front 1 Act | back 1 a major division of a play |
front 2 Antagonist | back 2 a character or force in conflict with the main character |
front 3 Aside | back 3 a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage |
front 4 Blocking | back 4 the planning and working out of the movements of actors on stage |
front 5 Catharsis | back 5 a release of emotional tension |
front 6 Chorus | back 6 a group of characters in Greek tragedy who comment on the action of a play without participation in it |
front 7 Climax | back 7 most exciting moment of the story; turning point |
front 8 Comic Relief | back 8 comic episodes in a dramatic or literary work that offset more serious sections |
front 9 Denouement | back 9 an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot |
front 10 Deus Ex Machina | back 10 in literature, the use of an artificial device or gimmick to solve a problem |
front 11 Dialogue | back 11 conversation between characters |
front 12 Dynamic Character | back 12 a character that changes throughout the story |
front 13 Exodos | back 13 final scene |
front 14 Exposition | back 14 background information presented in a literary work |
front 15 Falling Action | back 15 events after the climax, leading to the resolution |
front 16 Flashback | back 16 a method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events |
front 17 Flat Character | back 17 a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story |
front 18 Foreshadowing | back 18 a warning or indication of a future event |
front 19 Foil | back 19 a character who acts as a contrast to another character |
front 20 Fourth Wall (breaking the fourth wall) | back 20 When a character speaks to the audience |
front 21 Hubris | back 21 excessive pride or self-confidence |
front 22 In Media Res | back 22 in or into the middle of a sequence of events as in a literary narrative |
front 23 Inciting Incident | back 23 event that introduces the central conflict |
front 24 Monologue | back 24 a long speech made by one performer or by one person in a group |
front 25 Protagonist | back 25 main character in a story |
front 26 Resolution | back 26 end of the story where loose ends are tied up |
front 27 Round Character | back 27 a character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work |
front 28 Scene | back 28 a division of an act into smaller parts |
front 29 Soliloquy | back 29 an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play |
front 30 Stage Direction | back 30 an instruction in the text of a play, especially one indicating the movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the sound effects and lighting |
front 31 Static Character | back 31 a character who does not change during the story |
front 32 Theater of the Absurd | back 32 plays stressing the irrational or illogical aspects of life, usually to show that modern life is pointless |
front 33 Tragic Flaw | back 33 a weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero |
front 34 Tragic Hero | back 34 a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy |
front 35 Unity of Time | back 35 the action in a play should take place over no more than 24 hours |
front 36 Utility of Place | back 36 the requirement that the play have a single setting |
front 37 Unity of Action | back 37 no subplots |