210285445 | Dramatic conventions | devices, phrases, or actions that have, over time, become so common that their meaning is immediately apparent. | |
210285446 | Chorus | in ancient Greek theater, a group of singers and dancers who participate in or comment on the action. | |
210285447 | Cultural context | specific time and place of a play | |
210285448 | Plot | sequence of things that happen in a play. | |
210285449 | Equilibrium | beginning of play, stable and often (though not necessarily) more or less pleasant | |
210285450 | Conflict | introduced into this state of equilibrium by some event (the complication) | |
210285451 | Rising Action | conflict grows in a sequence of events | |
210285452 | Climax | the peak of the conflict, ending the conflict | |
210285453 | Falling Action | sequence of consequences brought about by climactic event | |
210285454 | Resolution | a concluding situation that rests in another state of equilibrium, though the condition of the characters is probably different than it was at the story's beginning | |
210285455 | In media res | "in the midst of things" | |
210285456 | Exposition | background information in the opening scene to give viewers an understanding of the early stages of the plot. | |
210285457 | Character | person on the stage, a personage being acted for the audience. | |
210285458 | Well-made play | exploited the crowed-pleasing elements of plot, like surprise revelations and dramatic climaxes-while purposely neglecting to develop memorable characters. | |
210285459 | Genre | westerns, crime films horror movies, etc. (different types of movies) | |
210285460 | Sympathetic characters | characters with whom the author wants you to wish well and feel sorry for when they suffer | |
210285461 | Unsympathetic characters | characters with whom you are not meant to sympathize. | |
210285462 | Protagonist | character that the play focuses on | |
210285463 | Antagonist | character who protagonist struggles against | |
210285464 | Dynamic Character | any character who changes through the course of the play | |
210285465 | Static Character | a character who does not change. | |
210285466 | Stock character | character intended to only perform a particular function | |
210285467 | Spectacle | Aristotle's term for what the audience sees- the play as a physical reality. | |
210285468 | Set and props | material aspects of the play | |
210285469 | Symbol | a thing that represents something else, either an object, set of object, idea, or set of ideas. | |
210285470 | Universal symbol | a symbol with broad applicability | |
210285471 | Conventional symbol | symbol with a meaning agreed upon by a particular group of people. | |
210285472 | Literary symbol | thing that represents something else only within a particular work of literature. | |
210285473 | Tragedy | play that begins with protagonist in state of prosperity, has a conflict between protagonist and some larger force, and ends tragically. | |
210285474 | Reversal | hero's original prosperity turns to poverty | |
210285475 | Recognition | falling action of tragedy typically reveals that protagonist has gained some self-understanding | |
210285476 | Tragic hero | protagonist in a tragedy who possesses a tragic flaw that leads to the downfall of that character. The tragic flaw is usually hubris- overweening pride | |
210285477 | Pity | first of tragic emotions that audience feels while watching protagonist go from prosperity to poverty | |
210285478 | Terror | second of tragic emotions that audience feels | |
210285479 | Comedy | makes viewers happy; protagonists go from poverty to prosperity, ex: romantic comedies | |
210285480 | Orchestra | circular floor in which the chorus danced and sang its odes. |
Seagull Reader notes xi-xxxii terms
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