Act

a major division of a play

Antagonist

a character or force in conflict with the main character

Aside

a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage

Blocking

the planning and working out of the movements of actors on stage

Catharsis

a release of emotional tension

Chorus

a group of characters in Greek tragedy who comment on the action of a play without participation in it

Climax

most exciting moment of the story; turning point

Comic Relief

comic episodes in a dramatic or literary work that offset more serious sections

Denouement

an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot

Deus Ex Machina

in literature, the use of an artificial device or gimmick to solve a problem

Dialogue

conversation between characters

Dynamic Character

a character that changes throughout the story

Exodos

final scene

Exposition

background information presented in a literary work

Falling Action

events after the climax, leading to the resolution

Flashback

a method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events

Flat Character

a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story

Foreshadowing

a warning or indication of a future event

Foil

a character who acts as a contrast to another character

Fourth Wall (breaking the fourth wall)

When a character speaks to the audience

Hubris

excessive pride or self-confidence

In Media Res

in or into the middle of a sequence of events as in a literary narrative

Inciting Incident

event that introduces the central conflict

Monologue

a long speech made by one performer or by one person in a group

Protagonist

main character in a story

Resolution

end of the story where loose ends are tied up

Round Character

a character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work

Scene

a division of an act into smaller parts

Soliloquy

an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play

Stage Direction

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

Static Character

a character who does not change during the story

Theater of the Absurd

plays stressing the irrational or illogical aspects of life, usually to show that modern life is pointless

Tragic Flaw

a weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero

Tragic Hero

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

Unity of Time

the action in a play should take place over no more than 24 hours

Utility of Place

the requirement that the play have a single setting

Unity of Action

no subplots