2. ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

3. DRAMA  A story written to be performed by actors in front of an audience.

4. TRAGEDY  A play in which a main character, called the tragic hero, suffers a downfall.

5. PLAY  A story that is told through the use of dialogue.

6. ACT  A major division of a play.  Books have chapters  Plays have Acts

7. SCENE  A part of an act in a play.  Takes place in a specific setting and time.

8. STAGE DIRECTIONS  Written instructions for actors  Explain: 1. How characters should look, speak, move, and behave.

9. PROLOGUE  The introduction of an act.  Tells what is going to happen in the play.

10. Dialogue  Characters speaking to each other.  Reveals characteristics by showing what they are thinking and feeling as they react to other characters.

11. Monologue  A long speech delivered by one character.

12. COMIC RELIEF  A short, funny episode that interrupts a serious moment.  Breaks the tension after an intense scene.

13. FOIL  A character who provides a strong contrast to another character.  Helps to emphasize another character’s traits or make a character look better by comparison.  EX:  SMART VS DUMB  HAPPY VS ANGRY

14. ASIDE  A comment made by a character that is heard by the audience only (stage whisper)

15. Function of Asides  Asides are frequently used to: 1) Provide information to the audience 2) Reveal the private thoughts of characters.

16. SOLILOQUY  A long speech delivered by a character who is alone onstage.  A soliloquy typically reveals the private thoughts and emotions of the character.

17. MOOD  The emotions the reader feels when reading/watching a piece of work.  Excited, scared, regretful, etc.

18. BLANK VERSE  Verse written in unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter, a rhythm pattern with 5 units, or feet, each of which has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

19. TRAGIC FLAW  A weakness within the character of a tragic hero that causes the hero to suffer a downfall.

20. EXTERNAL CONFLICT  A character struggles against some outside force  Character vs. Character, nature, society, or fate.

21. INTERNAL CONFLICT  Exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action.

22. FORESHADOWING  Clues that hint at events that will occur later in the plot.  Builds suspense  Prepares readers for what is to come.

23. METAPHOR  Compares two or more things not using like or as.

24. SIMILE  Comparing two things using like or as.

25. PERSONIFICATION  A figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human qualities or characteristics.

26. OXYMORON  A combination of seemingly contradictory words.  Ex: “O loving hate!...O heavy lightness! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! Still-waking sleep…This love feel I, that feel no love in this.” R & J

27. FARCE  A type of comedy that provokes laughter by placing characters in ridiculous situations to quickly resolve a conflict.

28. INVERSION  Reversal of the usual word order in a prose sentence or line of poetry, for emphasis or variety.

29. SITUATIONAL IRONY  Exists when the actual outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is expected.

30. DRAMATIC IRONY  Exists when the reader knows something that a character does not know.

31. PROPS  Theater slang for articles or objects used in a play or movie. (properties)

32. PUN  A humorous play on two or more meanings of the same word or on two different words with the same sound.

33. Function of the Scene Design  The scene allows the author of the play to create a sense of Setting (time and place).

34. THEME  The main idea or message of a literary work. Theme is not the subject of the work but instead is an insight about life or human nature.