Aristotle's Poetics

Question 0

Character (________)
- main character should be
I. Good (audiences don’t like when villains win) moral virtue
II. Appropriate (a wise character probably won’t be young)
III. Consistent
1. Plays should be driven not by who characters are, but what they do.
2. “Consistently inconsistent”

Answer 0

Ethos

Question 1

Plot (_______)

• Greek word just means story.
• the “action” or the “structure of incidents”
• actions should be logical, naturally following the actions that precede them.

Answer 1

Mythos

Question 2

Theme (______)

Answer 2

Dianoia

Question 3

Diction (_______)

- the quality of speech. We might call this the “dialogue”

Answer 3

Lexis

Question 4

Melody (_____)

-relating to the CHORUS in Greek drama. A contemporary parallel might be soundtrack.

Answer 4

Melos

Question 5

Spectacle (__________)
- the visuals of a play. Aristotle saw this as the LEAST IMPORTANT: a movie might have beautiful costumes but bad acting and a bad storyline

Answer 5

Opsis

Question 6

______(mythos)

• the “action,” or the “structure of incidents”
• actions should be logical, naturally following the actions that precede them

Answer 6

Plot

Question 7

_______(ethos)

• main characters should be
  
  • good (audiences don’t like it when villains win)
  • appropriate (a wise character probably won’t be young)
  • consistent
    
    • plays should be driven not by who characters are, but what they do.
    • “consistently inconsistent”

Answer 7

Character

Question 8

________(dianoia)

Answer 8

Theme

Question 9

_________(lexis)

-the quality of speech. We might call this the “dialogue”

Answer 9

Diction

Question 10

________(melos)

-relating to the Chorus in Greek drama. A contemporary parallel might be soundtrack.

Answer 10

Melody