Untitled Deck Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is drama?
A narrative that is meant to be performed by actors in front of an audience. The plot and characters are developed through dialogue and action.
What is tragedy?
A drama that presents the downfall of a dignified character or characters who are involved in historically or socially significant events. A tragedy ends in catastrophe – usually death – for the main character(s).
What is an act?
A larger division of a dramatic text that indicates a shift in location or the passage of time.
What is a scene?
A smaller division of a dramatic text that indicates a shift in location or the passage of time.
What is dramatic irony?
A device in which the audience or reader knows more about the events of the plot than the characters.
For example, in ‘On the Sidewalk Bleeding’ the reader knows that Andy will die before he realizes it himself.
What is verbal irony?
When a speaker says the opposite of what they mean.
What is situational irony?
What happens is the opposite of what is expected.
Examples include a fire station on fire or a grandma being tech-savvy.
What is comic relief?
A humorous scene, incident or speech that relieves the overall emotional intensity. By providing contrast, comic relief serves to heighten the seriousness of the main action while helping audiences to absorb earlier events in the plot and get ready for the ones to come.
What is dialogue?
A conversation between characters (the characters make short remarks to each other, rather than giving long speeches).
What is a soliloquy?
A long speech in which a character, alone on stage, presents his or her innermost thoughts to the audience.
What is a monologue?
A long speech by a character on stage, which is made to other characters.
What is an aside?
A brief remark spoken by a character that is not intended to be heard by all other characters on stage (you can think of this as a ‘side comment’).
What is an allusion?
A reference to a well-known literary work, person, or event (such as a reference to the Bible or a Greek god like Apollo or Poseidon). Shakespeare frequently makes references to mythology in his plays.
What is verse?
Lines arranged in metrical patterns; rhythm.
What is blank verse?
Verse that is unrhymed.
What is a couplet?
Two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter back-to-back.
What is a character foil?
A character who sheds light on another more important character by clearly implied comparison or contrast.
For example, ‘Fiery Tybalt’ is a foil to the peacemaker Benvolio.
What is a paradox?
An apparently contradictory statement that actually reveals some truth.
What is an oxymoron?
A concise paradox that brings together two contradictory terms.
What is iambic pentameter?
Has 10 syllables per line. It is a way of writing poetry.
