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| Spoken interaction between two or more characters. A characterization technique that can signal class, education, intelligence, ethnicity, and attitude in the characters involved. |
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| The artful arrangement of incidents in a story, with each incident building on the next in a series of causes and effects. |
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| The main figure (or principal actor) in a work of literature. A story's plot hinges equally on the protagonist's efforts to realize his or herdesires and to compe with failure if and when plans are thwarted and desires left unfulfilled. |
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| A character in conflict with the protagonist. A story's plot often hinges on a protagonist's conflict with an antagonist. |
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| The central problem in a story. The source of tension between the protagonist and antagonist. |
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| Latin for God from the machine; a literary device, often seen in drama, where a conflict is resolved by unforeseen and often far-fetched means. |
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| A monologue delivered by a character in a play who is alone onstage. Soliloquies generally have a character revealing his or her thoughts to the audience. |
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| In drama, a remark made by an actor to the audience, which the other characters do not hear. This convention is somtimes descernable in fiction writing when a self-conscious narrator breaks the flow of the narrative to make a remark directly to the reader. |
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| A tragic flaw or weakness in a tragic character that leads to his or her downfall. Hubris is a type of hamartia. |
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| Excessive arrogance or pride. In classical literature, the her's tragic flaw was often hubris, which caused the downfall in the tragedy. |
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| A character with a narrow range of speech or action. Flat characters are predictable and do not develop over the course of the plot. |
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| A situtaion in which an author or narrator lets the reader know more about a situation than a character does. |
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| An element of Greek tragedy, peripeteia occurs when an action has the opposite result of what was intended. In a tragedy, this generally occurs at a turning point for the hero and signals his downfall. |
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| Anagnorisis (Recognition) |
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| In tragedy, a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune. |
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| The purging of emotions which the audience experiences as a result of the powerful climax of a classical tragedy; the sense of relief and renewal experienced through art. |
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| A mode of literature in which the author depicts characters and scenarios that could occur in real life. Unlike fantasy or surrealism, realism seeks to represent the world as it is. |
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| A dramatic form in which characters face serious and important challenges that end in disastrous failure or defeat for the protagonist. |
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| A type of drama that deals with light or humorous subject matter and usually includes a happy ending. The opposite of tragedy. |
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| A literary work, mainly a stage play, movie, or television play or show in which characters display exaggerated emotions and the plot takes sensational turns, sometimes accompanied by music intended to lead the audience's feelings. |
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| A work of drama or literature that uses broad, often physical comedy, exaggerated characters, absurd situations, and improbable plot twists to evoke laughter without intending social criticism. |
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| An idea or stance on a particular subject; a defendable claim is necessary for a strong thesis. |
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| Drama that shines a light on the painful realities and problems of everyday life. |
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