| Antagonist | Blocks main character |
| Aside | Private words heard by the audience |
| Blank Verse | Verse consisting of unrhymed lines, usually of iambic pentameter. |
| Character | Individual in a story |
| Climax | Turning point in a story |
| Comic Relief | Amusing scene, incident, or speech introduced into serious or tragic elements, as in a play, in order to provide temporary relief from tension, or to intensify the dramatic action. |
| Complication | Starts rising action of plot |
| Context | Gives meaning to actions/behavior |
| Contrast | Show opposite of something |
| Dumb Show | A part of a play without speaking |
| External Conflict | A struggle between the protagonist and some outside force |
| Irony | A technique of indication, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated. |
| Metaphor | Figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance |
| Meter | The measured arangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line |
| Mood | Feeling at a particular time in a literary work |
| Paradox | A Contradiction |
| Parody | A humorous or satifical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing |
| Pentameter | A line of five metrical feet |
| Protagonist | Leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work |
| Resolution | How the plot is unraveled |
| Rising Action | Action that leads to turning point |
| Soliloquy | An utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any fearers present |
| Suspense | A state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement |
| Symbol | A material object representing something, often something immaterial |
| Theme | Central idea of a story |
| Tragedy | Play/novel that depicts serious events, hero becomes unhappy in the end |
| Tragic Hero | A literary character who makes an error of judgement or has a fatal flaw combined with fate and external forces |
| Turning Point | Turning point in a story (Same as Climax) |
| Allusion | A passing or casual reference |
| Catharsis | The purging of the emotions that the audence experiences |
| Personification | The attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions |
| Couplet | A pair of successive lines of verse, especially a pair that rhyme |
| Tragic Flaw | The character defect that causes the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy |
| Foil | To keep a person from succeeding in an plan |
| Nemesis | An opponent or rival whom a person cannot defeat |
| Plot | Storyline, the plan, scheme, or main strory of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel or short story |