Literary terms (Drama and poetry)

List of Terms for Responding to and Analyzing Poetry \n Poetry::one of the three major genres of imaginative literature, characterized by controlled \n patterns of rhythm, syntax, and often rhyme; compression and compactness and an allowance \n for ambiguity of meaning; a particularly concentrated emphasis on the sensual, especially visual \n in aural, qualities. \n Narrative poetry::poem tells a story; it has a plot related by a narrator. \n Dramatic poetry::any poem that consists wholly of dialogue among characters, unmediated by a \n narrator. \n Lyric poetry::relatively short [poem that focuses] primarily on the feelings, impressions, and \n thoughts that is on the subjective, inward experience—of a single first-person speaker. \n metaphor::a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared implicitly that is, without \n the use of a signal such as the word like or as—as in “Love is a rose, but you better not pick it.” \n simile::a figure of speech involving a direct explicit comparison of one thing to another, usually \n using the words like or as to draw the connection, as in “My love is like a red, red rose.” \n plot::the arrangement of the action in a work of literature. \n character::an imaginary personage who acts, appears, or is referred to in a literary work. Major \n or main characters are those that receive most attention, minor characters are relatively \n simple, have a few dominant traits, and tend to be predictable. \n setting::the time and place of the action in work of fiction, poetry, or drama. \n satire::a literary work—whether fiction, poetry, or drama—that holds up human failings to \n ridicule and censor. \n parody::any work that imitates or spoofs another work or genre for comic effect by \n exaggerating the style and changing the content of the original. \n pastoral @@literature@@::a work or category of works—whether fiction, poetry, drama or \n nonfiction::describing and idealizing the simple life of country folk who live a painless life in a \n world full of beauty, music, and love. \n elegy::a formal lament on the death of a particular person, but focusing mainly on the speaker’s \n efforts to come to terms with his or her grief; more broadly, a lyric and sorrowful mood that \n takes death as its primary subject. \n conflict::a struggle between opposing forces in a work of literature; conflicts can be external \n (characters struggling with other characters) or internal (characters struggling with themselves). \n figure of speech::any word or phrase that creates a “figure” in the mind of the reader by \n effecting an obvious change in the usual order or meaning of the words. \n personification::a figure of speech that involves treating something that is non-human as if it \n were a human by endowing it with human qualities. \n stanza::a section of a poem that is separated by extra spaces before and after. \n situation-the basic circumstances depicted in a literary work. \n setting::the time and place of the action in work of fiction, poetry, or drama. \n epic::a long narrative poem that celebrates the achievements of heroes and heroines. \n ballad::a verse narrative that is, or originally was, meant to be sung. \n speaker::the person who is the voice of a poem. \n rhyme::repetition or correspondence of sounds and words (How, now, brown, cow?). \n rhythm::the modulation of weak and strong (or stressed and unstressed) elements in the flow of \n speech.

speaker::the person who is the voice of the poem. \n dramatic monologue-a sub-genre of poetry in which a speaker addresses a silent auditor or auditors in a \n specific situation and setting. \n auditor::an imaginary listener within a literary work. \n allusion::a brief, often implicit and indirect reference within a literary text to something outside the text, \n like a Christian symbol, another literary work, a piece of art, an imaginary or real person, etc. \n analogy::a representation of one thing or idea by something else (The brain is a computer). \n symbol::a person, place, or thing that figuratively represents or stands for something else.

\n List of Terms for Responding to and Analyzing Drama

\n drama::a literary genre consisting of works in which action is performed and all words are spoken before \n an audience by actors. \n stage directions::the words in a printed text of a play that inform the director, crew, actors, and readers \n how to stage, perform, or imagine the play. \n exposition::the first phase or part of a plot, which sets the scene, introduces characters, and establishes \n the situation a of a story or play. \n plot::the arrangement of the action in a story, novel, or work of drama. \n protagonist::the main character in a work. \n antagonist::a character or non-human force that opposes or is in conflict with the protagonist. \n conflict::a struggle between opposing forces in a work of fiction. \n tragedy::a work of drama in which the main character is somehow brought to a disastrous end. \n comedy::a category of drama in which a work is primarily meant to entertain and amuse the audience. \n character* \n rising action::the second of five phases of a plot. \n climax::the third phase of a plot in which, through an important event, action stops rising and begins to \n fall. \n falling action::the fourth phase of a plot in which conflicts move toward resolution. \n resolution::the final phase of a plot where conflicts are stabilized. \n setting::the time and place of the action in a work of fiction. \n set::the design, decoration, or scenery of the stage during a play \n prop::in drama, an object used on stage