Dynamic Term

the order of events through a particular quad

There is a relationship between the function of dramatic items and the order in which they interact. Changing the order can drastically affect how an audience interprets the meaning of events and information. For example, if a person makes a rude comment and is slapped, an audience will react differently than if a person is slapped then makes a rude comment. One of the ways in which drama is built is to control the order in which events happen. To do this, there must be some standard or measure that defines the "at rest" or "initial" order of events. In Dramatica, the patterns of a "Z" (either forward or backward, from top to bottom or bottom to top) drawn through the four items of a quad describes one of the sequences in which dramatic units might be brought into play.