Dramatic Literary Terms

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Dramatic Literary Terms

• Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer
  Nights Dream

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Comedy and Tragedy
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blank verse

• poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

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catastrophe

• the action of the end of a tragedy that initiates
  the dénouement or falling action

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catharsis

• the purging of the feelings of pity and fear
  that, according to Aristotle, occur in the
  audience of tragic drama

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character

• a character is a person or an animal who takes
  part in the action of a literary work (round
  many different traits flat only one trait)

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comedy

• a literary work, especially a play, that has a
  happy ending

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dramatic personae

• Latin for the characters or personas in a play

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dramatic monologue

• a poem or speech in which a fictional character
  addresses the listener

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foil

• a character who provides a contrast to another
  character (in RJ the fiery Tybalt is a foil for
  the good-natured Benvolio)

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iambic pentameter

• a common meter in poetry consisting of an
  unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each
  foot containing an unaccented syllable and an
  accented syllable (translation ten beats per
  line, stress on every other beat)

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pathos

• a quality of a plays actions that stimulates the
  audience to feel pity for a character (pathos is
  always an aspect of tragedy and sometimes an
  aspect of comedy)

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plot (elements in Shakespearean drama)

• the sequence of events in a literary work
  (exposition, exciting force, rising action,
  climax, falling action, catastrophe)

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sonnet

• a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in
  rhymed iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme
  scheme

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stage directions

• notes included in a drama to describe how the
  work is to be performed or staged

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in addition

• in addition to the terms within this PowerPoint,
  students are responsible for the Glossary of
  Terms handout and a review of last semesters
  literary devices (on wiki at itsmillertime.pbworks
  .com), especially antagonist, dialogue, and
  protagonist