Eng 260 Test 1 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Absurdism
Absurdism is a category of theatre that is intentionally bizarre illogical and ridiculous and its used as a commentary on how meaningless the human existence is
Authorship
The identity of the person who wrote the text
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance that has a light humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents in which at the end the characters triumph over adversary.
Historical Criticism
Historical criticism is viewing a text through the historical context in which it was writing including the authors life as well as the social and political state of the time it was written.
Affective Fallacy
Affective fallacy is the opposite of reader response criticism. Affective fallacy is a criticism that a text shouldn’t be judged by what the reader may think or feel but instead it should be criticized
Catharsis
A release from strong or repressed emotions. A tragic ending allows the readers to feel a sense of emotional release.
Decorum or Propriety
The appropriate behaviour for a character dependent on the setting they’re in.
Deus Ex Machina
“God from the machine” A person or thing that appears unexpectedly in a seemingly hopeless situation and saves the day.
Imitation (Mimesis)
Imitation is when the author imitates an earlier part of the text. This can be either seen though the style of text or as seen in Waiting for Godot, it can be done through imitation of the sequence of events.
Intentionality
The authors intention of writing the literary work.
Irony
Words to express the opposite of what they mean
Plot
The plot is a sequence of events that effect the next events.
Reader Response Criticism
Reader response criticism is a type of literary criticism that focuses on the reader and their thoughts and feelings while experiencing the text
Soliloquy
Characters in a play speaking their thoughts out loud alone regardless of any hearers
Stichomythia
Dialogue performed by two characters saying alternate lines
Stock Characters
A stock character is a character that represents a type and belongs to a certain genre
Tragedy
Type of dramatic performance where a serries of unfortunate events occur to the main character(s)
Tragicomedy
A dramatic work that incorporates both tragic and comedic elements. Waiting for Godot is a good example of this due to the fact that many unfortunate events befall the main characters but its told in a lighthearted way.
The Dramatic Unities
Unity of action a tragedy should have one principal action
unity of place a tragedy should exist in a single physical location
unity of time the tragedy should take place over no more than a 24 hour period.
