LI

TERARYANALYSI
SFOR'
A'LEVELLI
TERATURE

Whenst
udent
sar estudyi
ngLit
eratur
einEngli
shtheyshoul
dalwaysremembert
hat
,'
l
it
erat
urei
s
al
i
veandnotdead'.her
eisatestamentoftheimmortal
it
yofli
ter
atur
e,

"
Exegi
monument
um aer
eper
enni
us.
"

(
Ihav
eer
ect
edamonumentmor
elast
ingt
hanbr
onze.
)Hor
ace

Anal
ysi
sisbr
eaki
ngdownapi
eceofl
i
ter
atur
esot
hati
tcanbeunder
stood.

Conf
li
cti
sast
ruggl
ebet
weenopposi
ngf
orces:
usual
l
yint
ernal
orext
ernal
conf
li
ct.

Fi
gur
ati
veLanguagei
sanyuseofmet
aphor
sand/
orsi
mil
es

PLOT

Plotismuchmor ethanwhathappensinastor
y;i
tis"apat
ternofcarefull
yselect
ed,
causall
y
rel
atedev entsthatcont
ainconfl
i
ct.
"Ploti
scomposedofthekeyingredientsandact
ionsina
narrat
ivearrangedinapatter
n.Therearemanydi
ff
erentpl
ots,butdetai
ledbelowarethr
ee
'
categories'
:tradi
ti
onal,
sceni
c,andobli
que.

1.Tr adit
ional plot
:Manyaut horschooseat r
aditionalplot,oftenar r
angedi nchronologicalorder.
Someaut horschooset otel
l t
heentir
est oryinf l
ashback( infor mingusofwhathappenedbef or
e
openi ngsceneofst ory)
.Whenast orybegi nsandendsatr oughl ythesamepoi ntint i
me, i
tisa
fr
amedst ory.Af r
amedst orymightalsoconst r
ucta' stor
y-within-a-
story,
'oftentodr aw
attentiont oat ext
'sconstr
uctedness;thisuset endst ocompl icatethenot i
onofat raditi
onal
pl
ot .Manyaut horsalsochooset ousef oreshadowi ng( hi
nt saboutwhatwi llhappenl at
erina
story).Storiescanal sobegininmediasr es' seemi ngly'i
nt hemi ddle'ofsomei mpor tantacti
on,
withoutmuchexposi ti
on.Thebackgroundi nf or
mat ionusual l
ypl acedatt hebeginningoft he
story.

Whil
ealmostallpl
otsi
nvolveconf
li
ctofsomesor t,t
heconf l
i
ctneednoti nvol
veaphysi
cal
st
ruggl
e.Aconfl
ictcanbeanyclashofactions, i
deas,desi
resorwi l
ls.Aconfl
i
ctcanbeext
ernal
ori
nter
nal,
orboth;aconfl
i
ctmaybephy sical,int
ell
ectual,
psy chol
ogical
,emoti
onal
,ormor
al,or
acombinati
on.Mostconfl
ict
sfall
int
ooneoft hesebroadcat egori
es:
per
sonagai
nstper
son

per
sonagai
nstsoci
ety(
cul
tur
e)

per
sonagai
nstt
heenv
ironment(
nat
ure,
technol
ogy
)

per
sonagai
nstf
ate(
god,
spi
ri
t)

per
sonagai
nsthi
msel
forher
sel
f

Astory'
sclimaxi sthemomentoft heconf
li
ct'
soutcome.Whent heoutcomeispredictabl
eor
tel
egraphed,iti
softenrefer
redtoasanti
cli
max.Ther esolut
ionordenouement(whichmeans
theuntangli
ngofaknot ;unrav
eli
ng)ist
heconclusi
onofast or
y.Bothter
msindicat
et heendi
ng
ofthestory,alt
houghdenouementalsoimpli
esasur pri
singtwist(
butnotonethataddsnew
i
nformation).

Conf l
i
ctalway sinvolvesast ory'
sprotagoni
st(t
hecentralcharacterofawor k).Aprot
agoni
sti
s
notnecessar i
lyaher o,sincemanypr otagoni
stsarenotatallheroicoradmi rabl
e;many
protagonistsareant i
heroes.Thepr ot
agonisti
nFlanner
yO' Connor '
s'AGoodManI sHardto
Find'(t
hegr andmot her)orHer manMel vi
ll
e'
s'Bart
lebyt
heScr i
v ener'isagoodexampleofa
protagonistwhoi snotonl ynon-heroi
c,butwhom mostr eadersdon' tevenl
ikeverymuch.Any
force(notnecessar i
lyachar acter
)thatworksagainstt
hepr ot
agoni stfunct
ionsasan
antagonist.

