AP Literature Drama terms Flashcards

5412358122	Anagnorisis	the point in the plot especially of a tragedy at which the protagonist recognizes his or her or some other character's true identity or discovers the true nature of his or her own situation.	0
5412363575	Catharsis	the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.	1
5412367155	Deus ex machina	"god from the machine" an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel.	2
5412371279	Hamartia	a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine	3
5412373427	Chorus/Choragus	an ode or series of odes sung by a group of actors in ancient Greek drama. The group of actors that performed the chorus and served as major participants in, commentators on, or as a supplement to the main action of the drama.	4
5412381749	Peripeteia	a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to fictional narrative	5
5412384558	Protagonist	the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text	6
5412386616	antagonist	a character or force against which another character struggles.	7
5412388395	Foil	a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character with the objective to highlight the traits of the other character.	8
5412391588	Stock characters	a stock character is a stereotypical person whom audiences readily recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition	9
5412395287	Aside	a remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience buy unheard by the other characters in the play	10
5412398189	Soliloquy	an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play	11
5412400787	Shared lines	a technique in verse drama in which sequences of single alternating lines, or half-lines or two-line speeches are given to alternating characters.	12
5412404371	Feminine meter	a line of verse that ends with an unstressed syllable	13
5412406736	Masculine meter	rhymes that end with a heavy stress on the last syllable in each rhyming word	14
5412408052	Blank verse	poetry written in regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always iambic pentameters.	15
5412410425	Comedy	a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion	16
5412415638	Drama	a composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage	17
5412419057	Farce	a comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations	18
5412421891	melodrama	a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions	19
5412424739	play	a dramatic composition or piece; drama	20
5412425844	tragedy	a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character	21
5412428438	tragic flaw	a literary device that can be defined as a trait in a character leading to his downfall and the character is often the hero of the literary piece	22
5412431856	Dramatic irony	a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of character's word or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.	23
5412438922	situational irony	actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected	24
5412442354	verbal irony	a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses word to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning.	25
5412448932	Hubris	excessive pride or self-confidence	26