R&J Drama
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26 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Tragedy | a type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the worse. In tragedy, catastrophe and suffering await many of the characters, esp. the hero. Ex: Othello, Hamlet |
| Comedy | a type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the better. In comedy, things work out happily in the end. Comic drama may be either romantic characterized by a tone of tolerance and geniality or satire. Satire works offer a darker vision of human nature, one that ridicules human folly. |
| Farce | a light dramatic work in which highly improbable situation, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect. It is the situation here which provides the humor, not the cleverness of plot or lines, nor the absurdities of the character, as in situational comedy. |
| Melodrama | a drama, such as a play, film, or television program, characterized by exaggerated emotions, stereotypical characters, and interpersonal conflicts. |
| Romantic Fiction | An extended fictional prose narrative about improbable events involving characters that are quite different form ordinary people. Ex: Knights on a quest for a magic sword and aided by characters like fairies and trolls |
| Satire | a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. A literary mode based on criticism of people and society through ridicule. |
| Plot | the unified structure of incidents in a literary work |
| Theme | the idea of a literary work abstracted from its details of language, character, action, and cast in the form of a generalization |
| Setting | the time and place of a literary work that establish its context |
| Conflict | a struggle between opposing forces in a story or play, usually resolved by the end of the work. The conflict may occur within a character as well as between characters. |
| Characterization | the means by which writers present and reveal character. Although techniques of characterization are complex, writers typically reveal characters through their speech, dress, manner, and actions. |
| Protagonist | the main character of a literary work |
| Dynamic Character | changing; character who during the course of a story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of character or outlook |
| Round Character | a character whose personality is complex and many sided |
| Antagonist | a character or force against which another character struggles |
| Static Character | unchanging; a character who is the same sort of person at the end of the story as the beginning |
| Flat Character | a character whose personality is summed up in one or two traits |
| Tragic Hero | a privileged, exalted character of high repute, who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate, suffers a fall from glory into suffering |
| Foil Character | a character who contrasts and parallels the main character in a play or story |
| Stock Character | a stereotyped character: one whose nature is familiar to us from prototypes in previous literature |
| Tone | the implied attitude of a writer toward the subject and characters of a work |
| Aside | words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play |
| Soliloquy | a speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage. If there are no other characters present, the soliloquy represents the character thinking aloud. |
| Dialogue | the conversation of characters in a literary work. In fiction, dialogue is typically enclosed within quotation marks. In plays, characters' speech is preceded by their names. |
| Climax | the turing point of the action in the plot of a play or story. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work. |
| Denouement | the resolution of the plot of a literary work |
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