Character
DRAMA TERMS
a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a
literary work.
Cast of Characters The list of characters typically included at the
beginning of a play or other dramatic work.
Setting
the time and place of the action.
The setting of a story often helps to create a particular
mood, or feeling.
Dialogue
The conversation of characters in a literary work. In
fiction, dialogue is typically enclosed within quotation
marks. In plays, characters' speech is preceded by their
names.
Conflict
the struggle between opposing forces in a story or play
Plot
the sequence of events. The first event causes the
second, the second causes the third, and so forth
Exposition
the introduction. It is the part of the work that
introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation.
Rising Action
the part of the plot that begins to occur as soon as the
conflict is introduced
Falling Action
the action that typically follows the climax and reveals
its results.
Climax
the point of greatest emotional intensity, interest, or
suspense in the plot of a narrative- a turning point
Resolution
the part of the plot that concludes the falling action by
revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict.
Flashback
Foreshadowing
a literary device in which an earlier episode,
conversation, or event is inserted into the sequence of
events.
the author’s use of clues to hint at what might happen
later in the story
Theme
of a literary work is its central message, concern, or
purpose
Mood
the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or
passage
Gesture
The physical movement of a character during a play
Stage Direction
A playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments
that provide readers (and actors) with information
about the dialogue, setting, and action of a play.
Staging
The spectacle a play presents in performance, including
the position of actors on stage, the scenic background,
the props and costumes, and the lighting and sound
effects
A type of drama in which the characters experience
reversals of fortune, usually for the better. In comedy,
things work out happily in the end.
Comedy
Tragedy
A type of drama in which the characters experience
reversals of fortune, usually for the worse.
Aside
Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience,
which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage
during a play.
Antagonist
The Antagonist is a character or force in conflict with a
main character, or protagonist
Protagonist
The Protagonist is the main character in a literary
work
Suspense
the growing interest and excitement readers experience
while awaiting a climax or resolution in a work of
literature