Seagull Reader notes xi-xxxii terms

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.