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| 4816217557 | Act | a major division in the action of the play, comprising one or more *scenes. A break between acts often coincides with a point at which the plot jumps ahead in time. |  | 0 |
| 4816221913 | Antagonist | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the most prominent of the characters who oppose the protagonist or hero(ine) in a dramatic or narrative work. The antagonist is often a villain seeking to frustrate a heroine or hero; but in those works in which the protagonist is represented as evil, the antagonist will often be a virtuous or sympathetic character, as Macduff is in Macbeth. |  | 1 |
| 4816237781 | Aside | (applicable to both plays and fiction) a short speech or remark spoken by a character in a drama, directed either to the audience or to another character, which by convention is supposed to be inaudible to the other characters on stage. |  | 2 |
| 4816245386 | Catastrophe | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the final resolution or denouement of the plot in a tragedy, usually involving the death of the protagonist |  | 3 |
| 4816251947 | Catharsis | the effect of purgation or purification achieved by tragic drama, according to Aristotle's argument in his Poetics (4th century BC). Aristotle wrote that a tragedy should succeed "in arousing pity and fear in such a way as to accomplish a catharsis of such emotions". There has been much dispute about his meaning, but Aristotle seems to be rejecting Plato's hostile view of poetry as an unhealthy emotional stimulant. His metaphor of emotional cleansing has been read as a solution to the puzzle of audiences' pleasure or relief in witnessing the disturbing events enacted in tragedies. Another interpretation is that it is the protagonist's guilt that is purged, rather than the audience's feeling of terror. | 4 | |
| 4902491756 | Character | (applicable to both plays and fiction) any of the persons involved in a story (sense 1). (2) The distinguishing moral qualities and personal traits of a character (sense 2). |  | 5 |
| 4902515694 | Flat Character | a character (1) whose character (2) is summed up in one or two traits. |  | 6 |
| 4902515695 | Round Character | a character !1) whose character (2) is complex and many-sided. |  | 7 |
| 4902518402 | Stock Character | A stereotyped character: one whose nature is familiar to us from prototypes in previous fiction. |  | 8 |
| 4902520277 | Dynamic Character | a character that is changed by the actions in which he or she is involved. |  | 9 |
| 4902523331 | Static Character | a character that remains unchanged or little changed throughout the course of the story. |  | 10 |
| 4902594290 | Comic Releif | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the interruption of a serious work, especially a tragedy, by a short humorous episode that relieves emotional tension. |  | 11 |
| 4902608576 | Conflict | (applicable to both plays and fiction) a clash of actions, desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of a story. Conflict may exist between the main character and some other person or persons (man vs. man), between the main character and some external force-physical nature, society, or "fate" (man vs. nature), or between the main character and some destructive element in his own nature (man vs. himself). |  | 12 |
| 4902639192 | Crisis | (applicable to both plays and fiction) a decisive point in the plot of a play or story, upon which the outcome of the remaining action depends, and which ultimately precipitates the catastrophe or denouement. |  | 13 |
| 4902670113 | Denouement | (applicable to both plays and fiction) portion of a plot that reveals the final outcome of its conflicts or the solution of its mysteries. |  | 14 |
| 4902671751 | Deus Ex Machina | (applicable to both plays and fiction) ("god from the machine"). The resolution of a plot by use of a highly improbable chance, coincidence or artificial device that solves some difficult problem or crisis. |  | 15 |
| 4902674022 | Epilogue | (applicable to both plays and fiction) concluding section of any written work during which the characters' subsequent fates are briefly outlined. |  | 16 |
| 4902674023 | Foil | (applicable to both plays and fiction) a character whose qualities or actions serve to emphasize those of the protagonist (or of some other character) by providing a strong contrast with them. |  | 17 |
| 4902675914 | Hamartia | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the Greek word for error or failure, used by Aristotle in his Poetics (4th Century BC) to designate the false step that leads the protagonist in a tragedy to his or her downfall. The term should not be confused with 'tragic flaw' which is a defect in character. Hamartia is the action that the character takes. |  | 18 |
| 4902678280 | Hero or Heroine | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the main character in a narrative or dramatic work. The term protagonist is preferable since the leading character may not be morally or otherwise superior. When our expectations of heroic qualities are strikingly disappointed, the central character may be known as an anti-hero or anti-heroine. |  | 19 |
| 4902680427 | Hubris | (applicable to both plays and fiction) Greek word for 'insolence' or 'affront', applied to the arrogance or pride of the protagonist in a tragedy in which he or she defies moral laws or the prohibitions of the gods. The protagonist's transgression or hamartia leads eventually to his or her downfall, which may be understood as divine retribution. In proverbial terms, hubris is thus the pride that comes before a fall. |  | 20 |
| 4902680428 | In Media Res | "in the middle of things"; the technique of beginning a story in the middle of the action. |  | 21 |
| 4902682284 | Monologue | an extended speech uttered by one speaker, either to others or as if alone. |  | 22 |
| 4902682285 | Narrator | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the teller of a story a. Reliable narrator- trustworthy b. Unreliable narrator- untrustworthy c. Naive narrator- is uncomprehending (child, simple-minded adult) who narrates the story without realizing its true implications. d. Intrusive narrator- keeps interrupting the narrative to address the reader. |  | 23 |
| 4902687127 | Plot | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the careful arrangement by an author of incidents in a narrative to achieve a desired effect. |  | 24 |
| 4902687128 | Prologue | (applicable to both plays and fiction) an introductory section of a literary work or an introductory speech in a play. |  | 25 |
| 4902689512 | Protagonist | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the central character in a story. |  | 26 |
| 4902689513 | Rising Action | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the part of a plot that leads through a series of events of increasing interest and power to the climax or turning point. The rising action begins with an inciting moment, an action or event that sets a conflict of opposing forces into motion, and moves through complication(s), an entangling of the affairs of the characters in a conflict, toward the climax, the major crisis that brings about a change in the fortunes of the protagonist. |  | 27 |
| 4902689555 | Scene | a subdivision of an act or of a play not divided into acts. A scene normally represents actions happening in one place at a time, and is marked off from the next scene by a curtain, a black-out, or a brief emptying of the stage. |  | 28 |
| 4902691718 | Setting | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the general locale, time in history, or social milieu in which the action of a literary work takes place. |  | 29 |
| 4902691719 | Soliloquy | a dramatic speech uttered by one character speaking aloud while on stage, or while under the impression of being alone. The soliloquist thus reveals his or her inner thoughts and feelings to the audience, either in supposed self-communion or in a consciously direct address. |  | 30 |
| 4902695628 | Stage Directions | the information provided in addition to the dialogue to help a reader visualize the setting, characters, and action. Usually in italics, are intended for the director, actors, etc. |  | 31 |
| 4902695629 | Tragedy | (applicable to both plays and fiction) a type of drama in which the protagonist, a person of unusual moral or intellectual stature or outstanding abilities, suffers a fall in fortune due to some error of judgement or flaw in his or her nature. |  | 32 |
| 4902697408 | Tragic Flaw | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the defect of character that brings about the protagonist's downfall in a tragedy. | | 33 |
| 4902697409 | Turning Point | the point in the plot where the protagonist's situation changes for the better or the worse; after this the action begins its movement toward a final resolution. |  | 34 |
| 4902701967 | Villain | (applicable to both plays and fiction) the principal evil character in a play or story. The villain is usually the antagonist opposed to the protagonist, but in some cases may be the protagonist himself/herself. |  | 35 |
