Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
Schools Division Office of Bataan
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ABUCAY, BATAAN

DETAILED LESSON PLAN IN ENGLISH 9

IDENTIFYING FEATURES OF A PLAY SYNOPSIS

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Explain play synopsis,

2. Determine the features of a play synopsis, and
3. Analyze sample play synopsis

Teacher’s Activity Students’ Activity

Good Morning Class! Good morning ma’am.

Let us all stand up for our prayer. Students’ prayer

Is there any absent today? None ma’am.

Can you tell me, the title of this movie?

Harry Potter, ma’am.

That’s right. What is the movie all about? Wizard

Very Good!
Now I want you to read what is being posted on This is the tale of Harry Potter, an ordinary
the board. eleven-year-old boy serving as a sort of slave for
his aunt and uncle who learns that he is actually a
wizard and has been invited to attend the
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry is snatched away from his mundane
existence by Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper
for Hogwarts, and quickly thrown into a world
completely foreign to both him and the viewer.
Famous for an incident that happened at his
birth, Harry makes friends easily at his new
school. He soon finds, however, that the
wizarding world is far more dangerous for him
than he would have imagined, and he quickly
learns that not all wizards are ones to be trusted.

Thank you, class. What you read is a synopsis of

the movie Harry Potter.

So what is a play synopsis?

A PLAY SYNOPSIS is a brief summary that gives

audiences an idea of what a play is about. It
provides an overview of the storyline or main
points and other defining factors of the work,
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Address: Calaylayan, Abucay, Bataan 2114
Telephone: (047) 633 –29-35
Email Address: bcamachonhs300697@[Link]
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
Schools Division Office of Bataan
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ABUCAY, BATAAN

which may include style, genre, persons or

characters, and setting.

Let us complete the sentences below to come up

with the tips on how to write a five-paragraph
structure play synopsis. Choose your answers
from the word pool.

antagonist choices problems

challenges end protagonist

1. Who is the _________? Pick your main

character. say who, what, where and protagonist
when they are, and the problem that
disrupts their ordinary lives.

2. How do they first deal with

the_________? Take us as quickly as problems
possible to the midpoint of your story:
the big and cataclysmic event where the
main character attempts to deal with this
new threat to their ordinary lives.

3. How do their_________ end up making

things worse? Obviously, he mid-point choices
doesn't resolve the story or it would be
then end. why do things go wrong, what
new problem emerges, and how does
this escalate the stakes?

4. What new _________ do the characters

need to face?What is the climax of the challenges
story? Tell us about the final battle
against the antagonist, or the interrupted
wedding before they kiss in the rain.

5. How do things_________ and how are

they different from the start? end
Demonstrate the coherence of the story
by showing how the end links to the
beginning, so that when they read your
sample they can see the seeds of the
climax. how has your main character's
world changed since the first paragraph?

Excellent!
This time let us talk about the guidelines how to
write a good plot summary.
Please read. 1. The time and place should be indicated at
the beginning of the synopsis.
2. A brief description of the main characters
should be given as they appear in the
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Address: Calaylayan, Abucay, Bataan 2114
Telephone: (047) 633 –29-35
Email Address: bcamachonhs300697@[Link]
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
Schools Division Office of Bataan
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ABUCAY, BATAAN

story.
3. The synopsis should begin at the opening
of the story and told in the same order as
the play, and end at the play's
conclusion.
4. Dramatic scenes that propel the story
forward, including climatic scenes should
be described within the synopsis.
5. The synopsis must be no longer than 250
words long.
6. The story must be told in the present
tense and in the third person.
7. When telling the story, dialogue should
not be included. The story should be
related in an informal way.

Take a look at the sample plot summary written

by Susan Dannard.

STAR WARS

by Susan Dennard

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, a controlling

government called the Empire takes control of
planets, systems, and people. Anyone who
resists is obliterated. Luke Skywalker, a naïve
farm boy with a knack for robotics, dreams of
one day escaping his desert homeland. When
he buys two robots, he finds one has a
message on it – a message from a princess
begging for help. She has plans to defeat the
Empire, and she begs someone to deliver
these plans to a distant planet. Luke goes to
his friend and mentor, the loner Ben Kenobi,
for help. Ben tells Luke about a world where
the Empire rules and Rebels fight back, where
Jedi Knights wield a magic called the Force,
and how Luke must face Darth Vader – the
man who killed Luke’s father and now seeks
to destroy Luke too. Luke refuses, but when
he goes back to his farm, he finds his family
has been killed. He has no choice but to join
Ben. To escape the desert planet, Ben and
Luke hire a low-life pilot and the pilot’s hairy,
alien friend. Luke, Ben, Luke’s robots, the
pilot, and the hairy friend leave the planet and
fly to the Death Star, Darth Vader’s home and
the Empire’s main base. Once on board the
Death Star, Luke discovers the princess is
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Address: Calaylayan, Abucay, Bataan 2114
Telephone: (047) 633 –29-35
Email Address: bcamachonhs300697@[Link]
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
Schools Division Office of Bataan
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ABUCAY, BATAAN

