English Midterm Study Guide

The word tragedy comes from

Tragos (Goat) and Ode (song)

Tradgedy

An imitation of an action which has serious consequences; it is complete (no cliffhangers) and of a certain magnitude (Importance); it is acted not narrated

Catharsis

A purging of emotion in the audience by arousing pity and fear

Tragic flaw

A character trait that leads to his or her downfall

Hubris

Excessive pride/arrogance

Tragic error

A mistake in action or judgement, not necessarily a flawed character

Characteristic of a Tragic hero

1. The hero is a mighty figure or someone who is better than us in some way
2. The hero has a tragic flaw or makes a tragic error
3. The hero suffers a reversal of fortunes
4. The hero endures uncommon suffering
5. the hero recognizes ( and may even take responsibility for) the consequences of his actions
6. The hero’s plight ennobles or enlarges us

Hamartia

A mistake, error, failure, fault, or sin. Hero attempts to do the right thing in a situation where the right things cannot be done

Peripeteia

Occurs when a character tries to accomplish one thing but brings about the exact opposite

Anagnorisis

occurs when a character comes to recognize and/or understand the error he/she has made

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows more than the character

Oedipus complex

a sexual desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and a related sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex.

Nostalgic

characterized by or exhibiting feelings of nostalgia

Passive

accepting or allowing what happens or what others do, without active response or resistance.

Volatile

(of a person) liable to display rapid changes of emotion.

sensible

(of a statement or course of action) chosen in accordance with wisdom or __prudence__; likely to be of benefit.

conceited

excessively proud of oneself; vain.

observant

quick to notice things.

corruption

dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.

discretion

the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.

initiate

A process or action to begin

illusion

a deceptive appearance or impression.

kinsman

(in anthropological or formal use) a man who is one of a person's blood relations.

motif

a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition. (a concept or idea)

inhumanity

extremely cruel and brutal behavior.

Comitatus

A group of loyal warriors

Heroic ideal

being courageous and successful in war

Ring giver

He (the king) must share the spoils of war to his thanes

Wergild

money paid to a dead person’s relatives by the murderer. this was done to ward off long quarrels or “blood feuds” between families

mead

alcoholic beverage

Scop

Anglo-Saxon poet/minstral; would recite the poems in performances

Gleeman

A harpist who would accompany the scop

Types of poetry

1. Heroic
2. Elegiac

Heroic poetry

recounting the achievements of warriors

Elegiac poetry

Laments the loss of loved ones and the loss of the past

Alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Alliterative Verse

Form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme

Accentual verse

Metrical system based only on the number of stresses or accented syllables in a line of verse

Caesura

A break in the middle of the line of poetry; the scop would pause here to catch his breath and it helped remembering the long poems

Kenning

poetic phrase used for the usual name of a person or thing (Ex: “Wave traveler” for a boat)

conflict

struggle between 2 opposing forces

Types of conflict

1. Internal conflict
2. External conflict

Internal Conflict

* A struggle within the character
* happens in the character’s mind
* Character vs. Self

External Conflict

* Takes place outside the body; it’s between the character and outside forces
* 3 types of external conflict


1. Character vs. Character
2. Character vs. Nature
3. Character vs. Society