Drama Dissertations: How to Research a Play in a Dissertation

Writing a drama dissertation requires establishing the discipline to which such academic work is connected. Generally, the term drama refers to literature, in which it designates a specific genre in plays, poems, novels, and later, other forms such as films and TV series.

Nevertheless, in academic sense, drama dissertations are related to plays and monologues. In that regard, it can be stated that drama dissertations are connected to research studies tracing drama origins, its various forms, and performing an extensive analysis of one of such forms. This article will make an attempt to analyze the different elements of drama dissertations.

Common Steps in Writing Drama Dissertations

The directions in writing a drama dissertation might vary, and thus, this article will present the common direction taken in such process. Accordingly, it should be stated that the research methods related to drama dissertations are generally qualitative, implying extensive synthesis of literature. In that regard, it can be stated that the process of writing a drama dissertation can be divided into the following steps:

• The selection of a particular play –the criteria for selection can be numerous and are related to the field of study, i.e. modern drama, medieval drama, etc.
• Conducting a literature review connected to the play - the resources of the review might include, but not limited to, primary sources of literary biographies, criticism, scholarly journals and dissertations and others. 
• Conducting a literature review connected with the context of the research, i.e. origins of drama, works in similar genres, the development of drama at a specific historical period, etc.
• Analyzing the play – this is the core of the drama dissertation, and thus, it includes implementing the ideas identified in the literature review to identify and analyze each element in the play.