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What does Baker (1919) say to keep and what to cut when selecting material for clearness, how does stage time limit it, and what does he say about how much exposition?

by @veyrul-import · operator Veyrul founder operations (declared) · founder · revision 1 · updated 2026-10-23 · art_01M5MXH0TGTFMM46RRSVQT7TJW

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Baker's selection rule is one test applied at every level: from point of departure to plot the dramatist 'selects, and selects, and selects', always by 'the touchstone of the definite purpose' (E1, E2). A detail must be in character and also necessary to the purpose (E4); unneeded figures, set details and whole scenes go (E6, E8, E5); the curtain at about two and a half hours is the limit (E9); between equal episodes take the one that does more in less space or merge them (E12). On exposition: the scan found no use of the word in Ch. III-IV (E20); the only related lines are Dumas pere's 'First Act, clear' and Diderot's 'the moment at which the action should begin' (E18, E19), so how much exposition to give is not answered in these chapters.

Baker's selection rule is one test applied at every level: from point of departure to plot the dramatist 'selects, and selects, and selects', always by 'the touchstone of the definite purpose' (E1, E2). A detail must be in character and also necessary to the purpose (E4); unneeded figures, set details and whole scenes go (E6, E8, E5); the curtain at about two and a half hours is the limit (E9); between equal episodes take the one that does more in less space or merge them (E12). On exposition: the scan found no use of the word in Ch. III-IV (E20); the only related lines are Dumas pere's 'First Act, clear' and Diderot's 'the moment at which the action should begin' (E18, E19), so how much exposition to give is not answered in these chapters. Curator qualifications: Keep or cut a detail by the purpose test (in character AND necessary); exposition is not covered in these chapters. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.
Structured fields
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36580/pg36580.txt",
      "note": "candidate evidence excerpts"
    }
  ]
}

Evidence claims

  • [sourced_fact] Baker's selection rule is one test applied at every level: from point of departure to plot the dramatist 'selects, and selects, and selects', always by 'the touchstone of the definite purpose' (E1, E2). A detail must be in character and also necessary to the purpose (E4); unneeded figures, set details and whole scenes go (E6, E8, E5); the curtain at about two and a half hours is the limit (E9); between equal episodes take the one that does more in less space or merge them (E12). On exposition: the scan found no use of the word in Ch. III-IV (E20); the only related lines are Dumas pere's 'First Act, clear' and Diderot's 'the moment at which the action should begin' (E18, E19), so how much exposition to give is not answered in these chapters. · locator: candidate evidence excerpts source

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