| A | B |
|---|
| drama | a prose or verse composition that is intended to be acted out |
| comedy | a dramatic work with a happy ending |
| tragedy | a work in which the main character, or tragic hero, came to an unhappy end |
| catharsis | a cleansing of emotions in the audience |
| hubris | excessive pride that leads the tragic hero to challenge the gods |
| characteristics of tragedy | the tragic hero, the plot, the theme |
| tragic flaw | a fatal error in judgment or weakness of character that leads directly to a downfall |
| conflict | a struggle between opposing forces that is the basis of a story's plot |
| catastrophe | a tragic resolution within the plot of a story or play |
| theme | an underlying message that a writer wants the reader to understand |
| comic relief | a light, mildly humorous scene preceding or following a serious one |
| dialogue | a conversation between two or more characters in either fiction or nonfiction |
| stage directions | written in italics and in parentheses to specify the setting and how the characters should behave and speak |
| acts and scenes | a play is divided into these items |
| setting | the time and place of a story or drama |
| soliloquy | a speech that a character makes while alone on stage to reveal his or her thoughts to the audience |
| aside | a remark that a character makes in a undertone to the audience or another character but that others on stage are not supposed to hear |
| external conflict | pits a character against nature, society, or another character |
| internal conflict | a conflict between opposing forces within a character |
| plot | the sequence of actions and events in a literary work |
| verbal irony | occurs when a character says one thing but means another |
| idiom | a common figure of speech whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of its words |
| tragic hero | possesses a defect, or tragic flaw, that brings about or contributes to his or her downfall |
| dramatic irony | happens when the audience knows something that the character does not |
| irony | a contrast between expectation and reality |
| sets | the constructions that set the scene for the drama |
| props | movable objects, like swords, or pens, that actors use on stage |
| theme | the insight into life that the drama reveals |
| dramatic effect | all the elements of drama combine in performance to produce the vivid allusion of reality |
| chorus | a group of performers who comment on the action |
| monologue | a long, uninterrupted speech delivered by a character to other characters who are on stage but remain silent |
| climax | the point of greatest tension, and is then resolved |
| script | the text of the play |
| playwright | the author of the play |
| characters | a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story |
