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32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Protagonist |
The main character in a play |
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Expostition |
The information put before an audience that gives the where, when, why, and who facts of fa play |
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Atmosphere |
The environment of the play created by staging and lighting |
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Mood |
The emotional feeling of a play |
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Preliminary situation |
A clearly defined explanation of the events in the lives of the leading characters before the start of a play's action |
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Plot |
The series of related events that take place in a play |
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Antagonist |
The person or the force working against the protagonist in a play |
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Denouement |
An element of plot that refers to the untangling and resolution of comlications |
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Soliloquy |
A speech delivered by an actor alone onstage that reveals the characters innermost thoughts |
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Theme |
The basic idea of a play |
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Moral |
The lesson or the principle contained within or taught by a play |
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Dialogue |
The lines of a play spoken by characters |
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Action |
That which happens onstage to hold the audience's attention |
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Situation |
A problem or challenge a character or characters must face |
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A play's four narrative essentials |
Exposition, plot, characters, theme |
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The two ways the four narrative essentials are communicated |
Dialogue and action |
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The wa;y the playwright arranges and presents the four narrative essentials is the__________ of the play |
Structure |
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Who first attempted to identify the basic principles of playwriting? In what text? |
Aristotle:Poetics |
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Aristotle stresses that drama is an________ of life, that we learn through _____________, and that ________ something is the greatest pleasure in _________ |
imitation; imitation; learning;life |
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What did Aristotle identify as the most important element of the play |
Plot |
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Aristotles six key elements of a play |
Spectacle, sound, diction, character, reasoning, plot |
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What must a play have to have unity? |
a beginning, middle, and end |
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What four questions (4 w's) does the exposition usually address |
Where, when, why, who |
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The exposition establishes what |
atmosphere and mood |
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What is the most important part of the exposition |
Preliminary situation |
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What are some various devices playwrights use to handle the exposition of the preliminary situation? |
Have minor characters bring the audience up to date, prologues, telephone conversations, narrators, Ingenious scenic effects |
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The first important event that develops the plot and leaves the audience wondering |
Initial Incident |
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Events after the initial incident, where all the main characters and their obstacles are revealed |
Rising action |
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Turning point of the action, determines the outcome of the conflict |
Climax |
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Events that follow the climax, shorter that rising action and incidents are significant |
Falling action |
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Success or failure, happiness or sorrow of the characters |
Conclusion |
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A playwright must continually ask what four questions to define a characters motivation and personality |
What does the character need/want Who or what stands in the way of the characters needs/wants What conditions affect the characters thoughts, words, and actions Why does this character say or do certain things |
