CSS 1988 Solved Precis

• Nobility (noun): The group of people belonging to the highest social class in a country; the aristocracy
  • Contextual Explanation: Touring companies performed for 'townsfolk' rather than the nobility, suggesting their audience was common people rather than the high-ranking elite.
• Patrons (noun): A person who gives financial or other support to a person, organization, cause, or activity
  • Contextual Explanation: In theatre, patrons are audience members, particularly those who paid for admission.
• Imaginative (adjective): Having or showing creativity or inventiveness
  • Contextual Explanation: Imaginative poetic drama relied on the audience's imagination to create the setting instead of using physical props or scenery.

The passage explains the structure of Elizabethan theatrical stages, their origin in touring companies’ performances, and how this stage design enhanced imaginative poetic drama, creating a richer audience experience than modern theatre. Moreover, the author aims to describe the physical form of Elizabethan stages and show how their simplicity encouraged imagination, speed, and emotional intensity in poetic drama, surpassing modern theatrical experience.

Main Idea of the Passage

• Elizabethan stage design, derived from touring companies, fostered imaginative, fast-moving poetic drama that deeply engaged audiences.

Supporting Ideas Helping the Main Idea

• Touring companies performed in large inn yards where common people and elite audiences were accommodated differently.
• London theatres reproduced this arrangement with circular or oval designs and multi-level stages.
• These stages included side entrances, an inner curtained space, and an upper balcony.
• The absence of scenery enabled swift movement between locations.
• Playwrights relied on language and imagination rather than visual effects.
• The audience actively engaged imaginatively, creating intense theatrical experiences.
• Elizabethan drama achieved greater richness and intensity than modern drama.

Confused About Main and Supporting Ideas?

Kindly make sure to revise all five lectures on Precis Writing that I have already delivered. In these sessions, we discussed in detail:

• What a precis is and its purpose.
• What the main idea means and how to extract it effectively.
• What supporting ideas are and how to identify them.
• How to coordinate the main and supporting ideas while writing a concise, coherent precis.

Additionally, go through the 20 examples I shared in the WhatsApp groups. These examples highlight the Dos and Don’ts of Precis Writing, and revising them will help you avoid common mistakes and refine your technique.

Precis 1

Touring companies performed in inn yards, a practice that London theatres later adopted with multi-level stages. As a result, this design eliminated scenery changes, allowing swift shifts of place. Therefore, playwrights relied on language and imagination to engage audiences actively. Thus, Elizabethan poetic drama achieved a richness and intensity rarely matched by modern theatre.

• Original Words in the Passage: 188
• Precis Word Count: 54
• Title: Elizabethan Stage and Poetic Drama

Precis 2

Early theatres evolved from inn-yard performances into structured, multi-level stages. Without scenery, dramatists moved rapidly from scene to scene, relying solely on language. This demanded imaginative participation from audiences, creating poetic drama of incredible speed, richness, and emotional intensity beyond modern theatrical experience.

• Original Words in the Passage: 188
• Precis Word Count: 43
• Title: The Power of the Elizabethan Stage

Precis 3

Elizabethan theatres evolved from inn-yard stages into flexible platforms. Consequently, the lack of scenery enabled scenes' swift movement and reliance on poetic language. Thus, audiences actively engaged their imagination, creating dramatic experiences of vividness surpassing modern drama.

• Original Words in the Passage: 188
• Precis Word Count: 37
• Title: Simplicity and Imagination in Elizabethan Theatre

Precis 4

Elizabethan stages, derived from inn yards, used simplicity to promote speed and intense poetic drama to engage audiences' imagination beyond the modern theatrical experience.

• Original Words in the Passage: 188
• Precis Word Count: 24
• Title: Elizabethan Poetic Drama