Dramatic Terms PDF

New Valley University Faculty of Arts Department of English Dramatic Terms Act: It is a major division of a play. Action: A play is a series of actions. Allegory: It is a story that describes one subject but uses another, a story in which a deeper meaning underlin...

New Valley University Faculty of Arts Department of English Dramatic Terms Act: It is a major division of a play. Action: A play is a series of actions. Allegory: It is a story that describes one subject but uses another, a story in which a deeper meaning underlines the literal meaning. Anagnorisis: It is a recognition or discovery, especially in tragedy – for example, when the hero understands the reason for his fall. Catharsis: It is Aristotle’s term for the purgation or purification of the pity and terror supposedly experienced while witnessing a tragedy. Chorus: It is a band of singers, dancers or actors who often comment on the events in a play. Climax: It is the culmination of a conflict; a turning point, often the point of greatest tension of a plot. Comedy: It is a type of drama that aims primarily to amuse and ends happily. Conflict: It is a struggle between a character and some obstacle or between internal forces, such as divided loyalties. Crisis: It is a high point in the conflict that leads to the turning point. Dr. Alaa E. Mustafa Khalifa El-Nekhely New Valley University Faculty of Arts Department of English Dénouement: It is the resolution or the outcome (literally, the “unknotting”) of a plot. Event: It is anything that happens in a play. When one event causes or permits another event, the two events together comprise an action. Exposition: It is a setting-forth of information. In drama and novel, exposition is an introductory material that introduces the characters and the situation. Gesture: It is a physical movement, especially in a play. Hamartia: It is a flaw in the tragic hero, or an error made by the tragic hero. Logic: It is the science of pure reasoning. Melodrama: It is a play with a sensational plot. It is marked by crude appeals to emotions. Mime: It is the use of movement of the body and facial expression to communicate meaning without words. Motivation: It is what a character wants. Obstacle: It is any hindrance that gets in the way of what a character wants. Dr. Alaa E. Mustafa Khalifa El-Nekhely New Valley University Faculty of Arts Department of English Personification: It is to symbolize an idea by using a human character. Plot: It is the episodes in a narrative or dramatic work – that is, what happens – or the particular arrangement (sequence) of these episodes. Protagonist: It is the chief actor in any literary work. The term is usually preferable to hero and heroine. Realism: It is a faithful representation of those things which exist in life. Restoration: It is the re-establishment of something in its original form. Satire: It is the use of ridicule, sarcasm or irony to explore folly. Scene: It is a unit of a play, in which the setting is unchanged and the time fixed. Secular: It is concerned with the affairs of the world rather than religion. Soliloquy: It is a speech in a play, in which a character alone on the stage speaks his or her thoughts aloud. Tragedy: It is a serious play showing the protagonist moving from good fortune to bad one. It ends in death or a deathlike state. It is a play with a fatal or disastrous conclusion. Tragicomedy: It is a mixture of tragedy and comedy, usually a play with Dr. Alaa E. Mustafa Khalifa El-Nekhely New Valley University Faculty of Arts Department of English serious happenings that expose the characters to the threat of death but that ends happily. Tragic Flaw: It is the defect in a tragic hero. It is the reason for his downfall. Dr. Alaa E. Mustafa Khalifa El-Nekhely