1. Write a script for a short play on ‘The life of Taj Mahal’. Characters:

Taj Mahal (You)
A tourist
A guide
A tree nearby
Theme: everyday you have thousands of visitors coming to see you but they don’t
seem to be so delighted to see you as they did years ago. You too are saddened
with your vanishing beauty and luster. One fine day, you see a tourist accompanied
with a guide. Describe the scene in the form of a script.

2. Write a script for a short play on ‘A conversation between inanimate objects in
your room’. 

Characters:

Ceiling fan (you)
Wind chime
A chair
A smelly sock
Theme: You had a tiring day at school. Your friend accompanies you to your house
and within a span of time, you fall asleep. There are soft whispers echoing in the
room. The things in your room have come to life. Can you write what are they
conversing about?

3. Write a script for a short play on ‘The conversation with a computer’.

Characters:
CBSE Std: VIII Month: July/Sept Topic: IA – Project: Script Writing
Computer’s monitor (you)
Mouse
Keyboard
A boy
Theme: A boy is struggling to complete a project on the computer. It is late at night
and the blanket of sleep wants to embrace the boy. Finally, he is done with his
project and clicks ‘SAVE’; but something totally unexpected happens. There was a
sudden flash of light and the computer froze. Build a conversation between the
characters listed.

Guidelines:  Make your character likeable by building realistic & detailed characterization.  Give your character compelling dialogues.  Think like an actor and give your character a point of view.  Brainstorm your topic.  Find a unique angle.  Use crisp, precise, and detailed language.  Consider good vocabulary.