English - Tragedy vocab

Vocabulary for English A SL

Imagery

Imagery

The use of emotionally charged words and phrases which conjure up vivid mental pictures in the imagination

Soliloquy

A monologue spoken by a character who is alone on the stage. It reveals his/her inner thoughts and motives, and so discloses what the character is really like

Blank Verse

Unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter

Tragic Flaw

A fatal flaw in the hero's character

Scene

A part of an act in a play

Personification

Treating something as a human being; giving things human feelings and attributes

Stage

Platform or area in a theatre on which the plays are performed to an audience

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds

Antithesis

The placing together of opposing words or ideas in order to show a contrast

Metaphor

A comparison that suggests two dissimilar things are actually the same

Alliteration

The repetition of consonants, usually at the beginning of words

Dramatic Irony

Difference between the situation as known to the audience and as supposed by the characters of the play, or some of them

Rhyming Couplet

Two lines of verse of equal length that rhyme one after the other

Euphemism

The use of mild indirect words instead of more accurate and direct words, i.e., "pass away" instead of "die."

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as."

Iambic Pentameter

A ten-syllable line of verse with five stresses:

di dum, di dum, di dum, di dum, di dum

Dialogue

Verbal exchange between two or more characters on the stage.

Iamb

A metrical unit of two syllables, the first unstressed, the second stressed

Run-on Lines

Verse in which the sense runs from one line to the next; lines which are not end-stopped

Aside

A brief remark by a character, usually to the audience, unheard by other characters

Hamartia

/həˈmɑːtɪə/

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

Catharsis

/kəˈθɑːsɪs/

the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions

Anagnorisis

/ˌanəɡˈnɒrɪsɪs/

the point in a play, novel, etc., in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character's true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances

Peripeteia

/ˌpɛrɪpɪˈtʌɪə/

a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to fictional narrative

Phobos

/ˈfəʊ.bi.ə/

Fear and panic

Eleos

/Ἔλεος/

Pity