Inevaluat i
ngat radi t
ionalplot,onecansayt hati thasar t
isticuni t
ywhent heaut hori
ncludes
nothingi nt hest orywhi chdoesnotadv ancet hecent rali
ntent ion.Ifthestoryisgivenat ur
n
whichi sunj usti
fiedbyt hesituationorthechar acters,thent heaut horcanbeaccusedofpl ot
mani pulation.Whent hissortofmani pulat i
onoccur sneart heendofast orytogi vei
tacheap
andeasyr esolution( l
ikeapathappyendi ng,theso- call
ed' Disney 'endi
ng), t
hissortofcontri
ved
endingi sknownasadeusexmachi na( 'godf rom amachi ne')' aterm whichcomesf r
om Gr eek
dramat i
st s' const r
uctingresoluti
onst hatr el
iedont heinterferenceoft hegods( afamous
exampl ei sMedea) .Unlikei
tsaccept edconv entioni nGreekdr ama, howev er,deusexmachi na
tendst obev i
ewedasaweakandpoor lyconst ructedconcl usioni nmostmoder nand
contempor arywor ks.

2.Sceni
cPlot:Thisf
ocusesonmanyr eal
ist
icall
yobser veddetail
sandacti
onsinaseriesof
i
ncident
s,drawingoutthepl
ot'
smov ementthrought i
me.Of t
ent hesemovementsseem to
operat
eoutsideofchronol
ogi
calor
der,evenjuxtaposingseemi ngl
yunrel
atedscenes.
3.Obl i
quePl ot
:Unl i
kescenicplot
s,obli
quepl
otsar
ecompr essedi nt
ermsoftimeandof fera
readera' sliceofli
fe.'Obli
questori
esmayseem tolackaplot:acti
onandconfl
ict
, i
nthe
tradit
ional sense,aremi ni
mal,andtheremaybeli
tt
leexposit
ionandnoclearresoluti
on.These
aresomet imesr eferr
edt oas'
sketches.'
Manypostmodernand/ ormi
nimal
istauthorsuse
obliquepl ots.

I
denti
fyanddiscussconfl
ictinvol
vedi
nthepl
ot.Youarenotsupposedtosummar i
zethepl
ot-
-
youar
et oidenti
fyt
heconfli
ctandcommentont hatconf
li
ct.Quest
ionsaboutpl
otyoumay
wanttoexploretodev
elopy ourar
gumenti
ncl
ude:

Howdoev
ent
srel
atet
ooneanot
her
?

Howdosi
ngl
eev
ent
srel
atet
othewor
kasawhol
e?

Howar
eev
ent
sar
rangedi
nti
me?

Whatconf
li
ctsoccuri
nthest
ory
?

Whatcausest
heconf
li
ctandhowdoesi
tmov
ethepl
otal
ong?

Whi
choft
heconf
li
ctsar
eext
ernal
,whi
chi
nter
nal
?

Whatqual
i
tiesorv
aluesdoest
heaut
horassoci
atewi
theachsi
deofaconf
li
ct?

Howi
stheconf
li
ctr
esol
ved?

I
fiti
snotr
esol
ved,
whynot
?

Howdoest
heconf
li
cthel
ptor
eveal
char
act
er?

Remember
,thesear
eonl
ysuggest
edquest
ions

Char
act
er Aper
son,
ani
mal
,ort
hingi
nawor
kofl
i
ter
atur
e.

Character
izati
on Thepr
ocessofcr
eat
ingacharacter
,incl
udi
ng:wor
ds,act
ions,
thought
s,
appearance,otherpeopl
es't
hought
sandpercept
ionsaboutthechar
act
er.

MainChar
acter Thechar
act
ert
hati
srepr
esent
edi
nthest
oryt
hemost
.Thepl
otusual
l
y
r
evolv
esaroundthi
schar
act
er.

Mi
norChar
act
er Oneoft
hechar
act
ersr
epr
esent
edi
nthest
orybutnott
hemai
nchar
act
er.

St
ati
cChar
act
er Achar
act
ert
hatchangesv
eryl
i
ttl
efr
om t
hebegi
nni
ngt
otheend.

Dy
nami
cChar
act
er Achar
act
ert
hatgoest
hroughasi
gni
fi
cantamountofchangesf
rom t
he
begi
nni
ngt
otheend.

