Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing – Drama – Flashcards
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dramatist
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playwright
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closet drama
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play or dramatic poem designed to be read aloud rather than performed
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convention
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any established feature or technique in literature that is commonly understood by both authors and readers
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soliloquy
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a speech by a character alone onstage in which he or she utters his or her thoughts aloud
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theme
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generally recurring subject or idea conspicuously evident in a literary work
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plot
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particular arrangement of actions, events and situations that unfold in a narrative
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protagonist
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central character in a literary work
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exposition
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opening portion of a narrative or drama
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foreshadowing
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technique of arranging events and information in such a way that later events are prepared for, or shadowed, beforehand
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dramatic question
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primary unresolved issue in a drama as it unfolds
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double plot (subplot)
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second story or plotline that is complete and interesting in its own right
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climax
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moment of greatest intensity in a story, which almost inevitably occurs toward the end of the work
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resolution (conclusion or dénouement)
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final part of a narrative, the concluding action or actions that follow the climax
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suspense
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enjoyable anxiety created in the reader by the author's handling of the plot
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stage business
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nonverbal action that engages the attention of the audience
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rising action
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part of the play or narrative, including the exposition, in which events start moving toward a climax
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crisis
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point in a drama when the crucial action, decision or realization must be made, marking the turning point of the protagonist's fortunes
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falling action
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events in a narrative that follow the climax and bring the story to its conclusion
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unities
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three formal qualities recommended by Italian Renaissance literary to critics to unify a plot in order to give it a cohesive and complete integrity
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symbol
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person, place or thing in a narrative that suggests meanings beyond its literal sense
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conflict
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central struggle between two or more forces in a story
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tragic flaw
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fatal weakness or moral flaw in the protagonist that brings him or her to a bad end
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comedy
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literary work aimed at amusing an audience
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satiric comedy
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genre using derisive humor to ridicule human weakness and folly or attack political injustices and incompetence
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high comedy
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comic genre evoking so-called intellectual or thoughtful laughter from an audience that remains emotionally detached from the play's depictions of the folly, pretense and incongruity of human behavior
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epigram
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very short poem, often comic, usually ending with some sharp turn of wit or meaning
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comedy of manners
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realistic form of comic drama that deals with social relations and sexual intrigues of sophisticated, intelligent, upper-class men and women, whose verbal fencing and witty repartee produce the principal comic effects
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Restoration period
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In England, the period following the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660; reintroduced a strong secular and urbane element back into English literature
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low comedy
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comic style arousing laughter through jokes, slapstick humor, sight gags and boisterous clowning
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burlesque
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incongruous imitation of either the style or subject matter of a serious genre, humorous due to disparity of the treatment of the subject
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commedia dell'arte
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form of comic drama developed by guilds of professional Italian actors in the mid-sixteenth century
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slapstick comedy
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kind of farce, featuring pratfalls, pie throwing, fisticuffs and other violent actions
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romantic comedy
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form of comic drama in which the plot focuses on one or more pairs of young lovers who overcome difficulties to achieve a happy ending
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satyr play
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type of Greek comic play that was performed after the tragedies at the City Dionysia; structure was similar to a tragedy
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orchestra
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circular level performance space at the base of a horseshoe-shaped amphitheater where twelve, then later fifteen, young, masked, male chorus members sang and danced the odes interspersed between the dramatic episodes
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skene
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temporary wooden stage building in which actors changed masks and costumes when changing roles
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episode
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incident in a large narrative that has unity in itself
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éxodos
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last scene
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mask
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full facial masks made of leather, linen or light wood, with headdress; allowed male actors to embody the conventionalized characters of the tragic and comic stage
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cothurni
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high thick-soled boots worn by Greek and Roman tragic actors in late classical times to make them appear taller than ordinary men
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hamartia
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offense committed in ignorance of some material fact (without deliberate criminal intent) and therefore free of blameworthiness
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hubris
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overweening pride, outrageous behavior or the insolence that leads to ruin
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purgation (katharsis)
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purification; refers to the feeling of emotional release or calm the spectator feels at the end of a tragedy
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recognition
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the moment when ignorance gives way to knowledge, illusion to disillusion
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reversal (peripeteia)
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reversal of fortune
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realism
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attempt to reproduce faithfully the surface appearance of life, especially that of ordinary people in everyday situations
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picture-frame stage
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held the action within a proscenium arch; only one seat (royal patron or sponsor) enjoyed complete perspectivist illusion
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proscenium arch
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architectural picture frame or gateway that separated the auditorium from the raised stage and the world of the play
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box set
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three walls joined in two corners and a ceiling that tilted as if in perspective
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naturalism
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type of fiction or drama in which the characters are presented as products or victims of environment and heredity
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Symbolist movement
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international literary movement that originated with nineteenth-century French poets; avoided direct statement and exposition in an attempt to achieve a resemblance of music
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expressionism
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dramatic style developed between 1910 and 1924 in Germany; used episodic plots, distorted lines and exaggerated shapes to draw an audience into a dreamlike subjective realm
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arena theater (theater in the round)
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modern, nontraditional performance space in which the audience surrounds the stage on four sides
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flexible theater
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modern, nontraditional performance space in which actor-audience relationships can be flexibly configured, with movable seating platforms
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antihero
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protagonist who is lacking in one or more of the conventional qualities attributed to a hero
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comic relief
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appearance of a comic situation, character or clownish humor in the midst of a serious action
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theater of the absurd
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post World War II European genre depicting the grotesquely comic plight of human beings thrown by accident into an irrational and meaningless world
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feminist theater
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plays which explore the lives, problems and occasional triumphs of contemporary women
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new naturalism
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term describing some American plays of the 1970s and 1980s frankly showing the internal and external forces that shape the lives of unhappy, alienated, dehumanized and often impoverished characters
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tragicomedy
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play that stirs not only pity and fear but also laughter
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párados
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song for the entrance of the chorus
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