ENGL 2230 Drama exam

Affective Piety

highly emotional devotion to the humanity of Jesus, in birth and death, and the sorrows of virgin Mary

Allegorical reading

reading a text to look beyond the literal meaning and to find a hidden symbolic, moral, or spiritual meaning

Allusion

a reference to something or someone without explicitly mentioning it

anagnorsis

recognition, where the character moves from ignorance to knowledge

Apostrophe

a speaker directly addresses an absent person, abstract concept, or inanimate object as if it was capable of responding

Blank verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, features a consistent rhyme

catharsis

the process of releasing thoughts like desire and indulgence by expressing feelings and emotions

catastrophe

final resolution, often tragedy

enjambment

a sentence or phrase continued over a line break, intentional harsh interruption

epic simile

an extended detailed comparison spanning several lines, often in epic poetry to create imagery, intensify action, dramatic pause

epic past

a legendary distant era with heroic deeds, national origins, vast setting, mythical elements

epithet

an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of a person or thing

eschatological

relating to death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul

anagogical

spiritual interpretation, uncovers mythical, ultimate and eternal significance in text beyond its literal meaning

frame narrative

one story is told where an introductory story sets the stage for a smaller story or stories

hamartia

fatal flaw

heroic couplet

a pair of rhyming lines in iambic pentameter

hubris

excessive pride or self confidence

interiority

the quality of being inward or interior

invocation

calling upon a higher power or deity for guidance or assistance, often at the beginning of a ceremony or literary work

Irony (chaucerian)

sophisticated humor characterized by a playful, detached narrator highlighting differences between appearance and reality

kenning

a two word description of something to replace a noun

literal reading

foundational understanding that focuses exclusively on facts, details, and direct information

litotes

ironic understatement to emphasize a point often by negating the opposite of what is intended

local rhythm effects

localized strategic manipulations of stress, meter and cadence to mirror the thematic content mood or physical action

overt narrator

highly visible or audible narrator who frequently intrudes the story

covert narrator

an unnoticeable narrator that is hidden

Old English Alliterative Verse

Germanic poetic form used in works like Beowulf, characterized by unrhymed, stichic lines split into two half-lines (a-verse and b-verse) separated by a central pause or caesura

peripetia

a sudden, unexpected reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, particularly in a literary or dramatic work, marking a turning point from good to bad

poetic arc

the thematic, emotional, or narrative progression within a single poem or, more commonly, across a collection of poems

narrative arc

the chronological path and structural framework of a story, mapping the rise and fall of tension through5 key stages: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution

poetic justice

the fact of experiencing a fitting or deserved retribution for one's actions

personification

a literary device that attributes human qualities, emotions, or actions to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas to create vivid imagery, enhance emotional engagement, and make descriptions more relatable

spenserian stanza

a nine-line poetic form invented by Edmund Spenser for The Faerie Queene, featuring eight lines of iambic pentameter followed by one line of iambic hexameter (an Alexandrine)

story vs discourse

story is the content, discourse is the expression

tropological reading

a method of interpretation, often called the "moral sense"—that focuses on how a text applies to an individual's personal life, virtue, and moral actions

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

autobiography

an account of a person's life written by that person

beast fable

a short, didactic story, in prose or verse, featuring animals, plants, or inanimate objects that talk and act like humans to teach a moral lesson, often satirical in nature

burlesque

a genre of mocking, satirical writing that emerged in the 17th century, taking serious subjects—like epic poems or tragedies—and rewriting them with absurd, exaggerated, and comedic twist

courtesy book

historical didactic manual, originating in the 13th century, designed to teach etiquette, morality, and social behavior, often for courtiers

dream vision

a literary device and genre where a narrator recounts a dream or trance that reveals hidden truths, knowledge, or spiritual insights

epic

a long, formal narrative poem detailing heroic deeds, mythical adventures, and cultural legends, typically featuring an elevated style, divine intervention, and a vast setting

estates satire

a genre of writing that was particularly popular in the 14th-century Middle Ages, designed to critique the three main social classes—or "estates"—of feudal society: the Clergy (those who pray), the Nobility (those who fight), and the Peasantry/Commons (those who work)

fabliaux

a metrical tale, typically a bawdily humorous one, of a type found chiefly in early French poetry.

hagiography

the writing of the lives of saints.

It-narrative

18th-century stories told in the first person by inanimate objects or animals, tracing their travels between owners

Lai

Lai (often spelled "lay" in English) refers to a medieval lyrical or narrative poem, often dealing with tales of adventure

morality play

15th-16th century allegorical dramas where personified virtues and vices struggle for a human soul, teaching religious and ethical lessons

mystery play

popular medieval European vernacular dramas that dramatized biblical stories, ranging from Creation to the Last Judgment

mock epic

a form of satire that uses the grand, elevated style and elevated conventions of classical epics—such as grand battles, invocations to muses, and supernatural machinery—to treat mundane, trivial, or ridiculous subjects

pastoral

a work of literature portraying an idealized version of country life.

personification allegory

a literary and artistic device that gives human traits, emotions, or form to abstract concepts, inanimate objects, or natural phenomena to make complex ideas tangible and relatable

romance

a transformative artistic movement emphasizing emotion, individualism, and nature over Enlightenment rationalism and industrialization

tragedy

a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Old English

the earliest recorded stage of the English language, spoken from roughly 450 to 1150 AD

Middle English

a transitional phase between Old and Modern English

Modern English

the form of the English language spoken from approximately 1500 to the present

Scop

Old English bard or poet in Anglo-Saxon culture

Norman Conquest

the fight for king of england

Henry VIII

a brutal monarch, 6 wives, obsessed with having a male heir who later formed the church of England

Elizabeth I

Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor

James I

James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns

Tudor

a Welsh-English dynasty that ruled England from 1485 to 1603

Stuart

a royal house that ruled Scotland from 1371 and England, Ireland, and later Great Britain from 1603 to 1714

Performance Phenomenology

examines performance—theater, dance, and daily actions—as an embodied, lived experience, focusing on how performers and audiences perceive, sense, and make meaning in the present moment

Globe Theatre

an iconic 1599 London theatre on the Thames' south bank, famously associated with William Shakespeare and his company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, who built and operated it

the liberties

areas outside of the city where theatre flourished

Frankspeareshakenstein

a "mashed-up" or conflated edition of William Shakespeare's plays, specifically combining text from early Quarto and Folio versions

Folio

a large book size made by folding sheets once (four pages), or a page number in publishing

Quarto

a large book size made by folding sheets once (four pages), or a page number in publishing