1. Lit Terms
Drama Unit

2. plot: The particular arrangement of actions, event, and situations that unfold in a narrative. conventions: Customary methods of presenting action; usual and recognizable devices that an audience is willing to accept soliloquy: In a drama, a speech by a character alone on stage in which he or she utters his or her thoughts aloud. aside: A speech that a character addresses directly to the audience, unheard by the other characters on stage. Play: A work of storytelling in which actors represent the characters. conflict: The central struggle between two or more forces. Theme: A generally recurring subject or idea conspicuously evident in a literary work.

3. subplot : A second story or plot line that is complete and interesting in its own right, often doubling or inverting the main plot; A secondary arrangement of incidents involving the less important characters
protagonist : The main or central character in a narrative.
exposition :The opening portion of a narrative or drama in which the scene is set, the protagonist is introduced, and the author discloses any other background information necessary for the audience to understand the events that are to follow.
foreshadowing : The technique of arranging events and information in such a way that later events are prepared for beforehand, whether through specific words, images, or actions.
dramatic question : The primary unresolved issue in a drama as it unfolds.
climax : The moment of greatest intensity; a moment late in the play when tension reaches its greatest height; often a decisive confrontation between protagonist and antagonist.

4. resolution: A final part of a narrative, the concluding action or actions that follow the climax.
suspense: Enjoyable anxiety created in the reader by the author’s handling of a plot.
stage business: Nonverbal action that engages the attention of an audience.
unities: Unity of time, place and action, the three formal qualities recommended by Renaissance critics to give a theatrical plot cohesion and integrity.
Tragic flaw: A fatal weakness or moral flaw in the protagonist that brings him or her to a bad end.
Epigram: Brief, witty statement that memorably expresses some truth, large or small

5. Realism : An attempt to reproduce faithfully the surface appearance of life, especially meanings – one general, the other historical.
Naturalism : A type of fiction or drama in which the characters are presented as products or victims of environment and heredity.
Symbolism : [this will not be on exam]
Expressionism : A dramatic style developed between 1910 and 1924 in Germany in reaction against realism’s focus on surface details and external reality;
Crisis : A point when a crucial action, decision, or realization must be made, often marking a turning point or reversal of the protagonist’s fortunes.

6. Comedy: Whatever makes us laugh; in this type of drama, obstacles are faced, but overturned at the last moment to produce happiness
Types of comedies
Romantic Comedy: The main characters are lovers and its plot unfolds their ultimately successful strivings to be united
High Comedy: This type of drama relies on wit and word play. It points out the pretension and hypocrisy in human behavior.
Comedy of Manners: A type of high comedy; A witty satire set in an elite or fashionable society
Satiric Comedy: Human weakness or folly is ridiculed from the vantage point of supposedly enlightened superiority; it tends to be critical of people, their manners, and their morals.
Low Comedy: This type of drama uses physical action and visual gags as well as derisive humor like drunkenness, stupidity, and trickery. It satirizes human failings.
Three Types of Low Comedy:
Burlesque: A broadly humorous parody or travesty of another play
Farce: A broadly humorous play whose action is usually fast-moving and improbable
Slapstick: A kind of farce featuring violent action