being held as a hostage. He and the group set

out to find the princess, while Ben sets out to
find a way for them to escape the base. After
rescuing the princess, Luke and the group try
to escape. Ben sacrifices himself so they can
flee, and Darth Vader kills Ben. The group
flees the Death Star on their own ship. Luke is
devastated over Ben’s death, and he is more
determined to fight Darth Vader and help the
Rebels defeat the Empire. Luke joins the
Rebel army, and helps them plan an attack on
the Death Star’s only weakness. The Death
Star arrives in space near the Rebels, and the
attack begins. Luke joins the assault team of
fighter ships. The Rebels suffer heavy losses,
and soon Luke is one of the few remaining
pilots and ships. He takes his chance and
initiates the final attack. Guided by Ben’s
voice and the Force, he manages to fire the
single, critical shot to explode the Death Star.
With the Death Star destroyed and the Empire
severely damaged, the Rebels hold a grand
ceremony to honor Luke and his friends. The
princess awards them with medals for
heroism. Though Luke is still sad over the
loss of Ben and his family, he has found a
place among the Rebels, and with them, he
will continue to fight the Empire.
First sentence ma’am.
Long ago, in a galaxy far away, a controlling
government called the Empire takes control of
Can you tell me where is the 1st guidelines on planets, systems, and people.
this sample?

Second sentence ma’am.

Luke Skywalker, a naïve farm boy with a knack for
That is correct. How about the 2nd guidelines? robotics, dreams of one day escaping his desert
homeland.

Yes, ma’am.

Can you see the succeeding guidelines on the

sample? It is in the present tense, ma’am.

That’s right. It is arranged in the same order as

the play. How about the tenses of the verb?

Exactly!
Now that it is clear to you the feature of a
synopsis, Get ready to answer your assessment.
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Address: Calaylayan, Abucay, Bataan 2114
Telephone: (047) 633 –29-35
Email Address: bcamachonhs300697@[Link]
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
Schools Division Office of Bataan
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ABUCAY, BATAAN

EVALUATION

Determine whether each statement is correct or

not. Write TRUE if the statement is correct and
FALSE if not on the space provided.

_____1. Knowing the correct sequence of events

in a play is not necessary in writing a play
synopsis.
_____2. All plays, including those of Shakespeare,
have a plot and some kind of structure.
_____3. The plot of a play is the ‘story’ that the
play tells and the structure is the way that the
story is organized and put together.
_____4. In writing a play synopsis, you can make
a different ending not similar to its original plot.
_____5. In a play synopsis, plot and structure are
important because they make up the whole
‘storyline’ of the play.
_____6. The theme of a play must be clearly
stated if you will make a play synopsis.
_____7. Correcting your grammar and spelling is
not needed when writing a play synopsis.
_____8. Using flowery words to make your plot
synopsis longer is a good practice in writing play
synopsis.
_____9. The purpose of a synopsis is to give the
reader an idea of how everything fits together.
_____10. In writing a play synopsis, you should
demonstrate the coherence of the story by
showing how the end links to the beginning.

ASSIGNMENT

Direction: Considering the guidelines that we

discussed, write a play synopsis of a movie you
recently watched. Write it on a sheet of paper.

Prepared by:

MAIZZA R. VALERIO
Teacher-II

Checked by:

RENATO R. SALANDANAN, EdD

Head Teacher III- English

Noted

REYNALDO B. VISDA

BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Address: Calaylayan, Abucay, Bataan 2114
Telephone: (047) 633 –29-35
Email Address: bcamachonhs300697@[Link]
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
Schools Division Office of Bataan
BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ABUCAY, BATAAN

School Principal II

BONIFACIO CAMACHO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Address: Calaylayan, Abucay, Bataan 2114
Telephone: (047) 633 –29-35
Email Address: bcamachonhs300697@[Link]