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Act
a major unit of action in a play, similar to a chapter in a book
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Allegory
- a narrative work or drama in which people, objects, and events stanf for abstract qualities. (ex. Dr. Heidegger's Experiment)
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Antagonist
in a work with an external conflict, the person or force that the protaganist must face
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Protagonist
the main character or heroin in a literary work
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Aphorism
a brief statement, usually one sentence long, that expresses a genreal principle about life
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Characterization
the personality of a character and the techniques used to reveal it
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Characterization Methods
- direct: narrator's own direct comments
- indirect: physical description, character's own actions, words, thought, and feelings towards other characters
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Character
people, and sometimes animals/creatures, who take part in the action ofa story or novel
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Flat Character
reveals one or two personality traits
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Round Character
shows a variety of traits often complex or contradictory
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Static Character
remains primarily throughout a work
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Dynamic Character
changes during the course of a work because of influence from characters
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Dialect
the distinct form of a language as it is spoken in one geographical are or by a particular social or ethnic group
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Epic
serious, formal style
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Foil
NOUN! a character whose traits contrast with those of another character
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Foreshadowing
a writer's use of hints/clues to indicate events that will occur later in a story; often creates suspense
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Irony
the awareness--- by author, character, or reader---of a contrast or an incongruity between appearances and reality
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Verbal Irony
words that appear to mean one thing but really mean the opposite
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Dramatic Irony
what appears true to a character is not what the audience or reader knows to be true
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Situational Irony
what appears likely to happen is not what actually happens
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Pathetic Irony (Pathetic Fallacy)
literary convention whereby natural phenomena which cannot feel as humans do are described as if they could in sympathy with mood of the speaker, character, or situation
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Plot
the sequence of events in a drama or narrative event
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Exposition
background info that introduces the characters, settings, and situations
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Narrative Hook
the point at which the conflict begins
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Rising Action
leads to the climax
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Climax
point of highest dramatic tension
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Falling Action
presents the results of the climax
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Satire
a literary technique that exposes to ridicule the vices of follies of people or societies. May be gentle, witty, mildly abrasive, or bitterly critical.
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Setting
the time and place in which the action occurs
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Stage Directions
instructions for the director, performer, and stage crew, usually in italics
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Suspense
a feeling of curiosity, uncertainty, or dread about what's going to happen next
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Theme
the main idea--- usually general statement against life--- expressadore implied by a literary work
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