AP Literature Drama Terms Flashcards

8634342354	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
8634343811	Antagonist	the most prominent of the characters who oppose the protagonist or hero in a dramatic work. The antagonist is often a villain.	1
8634344424	Aside	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
8634348891	Catastrophe	The final resolution or denouncement of the plot in a tragedy, usually involving the death of the protagonist.	3
8634350269	Catharsis	The effect of purification achieved by tragic drama, according to Aristotle's argument in his poetics. Unhealthy emotional stimulant. Emotional cleansing.	4
8634353451	Character (sense 1)	Any of the persons involved in a story.	5
8634353970	Character (sense 2)	The distinguishing moral qualities and personal traits of character	6
8634355347	Flat character	Whose character is summed up in one or two traits	7
8634355896	Round character	Whose character is complex and many-sided	8
8634356521	Stock character	Whose character is stereotyped	9
8634357070	Dynamic character	Whose character is changed by the actions in which he or she is involved	10
8634357877	Static character	A character that remains unchanged or little changed throughout the course of the story	11
8634359549	Climax	A decisive point in the plot of a play or story, upon which the outcome of the remaining action depends, and which iltimately precipitates the catastrophe or denouncemnt.	12
8634361249	Comic releif	The interruption of a serious work, esp. a tragedy, by a short humorous episode that relieves emotional tension	13
8634362642	Conflict	A clash of actions, desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of the story.	14
8634362997	Crisis	A decisive point in the plot of a play, upon which the outcome of the remaining action depends	15
8634366106	Denouncement	The portion of a plot that reveals the final outcome of its conflicts or the solution of its mysteries	16
8634366700	Deus ex machina	The resolution of the plot by use of highly improbable chance, coincidence, or artificial device that solves some difficult problem or crisis.	17
8634368324	Epilogue	A concluding section of any written work during which the characters' subsequent fates are briefly outlined	18
8634372975	Exposition	The setting forth of a systematic explanation or or argument about any subject or the opening part of a play or story, in which we are introduced to the characters and their situation , often by reference to the preceding events.	19
8634393872	Falling action	The segment of the plot tha comes between the climax and the conclusion	20
8634394251	Foil	A character whose qualities or actions serve to emphasize those of the protagonist by providing a strong contrast with them	21
8634395062	Hamartia	the Greek word for error or failure, used by Aristotle to designate a false step that leads the protagonist in a tradegy to his or her downfall.	22
8634396864	Hero or Heroine	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.	23
8634398552	Anti-hero	When our expectations of heroic qualities are strikingly disappointed, the central character may be known as an.	24
8634400455	Hubris	The 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.	25
8634403455	In medias res	"in the middle of things"; the technique of beginning a story in the middle of the action.	26
8634406305	Monolouge	An extended speech uttered by one speaker, either to others or as if alone.	27
8634407089	Narrator	The teller of a story	28
8634407600	Plot	The careful arrangement by an author of incidents in a narrative to achieve a desired effect,	29
8634408049	Prolouge	An introductory section of a literary work or an introductory speech in a play.	30
8634410214	Protagonist	The central character in a story	31
8634410655	Rising action	The part of the 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.	32
8634413820	Scene	A subdivision of an act or of a play not divided into acts. A scene normally represents actions happening in one place or at one time, and is marked off from the next scene by a curtain, a black-out, or a brief emptying of the stage.	33
8634415453	Setting	The general locale, time in history, or social milieu in which the action of a literary owkr takes place.	34
8634416306	Soliloquy	A dramatic speech uttered by one character speaking aloud while along on stage, or while under the impression of being alone. Reveals character's inner thoughts and feelings to the audience, either in supposed self-communion, or in a consciously direct address,	35
8634417700	Soliloquist	Reveals his or her inner thoughts and feelings to the audience, either in supposed self-communion, or in a consciously direct address.	36
8634419656	Stage directions	the info provided in addition to the dialogue to help a reader visualize the setting, characters, and actions.	37
8634420146	Tragedy	A type of drama in which the protagonist, a person of unusual mora lor intellectual stature or outstanding abilities, suffers a fall in fortune due to some error of judgement or flaw in his or her nature.	38
8634422080	Tragic flaw	The defect of character that brings about the protagonist's downfall in a tradgy	39
8634422617	Turning point	the point in the plot where the protagonist's situation changed for the better or the worse, after this the action begins its movement toward a final resolution.	40
8634423884	Villan	The principal evil character in a play or story. The ____ is usually the antagonist opposed to the protagonist, but in some cases may be the protagonist himself/herself.	41