DRAMA TERMS

Drama

• a story written to be performed by

actors

Comedy

•a play that has a happy ending

Catastrophe • the point in a

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