| A | B |
|---|
| Tragedy | A play in which the protagonist fails to acheive desired goals or is overcome opposing forces |
| Pathos | an element in drama that arouses feelings of pity and compassion in an audience |
| catharsis | the emotional release an audience feels after the downfall of a tragic character |
| comedy | a play that treats characters and situations in a humorous way and has a happy ending |
| farce | a kind of comedy characterized by clowning practical jokes and improbable characters and situations |
| aside | a line spoken directly to the audience |
| parody | a type of low comedy that mocks a certain work by imitating the author's style for comic effect |
| satire | a style of comedy that presents humorous attacks on accepted conventions of society, holding up human vices and follies to ridicule |
| fantasy | a play that deals with unrealistic and fantastic characters |
| romantic comedy | a play that presents an idealized love affair, written in the style of romanticism |
| sentimental comedy | eighteenth century genre that was a reaction to the immorality in restoration drama; presents life as ideal |
| melodrama | originally considered serious plays, now usually plays based on romantic plots that have little regard for convincing motivation or detailed characterization that have the primary goal of keeping an audience involved using any means |
| allegory | a form of storytelling that teaches moral concepts by using symbolic characters, events, or objects |
