Figurative Language and Tragedy Concepts

Figurative Language

  • Metaphor: Comparing two things without using "like" or "as".

  • Simile: Comparing two things using "like" or "as".

  • Personification: Giving human traits to non-human things.

  • Imagery: Descriptive language appealing to the five senses.

  • Symbolism: Object/action representing a bigger idea.

  • Motif: Repeated idea or image within a text.

  • Allusion: Brief reference to well-known entities.

  • Irony: Expectation vs. reality.

    • Dramatic Irony: Audience knows something characters do not.

    • Situational Irony: Outcome is the opposite of what is expected.

    • Verbal Irony: Saying the opposite of what is meant.

  • Paradox: Contradictory statement that reveals a truth.

  • Oxymoron: Pairs of contradictory words.

  • Foreshadowing: Hints about future events.

  • Monologue: Extended speech by one character.

  • Soliloquy: Character speaking to themselves.

Rhetorical Devices

  • Parallelism: Similar structure in sentences/ideas.

  • Rhetorical Question: Question posed for effect, not to be answered.

  • Hypophora: Asking and answering one's own question.

  • Antithesis: Opposition of ideas in close proximity.

  • Pathos / Ethos / Logos: Appeals to emotion, credibility, and reason.

Core Tragedy Concepts

  • Tragedy: Serious story ending in sorrow or death.

  • Tragic Hero: Main character brought down by a flaw.

  • Hamartia: Major mistake or weakness of the hero.

  • Hubris: Excessive pride or arrogance.

  • Peripeteia: Sudden change from good to bad fortune.

  • Anagnorisis: Hero's realization of truth.

  • Catharsis: Audience's experience of pity and fear.

  • Catastrophe: Final disaster of the play.

Elements of Greek Tragedy

  • Prologue: Introductory background.

  • Parodos: Chorus's initial entrance song.

  • Chorus: Group providing commentary through song.

  • Choragus: Leader of the chorus.

  • Episode: Key scene of dialogue/action.

  • Ode: Reflective song by the chorus.

  • Strophe/Antistrophe: Chorus movement during songs.

  • Paean: Song of praise to the gods.

  • Exodos: Concluding scene of the story.

Sound & Rhythm

  • Alliteration: Repetition of the same initial sound.

  • Repetition: Using the same word/phrase multiple times.

  • Anaphora: Repeated beginnings of lines.

  • Asyndeton: Omitting conjunctions for effect.

  • Polysyndeton: Use of excessive conjunctions.

  • Stichomythia: Fast exchange of one-liners between characters.