in literature, what is a definition of act?

Hwa Waterford: It is like a chapter in a book, then the scenes of Act 1 are subchapters. Acts only appear in plays, so an act would be a large section of a play denoted by the playwright

Nedra Oltz: Act and scene division.The division of a play into five acts in a classical convention which dramatist learned from Seneca .division into scene is structural whenever the stage has been left empty through characters leaving a new scene begins.

Pam Rampadarat: For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/rp9sSCertainly drama can be literature, though, perhaps, not -all- drama would be considered classic literature. Before novels, storytelling was considered an art form, and the oral tradition was recognized as such. Your classmate leaves out a major portion of important works from his/her definition of literature. Personally, I consider it absurd to leave out so many important works, simply because they were meant to be acted or were spoken before b! eing written down. If drama can't even be considered potential literature, what happens to Beowulf, the plays of the ancient Greeks, Shakespeare and many other plays and authors considered brilliant? I think your classmate's view of literature is too narrow. By the way: I love Invisigoth's answer about colleges running an excellent scam if your classmate is right....Show more

Marti Declue: Act Literary Definition