Key terms (Dr F/Enron specific)

Question 1

Soliloquy

Answer 1

Is a speech given by a character in a play when the speaker is alone. This is presented to inform the audience or reader of what is happening in the mind of a character and to give information about the action of the play. - example: Act 1 Scene 1, Dr Faustus gives a soliloquy when deciding the pillar of learning he wants to study

Question 2

Aside

Answer 2

A speech made by an actor DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE, but seemingly to himself or herself. It is always a true reflection of the character’s thoughts. Its function is to reveal character. example - Enron prologue, lawyers speech

Question 3

Hamartia

Answer 3

Is an ancient Greek theatre term meaning the error, frailty, mistaken judgment or misstep through which the fortunes of the hero of a tragedy are reversed. Hamartia must express itself through a definite action, or, failure to perform a definite action. Hamartia can result from bad judgment, a bad character, ignorance, inherited weakness, or accident. This error does not always result from an error in character.
Example - arguably the hamartia of both Dr F and Enron company members is arrogance and a desire for power

Question 4

Dramatic Irony

Answer 4

Occurs when the reader knows a secret, but the characters in a play or work of fiction do not. Therefore, the words or actions of a character carry a special meaning for the reader but are understood differently by the character. The characters are blind to facts, but the reader is not.
Example - When Dr F continually questions Mephistopheles about the universe but is constantly rebuffed with ‘to think on hell’. We know this is another way lull Faustus into deeper indiscretions

Question 5

Foreshadow

Answer 5

A hint or warning of things to come, making specific events in the plot seems more probable as they unfold.

Question 6

Allusion

Answer 6

This is a reference to a person, place, event, usually without explicit identification. Allusions can be references to mythology, the bible, historical events, geography, legends, or other literary works.
Example - Dr Faustus prologue, classical allusion to icarus “his waxen wings did melt’ used to emphasised the way in which Dr F is an overreacher

Question 7

Dramatic device

Answer 7

A dramatic device is anything that drives the action.
Example - Dr F Valdes and Cornelius plant the idea of necromancy in Faustus head

Question 8

Monologue

Answer 8

a long, uninterrupted speech that is spoken in the presence of other characters. Unlike a soliloquy a monologue is heard by other characters.
Example - Enron Jeff skilling performs a monologue just before he goes to prison

Question 9

Symbolism

Answer 9

It is the frequent use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean something beyond what they are on a literal level.

Example - The good and evil angel in Act 1 Scene 1 of Dr F, symbolise his divided will

Question 10

Prosodic

Answer 10

relating to the intonation of a specific word that helps emphasise it.
Could be related to
- volume
- intonation
- pitch
- pace
- stress

Example - Act 1 Scene 1, when Skilling and Roe are going at each other back and forth and they emphasis certain words

Question 11

Paralinguistic features

Answer 11

• pitch
• tempo
• loudness
• resonance
• timbre
• intonation range
• syllabic duration
• rhythm

Question 12

Schism

Answer 12

different opposing ideas/beliefs

Question 13

Machismo

Answer 13

excessive male strength and pride

Question 14

Split scene

Answer 14

a scene that occurs simultaneously but in two locations (e.g. scene 5 of Enron)

Question 15

Proxemics

Answer 15

the location and distance between objects/people on stage

Question 16

Physical theatre

Answer 16

theatre which uses physical elements (use of body movement or movement of props)

Question 17

Naturalistic

Answer 17

Action that is palpable or feels real

Question 18

Non - naturalistic

Answer 18

theatre that is exaggerated, wouldn’t happen in real life (e.g. the raptors or blind mice in enron)

Question 19

Face threatening

Answer 19

When one characters attacks or acts in a violent way towards another character (e.g. roe towards skilling in act1 scene2 of Enron)

Question 20

Clown

Answer 20

A general term that was originally intended to designate a rustic or otherwise uneducated individual whose dramatic purpose was to evoke laughter with his ignorance

robin in dr F

Question 21

Slapstick

Answer 21

primarily physical kind of comedy based around pratfalls, suffering and mild comic violence

Question 22

Farce

Answer 22

comedy that aims at entertaining the audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, and thus improbable.

Question 23

Stock character pairing

Answer 23

A brace of stereotypical persons whom audiences readily recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition

Question 24

Mispronunciation

Answer 24

The act or state of saying or making the sounds incorrectly.

Question 25

Bathos

Answer 25

An effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.

Question 26

Mockery

Answer 26

Teasing and contemptuous language or behaviour directed at a particular person or thing

Question 27

Cruelty

Answer 27

Behaviour which causes physical or mental harm to another

Question 28

Misunderstanding

Answer 28

To interpret incorrectly

Question 29

Sarcasm

Answer 29

The use of irony to mock or convey contempt

Question 30

Double Entendre

Answer 30

A word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent.

Question 31

Dramatic irony

Answer 31

When the implications of a situation, speech, etc, are understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

Question 32

Pun

Answer 32

Play on words