English central vocabulary

tragic hero

a character who is neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but on the good side of middling, who falls from a position of good fortune to a position of misery, suffering or death as a direct result of his/her own hamartia

hamartia

a word of greek origin originally meaning to miss the mark or to err. it comes to mean a great or fatal flaw in the character of a tragic hero

soliloquy

an extended speech made while a character is alone or unheard on stage, representing inner thoughts of a character voiced aloud for the benefit of the audience

aside

a remark or passage in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by other characters in the play

dramatic irony

this is a literary or theatrical situation in which an audience knows something that the characters do not know, often used to increase a sense of tension or for comedic effect

the great chain of being

the belief in a set hierarchical structure of all matter and life, beginning from the top with god and the angels, and then moving to the monarch, nobles and all other humans, then to animals, plants and finally rocks and minerals on the bottom.

character type

a method of categorising characters based on the perception of conventions and/or commonalities

the outsider

a character who does not belong to a particular circle, community or group because s/he is in some way different. often this character gains insights from standing on the edge of belonging

antagonist

a character in a narrative who actively opposes the protagonist, often as a rival or enemy

narrative arc

a framework that gives chronological structure to a story, often by guiding the plot from an inciting incident, through rising tensions, a climatic moment, falling tensions and some form of clear resolution

author intentionality

the effect an author intends to be received from a text. this could be an emotion or a message about themes. often, we assume author intentionality based on our understanding of the author’s contexts and crafting

motif

a recurrent symbolic element in a text, such as a sound, action, word or event, used to enrich or embed ideas or themes

patriotism

having a deep devotion to and support of your own country

disillusionment

a feeling of deep disappointment resulting from learning that something or someone isn’t as good as you thought

compassion

having concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others and the desire to help them

satire

the use of humour, irony, exaggeration or ridicule to expose and criticise a person’s ignorance or vices, particularly in the context of politics or social issues