tragedy where the main character(s) meets his unhappy end (most often death)
Tragedy • a work of literature that results in a catastrophe (normally death) for the main character
Stage Directions
• Instructions printed in italics used to describe sets, lighting, sound effects, and the appearance, personalities, and movements of characters perfoming a particular play (not meant to be spoken)
Dramatic Irony
• when the audience knows something that the characters don’t yet know
Dialogue
• a conversation between two or more characters
Monologue
• a speech by one character in a play to other characters
Aside • a short speech
that the audience is intended to hear but other actors on stage do not
Soliloquy
• a long speech expressing the thoughts/feelings of a character alone on stage
Character Foil • When a character
is used purposely as a contrast to another charcter
Exposition • the part of the
story that introduces the characters, the setting, and the basic situation (the prologue in R & J)
Prologue
• Like a short story’s exposition, this is the opening speech that introduces the play’s main characters, plot, and setting
Rising Action
• all events leading to the climax/turning point, which provide optimism and hope
Climax/Turning Point • a drama’s high
point of interest or suspense that causes the shift from rising action to falling action
Falling Action
• the downward spiral of events that follows the climax/turning point
Resolution • when the
conflicts unravel, a general insight or change occurs, and the story comes to an end
Frey tag’s Pyramid
• a method created by a critic that is used to examine Shakespeare’s tragedies