analyse de document

Plot

The sequence of events in a story

Exposition

The opening section that introduces the characters, setting and context

Rising action

Events that build tension toward the climax

Climax

The turning point of highest tension or conflict

Falling action

Events that follow the climax and lead toward resolution

Dénouement

The final unraveling or resolution of the plot

In media res

Beginning a story in the middle of the action

Flashback

A scene that jumps back to an earlier time

Foreshadowing

Hints or clues about future events

Frame narrative

A story within a story

Subplot

A secondary storyline running alongside the main plot

Protagonist

The main character, who drives the story forward

Antagonist

The force or character opposing the protagonist

Foil

A character who contrasts with another to highlight their traits

Anti-hero

A protagonist lacking conventional heroic qualities

Dynamic character

A character who undergoes significant change

Anagnorisis

A character's sudden moment of recognition or revelation

Hamartia

A fatal flaw that leads to a character's downfall

Hubris

Excessive pride or arrogance, often leading to ruin

Narrator

The voice telling the story

First-person narrator

Narrated using "I" — intimate but potentially unreliable

Third-person limited

Narrator focuses on one character's perspective

Third-person omniscient

Narrator knows all characters' thoughts and feelings

Unreliable narrator

A narrator whose account cannot be fully trusted

Free indirect discourse

Blending of narrator's voice and character's inner thoughts

Stream of consciousness

A continuous flow of a character's unfiltered thoughts

Narrative distance

How emotionally or psychologically close the narrator is to events

Diction

The author's choice of words

Syntax

The arrangement and structure of sentences

Tone

The author's attitude toward the subject or audience

Voice

The distinctive personality and style of the narrator or author

Register

The level of formality in language

Connotation

The emotional or cultural associations of a word

Denotation

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word used in place of a harsh one

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unlike things

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things

Allegory

A narrative with a deeper symbolic or moral meaning

Symbol

An object, person, or place representing a larger idea

Motif

A recurring image, idea, or element that reinforces a theme

Allusion

A reference to another text, event, or cultural figure

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for effect

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement that reveals a deeper truth

Oxymoron

Two contradictory terms placed together (e.g. "living death")

Apostrophe

Addressing an absent person or abstract idea directly

Verbal irony

Saying the opposite of what is meant

Situational irony

Events turn out contrary to expectations

Dramatic irony

The audience knows something the character does not

Sarcasm

A sharp, often mocking form of verbal irony

Soliloquy

A speech where a character speaks their thoughts aloud, alone on stage

Aside

A remark spoken to the audience, unheard by other characters

Monologue

A long speech by one character

Dialogue

Conversation between two or more characters

Subtext

The underlying meaning beneath what is explicitly said

Catharsis

The emotional purging experienced by the audience

Tragic hero

A noble character brought down by a fatal flaw

Peripetia

A sudden reversal of fortune

Deus ex machina

An unlikely or forced resolution introduced at the last moment

Chorus

A group commenting on the action (common in Greek theatre)

Nemesis

The inescapable punishment or downfall of a character

Dramatic tension

The suspense and conflict that keeps the audience engaged

Theme

The central idea or message of a work

Moral

A practical lesson drawn from the story

Leitmotif

A recurring theme associated with a character or idea

Intertextuality

The relationship between a text and other texts it references

Ambiguity

When a text allows for multiple interpretations

Didactic

A work intended to teach a moral or lesson

Authorial intent

What the author supposedly meant to convey

Historicism

Interpreting a text through its historical context

Marxist criticism

Analyzing class, power, and economics in a text

Feminist criticism

Examining gender roles and power dynamics

Psychoanalytic criticism

Applying psychological theories to characters and authors

Post-colonial criticism

Exploring themes of empire, identity, and race

Deconstruction

Questioning the text's assumptions and internal contradictions

Tragedy

A play ending in the downfall or death of the protagonist

Comedy

A play ending happily, often with humor and reconciliation

Tragicomedy

A blend of tragic and comic elements

Farce

An exaggerated comedy based on absurd situations

Melodrama

A sensational drama appealing strongly to emotions

Absurdist drama

Theatre exploring the meaninglessness of human existence

History play

A drama based on historical events

Morality play

A medieval drama featuring allegorical characters representing virtues and vices

Iamb

unstressed + STRESSED

Trochee

STRESSED + unstressed, associated with the supernatural in Shakespeare

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds within words

Bathos

A comic technique involving an abrupt descent from the elevated to the trivial.

Epigram

A short, perfectly balanced paradoxical statement to surprise and amused

Mimesis

The imitation of reality in art, always involving a degree of exaggeration

Incongruity

The collision of two incompatible registers or tonal levels

Index sui

A text that draws attention to its own constructed nature

Moral dissolution

the collapse of ethical categories

Epistrophe

Repetition at the end of successive lines