Charact
ersaret
hepeopleinst
ories,
butchar
act
eri
zati
onis"t
heauthor
'spr
esent
ati
onand
devel
opmentofcharact
ers.
"Charact
erscanbeei
therst
ati
c,i
mplyi
ngtheydonotgr
ow;orthey
aredynamic,
meaningtheydogrow.

Di
scussanaspectofchar
act
eri
zat
ion.t
ohel
pyoudev
elopanar
gument
.

Under
standi
ng'
Char
act
er'
Anal
ysi
s

I
nter
nal
Conf
li
ct Ast
ruggl
ewi
thi
nthechar
act
er

Ext
ernal
Conf
li
ct Ast
ruggl
eagai
nstanot
herchar
act
er,
idea,
organi
zat
ion,
etc.

Compl
i
cat
ionsThi
ngst
hatt
hechar
act
ermustconsi
derbef
oresol
vi
ngordeal
i
ngwi
thaconf
li
ct.

Cl
i
maxAhi
ghpoi
ntoft
hest
ory
,suchaswher
eachar
act
ermustmakeabi
gdeci
sion.

Mot
ivat
ion Whydochar
act
ersbehav
ethewayt
heydo?

St
rengt
hs Theposi
ti
vequal
i
tiesandchar
act
eri
sti
csi
nachar
act
er.

Weaknesses Thenegat
ivequal
i
tiesandchar
act
eri
sti
csi
nachar
act
er.

Fi
gurat
iveLanguage Anyuseofmetaphor
sand/
orsi
mil
esbyt
hechar
act
er.Quest
ionsabout
char
acter
izat
ionyoumightaski
ncl
ude:

Whatconf
li
ctsexi
stbet
weent
hepr
otagoni
st(
s)andt
heant
agoni
st(
s)?

Howdochar
act
erst
ryt
osol
vet
hem?

Dochar
act
ershav
econt
radi
ctor
ytr
ait
sthatcausei
nter
nal
conf
li
cts?

Howdot
hechar
act
ersr
elat
etooneanot
her
?

Dot
heyunder
standt
hemsel
ves?

Howandwhatdot
heyl
ear
naboutt
hemsel
ves?

Howdoest
hisnewunder
standi
ngaf
fectot
herchar
act
ers?

Dot
hechar
act
erschange?I
fnot
,whynot
?Ifso,
howandwhy
?

Again,
thesequest
ionsar
eonlytohel
pyoudev
elopy
ourar
gument
,buty
oumayst
il
luseoneof
them t
oformthebasisofyourar
gument
s.

Themei
sthecent
ral
idea,
comment
ingi
nsomewayaboutt
hehumancondi
ti
on.Themei
sa
centr
ali
deatoawor k,andisusual
lypresentedi ndirect
lythroughtheel
ementsorstr
ategi
esof
fi
cti
on.A't
hematicstatement'i
ssomet hingther eadercreatesaft
erthestor
y,l
i
keathesis
stat
ementinanessay .Themesareinterpret
iveinnat ur
e;althoughanauthormayint
roducea
themati
celementint
oawor k,
theresponseoft her eaderalsocontri
but
es.Anygiv
enwor kwi
ll
havemulti
plemeanings.

Athemeiswhatt
heworksay
saboutat
opi
candmustappl
ynotonl
ytot
hechar
act
ersi
nthe
st
orybutt
othe"r
eal
"worl
daswel
l

I
tdeal
swi
thf
ourgener
alar
easofhumanexper
ience:
Thenat
ures:

ofhumani
ty,

ofsoci
ety
,

ofhumanki
nd'
srel
ati
onshi
pwi
tht
hewor
ld,
and

ofouret
hical
responsi
bil
i
ties.

Quest
ionsy
oucanaskaboutt
hemei
ncl
ude:

Whati
mageofhumanki
ndemer
gesf
rom t
hewor
k?

Doest
heaut
horbel
i
evepeopl
etobegoodorev
il
?

Doestheaut
horpor
trayapar
ti
cul
arsoci
etyorsoci
alschemeasl
i
fe-
enhanci
ngorl
i
fe-
dest
royi
ng?

Ar
ethechar
act
ersi
nconf
li
ctwi
tht
hei
rsoci
ety
?

Dot
heyescapef
rom t
hisorar
etheyt
rappedbyi
t?

Dochar
act
ersf
indasecur
epl
acei
nsoci
etywi
thoutsacr
if
ici
ngt
hei
rdi
gni
tyorv
alues?

I
fsoci
etyi
sfl
awed,
howi
sitf
lawed?

