Narrative and Dramatic Elements (REAL ONE) Flashcards
Good luck on the test
Comedy
Story whose chief purpose is to amuse. Usually ends in marriage.
Tragedy
Story whose chief purpose is to examine sad themes. Usually ends in everybody dying.
Fable
A brief story about human tendencies through animal characters.
Fantasy
Imaginative fiction dependent for effect on strangeness of setting and of characters
Graphic Text
Telling story through both text and picture.
Legend
Traditional story/stories told about something that is asssumed to be true without too much evidence.
T1 Faker
Melodrama
Drama but it doesn’t make sense. No cause and effect, but really funny.
Mystery
idk
Myth
an attempt to explain mysteries, represents reality in dramatic ways.
Catastrophe (plot)
the scene which includes the death or moral destruction of the protagonist, or completes the unraveling of the plot.
Indeterminate Ending
when the story’s loose ends are not tied up, not sure what the outcome of the story’s main conflict is.
Resolved Ending
Everything is done, very nice
Surprise Ending
when a plot twist happens near the end of the story, usually changing the reader’s view of the preceding events or characters.
Ok I’m skipping the obvious ones
You should all know the plot devices, I ain’t writing allat
Foreshadowing
when something is hinted at
Flashback
when the narrative leaves present time and moves to a time in the past, often in a dream or daydream.
Suspense
the quality of a work that makes the reader ask “what next?”
Frame Story
Multiple stories that are kinda together (frame). It are totally unrelated with one another
Think slay the princess
Story within a story
When a story… is within a story
Soliloquy
When a character in a play is alone on stage and speaks their thoughts aloud
Aside
When actors speak to the audience, usually not being heard by other actors. Usually for comedy, or their own thoughts.
Deadpool
Anticlimax
A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events, usually used to provide humorous break to tension, or provide shock.
Comic Relief
In a serious story, or drama, comic, provides a lightening of the mood to provide contrast with the seriousness of the plot.
Climactic Order
when the author arranges the events of the story from least important (introduction of characters) to most important (climax or resolution). This format is common in movies.
Interior Monologue
when the character talks to themselves in their head and this is revealed to the reader
Flat Character
One Dimensional Character.
Round Character
a character affected by the events of the story. These characters are usually fully developed in terms of personality. They are described in more detail and their personalities emerge more fully. Round characters usually become enlightened, learn, grow, or deteriorate by the end of the story.
Static Character
a character who remains the same throughout the story
Dynamic Character
a character who develops and changes throughout the story
Stereotyped/Stock Character
the black comedic relief, the strict step parent, etc.
Character Foil
A foil is a character that contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist, and so highlights various facets of the main character’s personality.
Hero
traditionally, a hero is a type of protagonist who the audience is supposed to sympathize with and root for, but who has a fatal flaw- a personality characteristic that gets in his way.
Caricature
when a feature of a character is grossly exaggerated in order to ridicule them- can be physical (often in political cartoons) or personality. Common in parodies.
now onto characterization
here we go
indirect presentation
This is when the reader learns about the character through indirect means
direct presentation
- an author’s direct statement. Ex: John was an angry man
Internal conflict
character versus self
External conflict
- character versus character
§ character versus nature (the natural environment)
§ character versus society
§ character versus supernatural
§ character versus time
Dilemma conflict
a dilemma in literature is when a character is presented with a difficult choice between two or more possibilities
Epiphany (conflict)
When a character comes to a sudden realization about the world or their situation that changes how they act/what they believe
Atmosphere/Mood
general vibe y’know?
Dramatic Irony
When audience knows something that character does not
Verbal Irony
Sarcasm
Situational Irony
Difference between appearance and reality, or between what is and what would seem appropriate
Getting hit by an an ambulance
THEME
is the argument or general idea expressed by a literary work, whether implied or explicitly stated. Often it is an observation about life or people.
