Prose & Drama Terms

a customary feature of literary work; the use of chorus in Greek tragedy, the explicit moral in a fable

leader in the chorus in drama

when a characters dialogue is spoken but not heard by the other actors on the stage

combination of tragedy and comedy

the greeks conception of core element of a tragedy

what actors are supposed to be doing on stage

speech intended to reveal emotions in a drama-not spoken to anyone in particular

a moment in the a plot or story where the main character recognizes their true nature (a change from ignorance to knowledge)

emotional cleansing, especially in tragedies

things are going well, then they are not

at the end, all the characters leave the stage

a word free from limitations or qualifications (best, all, unique, perfect)

a familiar proverb or wise saying

debate in a greek play

the deliberate repetition of the first part of a sentence to achieve an artistic effect

sudden drop in intensity, sometimes for comedic effect, sometimes because of an ineptitude

something out of place for the time

an event or series of events usually at the end of a narrative that contrast with the tension building up before it

a protagonist who is the very opposite of a traditional hero

the word to which the pronoun refers

direct contrast between two elements

orderly, light, bright, good

statement of personal or universal truth

a defensive explanation

a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work

structuring an analogy to make an argument

a character, ritual, myth, or symbol, or plot that recurs in the myth and literature of many cultures

the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence

highly stylized, ornamented

anti-establishment writers writing and popularized during the 1950s

coming of age story

the range of works that a consensus of scholars, teachers, and readers of a particular time and culture consider great or major

symmetrical idea-all for one and one for all