Dochar
act
ershav
econt
rol
oft
hei
rli
ves?

Ar
ethechar
act
ersawar
eoft
hesecont
rol
l
ingf
orces?

Howdot
heydeal
wit
hthesef
orces?

Whatar
ethemor
alconf
li
ctsi
nthest
ory
?

Ar
etheycl
ear
-cutorambi
guous?
Towhatext
entar
echar
act
erst
obl
amef
ort
hei
ract
ion?

Ar
ether
emor
alv
aluesi
nconf
li
ctwi
thoneanot
her
?

Agai
n,t
hesear
equest
ionsdesi
gnedt
ohel
pyoudev
elopanar
gumentf
oranessay
.

Set
ti
ng

Thet
ime,
place,
gener
alenvi
ronment,
occupat
ionsandmannerofdai
l
yli
vi
ngoft
hechar
act
ers
i
nabookorstor
yaretheel
ementsthatmakeupitsset
ti
ng.

Theconceptofsett
ingseemssimple:i
tistheti
meand/orpl
aceofast
ory.Yett
heseter
mscan
i
ncludei
tsgeography,ar
chi
tect
ure,
era,seasonorcul
tur
e.Astor
y'
sset
ti
ngcanperfor
ma
numberoffunct
ions.I
tcan:

pr
ovi
debackgr
oundsf
ort
heact
ion

actasanant
agoni
st

cr
eat
eat
mospher
esormoods

r
eveal
char
act
er(
s)

r
einf
orcet
hemes

Oftenawr iterwil
luseaset tingthatheknowswi l
l evokeacer tainr
esponsefrom ther eader.For
exampl e, i
fast or
yopensi nal arge,darkcit
ynightf il
ledwi thshadowsandal leyswhi l
eal one
shadowyf igurewalkst hr
ought hest r
eetsandqui cklyducksi nt oasidebuil
ding,mostr eaders
wil
l i
mmedi atelyassociat
et hescenewi thadarkst ory,perhapsacr i
mest oryoract i
on-
adventur e.Thewr i
tercant heneitherreinf
orcethatr esponse( thenextsetti
ngi sadenof
cri
mi nals),orsubvertthatresponse( thenextsettingi sabedr oom, wherethefigureturnsoutto
bey oungwomanv i
sit
ingthebedr idden,devel
opingamel odramaorsent imentaltale)
.

Takenoteofwhatthewrit
erest
abli
shesaboutt
heset
tingandt
ryt
oconsiderwhysheei
ther
provi
desalotofi
nformati
onabouttheset
ti
ngorwhytheti
meorplaceofthest
oryi
ssomewhat
vagueandindet
erminat
e.

Tor
eveal
whatef
fectt
heset
ti
ngmayormaynothav
eonast
ory
,sev
eral
quest
ionsshoul
dbe
consi
der
ed:

Whenandwher
edoest
heact
iont
akepl
ace?

Whati
sther
elat
ionshi
pbet
weent
heset
ti
ngandt
hepl
ot?

Howdoest
het
imei
nwhi
cht
hest
oryi
ssetaf
fectt
hesi
tuat
ionswi
thwhi
cht
hechar
act
ersar
e
f
aced?

Howdoesnat
ure,
weat
herorseasoncont
ri
but
etot
hepl
otort
heme?

Howdoesset
ti
ngcr
eat
ethemoodoft
hest
ory
?

Doest
hewr
it
erdr
awont
heset
ti
ngt
oev
okeaspeci
fi
cat
mospher
e?

Howdoest
heset
ti
ngaf
fectt
hechar
act
ers?

Thesequest
ionsshoul
dpr
ovi
dei
deasf
ordev
elopi
nganar
gument
.

Sy
mbol

Asy mbol i
saper son,objectoreventt
hatsuggest smor ethanitsli
teralmeaning.Inotherwords,
i
tissomet hingthathast wolevelsofmeani ng:ontheli
terall
evel,
itiswhati ti
s(theactual
necklacein'TheNecklace'byGuydeMaupassant );ont
henon- l
it
eral l
evel
, i
twouldrepresenta
more' hi
dden'meani ng(t
hewi fe'
svani
ty,thesacr i
fi
cesthecouplemade, decei
t,t
helifethey
couldhavebeen) .Deter
mi ni
ngt hemeaningofasy mbol(orifsomet hingisasymbol atall
)is
oft
enamat terofclosereadingandint
erpr etat
ion'ther
eadermustpi ckupont hecontextual
cl
uessuppl i
edbyt hewr i
ter.

