Drama Terminology

Question 1

A major division in the action of the play. The ends of ________ are typically indicated by lowering the curtain or turning up the houselights.

Answer 1

Act

Question 2

Brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea in history or literature.

Answer 2

Allusion

Question 3

The character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama that opposes the protagonist gives rise to the conflict of the story.

Answer 3

Antagonist

Question 4

a speech direct to the audience that supposedly is not audible to the other characters on stage

Answer 4

Aside

Question 5

a person presented in a dramatic narrative work

Answer 5

Character

Question 6

the process by which a writer makes that character seem real to the reader

Answer 6

Characterization

Question 7

A work intended to interest, involve, and amuse the reader or audience. No terrible disaster. Ends happily

Answer 7

comedy

Question 8

A humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious work

Answer 8

Comic Relief

Question 9

A characteristic of a literary genre (often unrealistic) that is understood and accepted by audiences because it has come to be recognized as a familiar technique.

Answer 9

Convention

Question 10

a turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on the protagonist

Answer 10

Crisis

Question 11

a type of informational diction

Answer 11

Dialect

Question 12

“To do” or “To perform”; can refer to a single play or a group of plays

Answer 12

Drama

Question 13

general term for a work of dramatic literature

Answer 13

Play

Question 14

writer who makes plays

Answer 14

playwright

Question 15

creates a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the read or audience member knows to be true

Answer 15

Dramatic Irony

Question 16

the list of characters in a play

Answer 16

dramatis personae

Question 17

when a character suddenly experiences a deep realization about himself/herself

Answer 17

epiphany

Question 18

A character in a work whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character in order to highlight the distinctive temperament of that character

Answer 18

Foil

Question 19

The introduction early in a story of verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what is to come later

Answer 19

Foreshadowing

Question 20

A sequence of words printed as a separate entity on the page

Answer 20

Line

Question 21

a long speech delivered by one person who forgets or neglects the others who are there

Answer 21

Monologue

Question 22

the main character of a narrative

Answer 22

Protagonist

Question 23

a subdivision of an act

Answer 23

scene

Question 24

the written text of a play, which includes the dialogue between characters, stage directions, and often other expository Information

Answer 24

Script

Question 25

dramatic convention by means of which a character, alone onstage, utters his or her thoughts aloud. Used to inform the audience about a character’s motivation and state of mind

Answer 25

soliloquy

Question 26

A playwright’s written instructions about how the actors are supposed to move and behave in a way.

Answer 26

stage directions

Question 27

A story that presents courageous individuals who confront powerful forces within or outside themselves with a dignity that reveals the breadth and depth of the human spirit in the face of failure, defeat, and even death.

Answer 27

Tragedy