Literary terms

Elements of Drama

Act- each part of short performances in a play

Scene- a piece of on-going action in a play or film

Exposition- an explanatory introduction in a literary piece

Conflict- the struggle between characters, forces or ideas at the centre of a story

Complication- An intensification of the conflict in a story or play, Complication builds up, accumulates and develops the primary or central conflict in a literary work

Climax- the turning point of the action in the plot of a play or story, the climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work

Denouement- the resolution of the plot of a literary work

Peripeitia- the turning point of a drama after which the plot moves steadily to its denouement

Characterization- the means by which writers present and reveal characters

Protagonist- the main character of a literary work

Antagonist- a character or force against which another character struggles

Main plot- the focus of the story, the most important and focused on combination of series of events in a story

Sub plot- the series of events in story which help make up the main plot

Forms of Drama

Comedy- presents the misadventures of the characters as amusing rather than disastrous and provides a happy ending

History- of or concerned with history as a science

Tragedy- A serious play with a sad ending

Romance –A play focused on intimate relationship/relationships

Tragicomedy- a mixture of tragedy and comedy in a literary piece

Satire- the use of ridicule, sarcasm, irony etc. to expose, attack 

Theatre of the Absurd- theatrical style that originated in France in the late 1940’s and is based on existential philosophy. It revolves around the existence of a God which it portrays in its work

Modern Drama-

Mello Drama-

Features of Drama-

Monologue- an attempt to convey in words the process of consciousness or thought as a means of narrating a story

Dialogue- words spoken by the characters in a novel or play

Soliloquy- A speech in a play in which a character tells his/her thoughts to the audience as if talking to him or herself

Aside-a line spoken by an actor that the other characters on stage supposedly cannot hear, it usually shares the character’s inner thoughts with the audience

Sect-

Stage Directions- various written instructions in a play, telling the reader what the character is doing

Stage Conventions-

Chorus- a group of characters within a novel or play conversing in unity, giving the reader a preview of what is to come

Dramatic unities-

Disguise-

Literary Devices-

Imagery- refers to the figurative language in a piece of literature or all the words which refer to objects and qualities which appeal to the senses and feelings

Motif- a recurrent thematic element: word, image, symbol, object, phrase or action

Symbolism- is the use of things which represent something else by analogy or association

Traumatic irony-

Tragic irony-

Juxtaposition- a comparison, to put side by side or close together

Literary Contexts-

Social- of having to do with human beings living together as a groups in a situation which their dealings with one another affect their common well fare

Historical- of or concerned with history as a science

Political- of or concerned with government, the state of politics

Religious- characterized by adherence to a religion

Ethnic- designated or of a population, subgroup having a cultural heritage as distinguished by customs, characteristics, language common history etc.

Moral- a practical lesson about life, right and wrong conduct

Intellectual- the ability to reason or understand

Cultural- the training and refinement of the intellect, interest, taste, skills and arts

Hi my name is Claudene. I’m nineteen. I attended the Antigua Girls’ High School. My favourite TV show is Maury and I love volleyball but most importantly I’m single. This is the personal choice, I’ve made for roughly a year now and here’s why. Here’s my sad story of betrayal. When I was seventeen years old I met the most amazing guy. His name I’d rather not disclose. Anyway not only was he handsome and oozing with sex appeal but he was intelligent, caring, hardworking, gentle, kind everything you’d want in a guy. He was often very busy though but I understood because he had school, work, church and everything else. He was still a great boyfriend. However overtime as my love for him grew I began to demand to spend more time with him and that’s when things got strange. He wasn’t as touchy feely as I had wanted him to be. I often felt he was holding back but we were both Christians in church. I should have known better. Kissing and fondling would only lead to other things like sex which in our case would be fornication so I didn’t sweat it. We continued spending more and more time together but strangely enough it seemed like we were drifting more and more apart. I felt like there was only one more thing for me to do to try to save my relationship. One sunny afternoon after school I waited for him at his home and on that day I gave him my virginity. A month had passed after this and no matter how hard I tried there was no reaching him. He had left me for dead. He didn’t call me. He didn’t answer my calls so I went to extremes just to reach him. I contacted his mother who was nice enough to actually sympathize with me. She offered that I stay and wait for him until he came from work. I gladly accepted. I showed up at his house around 2’o clock. I must have been real desperate because 4’o clock showed up and I was still waiting so naturally I was bored. I decided to go and rest in his room. His mother didn’t mind but as soon as I entered his room curiosity immediately got the best of me and I began rummaging through all his stuff, looking at his baby pictures, books, tools everything until I found a very old torn up picture in between an old book in his draw. Have you ever had one of those moments that you know happened but to this day you wonder if you were just dreaming or just went mad for a split second? That is exactly what it felt like. My hand trembled as I held a picture of my boyfriend in a compromised position with one of his so called friends. Looking at the picture, it was obvious that this was much more than a friend. All I can truly remember was seeing the picture, looking at it again to make sure I wasn’t just losing my mind, dropping it, telling his mother goodbye, sweating and running down the road like I just witnessed a murder, heading straight to my bedroom, placing the pillow over my head and crying my brains out. I cried. I screamed. I trembled, I vomited, and I panicked. That day was the worst day of my life. I felt like a young girl who had just found out she was pregnant or had aids or a man who had just found out that his seventeen year old daughter wasn’t really his. I felt like I was going to die. And die I did. Yes I died that day. Well a piece of me at least. The piece of me that was able to love, to trust. The part of me that was capable of believing in love, romance and all its silly lies but do I regret it? No, absolutely not. Sure it’s a painful memory and a shameful one of course but I didn’t catch aids or got pregnant for that nasty fagot but I learnt a valuable lesson that I intend to carry out throughout my entire life. Trust no one. 

Have you ever been betrayed and realized that you misunderstood the situation?

Now I’m a very territorial person. If something or someone is mine then their mine. This includes family and friends as well. And if someone is a family or friend then it is impossible for anyone to hurt or take advantage of them once I am alive, aware and able of stopping that from happening. One of the persons I feel that way about is my cousin who is actually more like a sister since we live together and practically grew up together which is why I felt proud to know that I introduced her to her very first boyfriend who I judged to be a pretty decent guy. Just as I predicted, he was the perfect boyfriend for her, treated her like an absolute queen for at least five months before he rose my suspicions. Wait a minute. Wasn’t this the guy