| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Aside | A comment made by a character, heard by the audience only |
| Characterization | Reveals the personality of a character |
| Climax | The highest point of dramatic tension, turning point |
| Conclusion | Resolution |
| Conflict | Struggle between opposing forces, moves the plot forward |
| Dramatic Irony | The audience knows more than the character |
| Exposition | Background information |
| Foreshadowing | Hints or clues to indicate upcoming events |
| Imagery | Appeals to the sense |
| Irony | Contrast between expectation and reality, opposite of what you expect to happen |
| Mood | Atmosphere or feeling |
| Paradox | Two opposing ideas which contradict eachother |
| Point of View | Point from which the story is told |
| Protagonist | Hero or central character |
| Resolution | Occurs after the climax |
| Setting | Time and place |
| Soliloquy | Comment made by an actor to himself reveals thoughts to audience |
| Style | The way a piece of literature is written |
| Symbol | Represents something |
| Theme | Central Idea or abstract concept |
| Tone | Expression of a writer's attitude toward a subject, reflects the writer's feelings |
| Archetype | Patterns or stereotypes |
| Alliteration | Words that begin with the same letter |
| Personification | Giving human qualities to something non-human |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration or overstatement |
| Assonance | Repetition of vowels |
| Oxymoron | Two contradictory words |
| Simile | Comparison with the words like or as |
| Metaphor | Comparison using the verb "to be" |
| Onomatopoeia | Imitates the sound it represents |
| Rising Action | Beginning actions |
| Exodus/Denoument | Moral commentary made by the chorus or author |
| Tragic flaw | Negative quality that brings a tragic hero to their downfall |
| Tragic Hero | Audience can sympathize with, character of noble birth, has tragic flaw, shows hubris |
| Catharsis | Great release of emotion |
| Hubris | Pride and arrogance against the gods |
| Falling action | Ending action of a play |
| Fatalism | Notion that a person's fate is predetermined |
| Juxtaposition | A theme or idea which is in parallel with an opposing theme or idea |
Combine with other sets
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