1. Key Terms Glossary Language Structure/Narrative Context/concept
Analogy - comparison between one thing and another, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
Catalyst – an element which enters a narrative which causes a reaction – usually an increase in conflict and tension.
Ambition - desire and determination to achieve success.
Emotive language - describes words and phrases meant to evoke an emotional response to a subject.
Dramatic irony – when the audience is aware of information that the character is not aware of.
Hierarchy – system where citizens are ranked according to relative status or authority.
Iambic Pentameter - a line of verse ten syllables in length each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.
Enigma – mystery and ambiguity developed for dramatic effect – withholding of information for the purposes of the narrative.
Historical context - refers to the moods, attitudes, and conditions that existed during a certain time.
Imperatives – command words (usually verbs).
Foreshadowing - a warning and indication of a future event.
Hubris – excessive pride which inevitably leads to one’s downfall.
Oxymoron - a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction – example: “fair is foul and foul is fair”
Irony - the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Loyalty - giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance.
Personification – human characteristics given to a nun-human form.
Motif – a repletion of a certain idea or symbol in a narrative
Machiavellian - cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics
Pun - a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.
Semantic Field - a lexical set of semantically related items, or simply, words and phrases with a similar meaning or context to the subject.
Patriarchy - a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.
Rhetorical question - a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.
Suspense - a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen
Regicide - the deliberate killing of a monarch
Soliloquy - an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself especially by a character in a play.
Tyranny - cruel and oppressive government or rule.