AP Lit Terms Drama, Prose Forms, and Characterization

Aside

Words spoken in a play in an undertone or to the audience, with the implication that other characters onstage cannot hear them. An aside may take place between two characters

Comedy

play which, in general, is a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters. Typically involves love affairs and mistaken identities.

Chorus

The chorus in Classical Greek drama was a group of actors who described and commented upon the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation. Greek tragedy had its beginnings in choral performances, in which a group of 50 men danced and sang dithyrambs—lyric hymns in praise of the god Dionysus. The chorus has been adapted is typically reduced to a single character

Dramatic Irony

When the audience understands the implication and meaning of a situation on stage, but the characters do not

Farce

Drama designed to provoke mirth of the simplest and most basic kind: roars of laughter rather than smiles. Associated with burlesque (though distinct), clowning buffoonery, slapstick.

Melodrama

A dramatic work characterized by extravagant theatricality and by the predominance ofplot and physical action over characterization

Monolouge

A single person, speaking alone on stage

Soliloquy

A speech of some length in which a character, alone on the stage, expresses his thoughts and feelings

Suspension of Disbelief

The demand made of a theatre audience to accept limitations of staging and supply the details with imagination. Also, the acceptance on the audience's or reader's part of the incidents of plot in a play or story. Too many coincidences or improbable events could turn the audience off.

Tradegy

In general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some other unhappy end.

Anagnorisis

A term used by Aristotle in Poetics to describe the moment of recognition when ignorance gives way to knowledge. Ideally, coincides with peripeteia (reversal of fortune)

Catharsis

A purging of the emotions, especially pity and fear. This suggests the effect that the tragedy should have on the audience

Hamartia

An error in judgement which may arise from ignorance or some moral shortcoming. Also, Tragic Flaw which leads to the hero's downfall.

Tragic Hero

Hero of the tragedy, who is essentially good, of high estate, and experiences a downfall due to his flaw

Burlesque, Parody, Travesty

Works that mock the conventions of a specific work or type of work by imitating it and exaggerating its conventions. Burlesque and travesty tend to be broader and coarser in their criticism.

Fable

A very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life

Genre

The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose,poetry, and drama. However, genre is a flexible term; within these broad boundaries exist many subdivisions that are often called genres themselves. For example, prose can be divided into fiction (novels and short stories) or nonfiction (essays, biographies, autobiographies, etc.). Poetry can be divided into lyric, dramatic, narrative, epic, etc. Drama can be divided into tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, etc

Generic Conventions

This term describes traditions for each genre. These conventions help to define each genre; for example, they differentiate a Gothic work from a traditionally Romantic work.

Gothic

Beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century and remaining popular for about sixty years,Gothic novels present a sensibility characterized by strong emotions, mystery, the supernatural, and dangerous dark characters. Think candle lit corridors, dark castles with attics or basements, screams in the night, and vulnerable heroines drawn to dangerous men

Parable

A relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life.

Lampoon

Emphatic, virulent form of satire

Novel

Term applied to a variety of writings with the common of attribute of being extended pieces of prose fiction. There are no set rules, but a novel will generally be between 60-70,000 words and 200,000.

Novella

Traditionally a prose story of indeterminate length restricted to a single event or conflict. Now, a term used to describe a long short-story or a short novel

Satire

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. Regardless of whether or not the work aims to reform human behavior, satire is best seen as a style of writing rather than a purpose for writing. It can be recognized by the many devices used effectively by the satirist: irony, wit, parody, caricature, hyperbole,understatement, and sarcasm. The effects of satire are varied, depending on the writer's goal,but good satire, often humorous, is thought provoking and insightful about the human condition

Antagonist

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.

Anti-hero

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples

Caricature

A verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person's distinctive physical features or other characteristics

Characterization

The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.

Indirect Characterization

the author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), orby showing the character in action. Common in modern literature

Direct Characterization

the author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky,generous, mean to pets, and so on. Romantic style literature relied more heavily on this form.

Static Character

one who does not change much in the course of a story

Dynamic Character

one who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action.

Flat Character

only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.

Round Character

more dimensions to their personalities---they are complex, just a real peopleare

Foil

A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero,or a villain contrasting the hero.

Motivation

The reasons for a character's behavior.

Persona

The narrator in a non-first-person novel. In a third person novel, the narrator isn't a character,yet you get some idea of their personality. This shadow-author is called the author's persona.

Protagonist

The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the heroor anti-hero.

Stock Character

Standard or clichéd character types: the drunk, the miser, the trickster, the foolish girl

Unreliable Narrator

Narrator who typically displays characteristics or tendencies that indicate a lack of credibility or understanding of the story, thereby conveying information that may seem justifiably suspect to the reader.