"I
nt hebr oadestsense, asy mbol i
ssomet hingthatrepresentssomet hi
ngel se.I
nliteratur
e,a
sy mbolisanobj ectt hathasmeani ngbey onditself
.Theobj ectisconcreteandt hemeani ngs
areabst ract".Forexampl e,fir
eisaconcr etething,butitcoul
dsy mbolizepassion(f l
amesof
desire),orhell(t
hef ieryfurnace).Howev er,symbolsar enotmet aphorsandar enev erthe
secondpar tofsimile.Sy mbol sareusuallyobviousbecausewr i
terswantt hei
rreaderst o
recognizeasy mbol'sabst ractmeaning.Ifnomeani ngissuggest edbey ondtheconcr ete
meani ngofanobj ect ,
theni tprobabl
ywasnotmeantt obeasy mbol.Donotconf usesy mbols
from ordinarysignif
icantdet ai
ls;t
hereadermustmakeamaj orment alleaptoidentif
yt he
sy mbolwi thitsmeani ng.Thebestsy mbol sneverst andforonlyoneidea.Theyar eonl ymeant
tosuggestaconcept .Todi scov eri
fther
ear esymbol sinalit
erarywork, youmustasksev er
al
quest i
ons.

Whatsy
mbol
sdoest
hewor
kseem t
ohav
e?
Howdoy
ouknowt
heyar
esy
mbol
s?

Whatdoest
heaut
hordot
hatgi
vessy
mbol
i
cmeani
ngt
otheel
ement
syouseeassy
mbol
s.

Whatdoest
hesy
mbol
mean?

Whatdoest
hesy
mbol
addt
othemeani
ngoft
hewor
k?

Uset
hisdef
ini
ti
onandt
hesequest
ionst
odev
elopanar
gumentaboutoneoft
hest
ori
es.

I
rony

hassev
eral
component
s."
Ir
onyi
sav
isi
blecont
rastbet
weenappear
anceandr
eal
i
ty"

Anir
onicpoi
ntofviewi
sapparentwhenthereadersensesashar pdi
sti
ncti
onbetweenthe
nar
rat
orofastoryandt
heauthor.Ir
onyisl
i
kelytooccur,especi
all
ywhenthenarratori
stel
l
ing
ussomethi
ngthatwearecl
earlyexpect
edtodoubtortointerpr
etver
ydiff
erent
ly.

Verbali
ronyi
sasarcast
icst
atement.Char
actersei
thersaytheopposi
teofwhattheymean,
underst
atewhatt
heysay,mini
mizi
ngitsnatur
e,oroverst
atewhattheysay
,exaggerat
ingi
ts
natur
e.

Sit
uat
ional
ironyoccur
swhent hesi
tuat
ioni
sdiff
erentf
rom whatmostpeopl
eexpectand
commonsensei ndi
catesi
tis,
shoul
dbeorwi l
lbe.

Cosmicironyisafor
m ofsi
tuat
ionali
ronywhi
chsuggest
sthatsomemal
i
ciousf
atei
s
del
iber
atelyfr
ust
rati
nghumanef f
ort
s.

At
ti
tudi
nalir
onyr esult
sfr
om whatoneper
sonexpect
s.Ani
ndi
vi
dual
thi
nksr
eal
i
tyi
soneway
when,i
nfact,i
tisv er
ydif
fer
ent
.
Dramatici
ronyoccur
swhencharact
ersbel
i
evesomet
hingt
obet
ruebutt
heot
herchar
act
ersor
t
her eader
sbeli
eveother
wise.

Thef
ir
stquest
iont
oaski
s,

whatar
ethemostobv
iousi
roni
esi
nthewor
k?

Thesecondi
s,Howar
etheyi
mpor
tant
?

What
,forexampl
e,ar
ethei
rimpl
i
cat
ions?

Poi
ntofVi
ew

Thr
eequest
ionsdet
ermi
nepoi
ntofv
iew(
whot
ell
sust
hest
oryandhowi
tist
old)
:

I
stheonet
ell
i
ngt
hest
oryachar
act
eri
nthest
oryornot
?

Howmuchi
sthi
sper
sonal
l
owedt
oknow?

Towhatextentdoest
henar
rat
orl
ooki
nsi
det
hechar
act
ersandr
epor
tthei
rfeel
i
ngsand
thought
s?

Pointsofvi
ew(al
soknownasP.O.V.ornarr
ati
veperspect
ives)f
all
underthr
eebroadcat
egori
es:
fi
rst-
person(
acharact
erint
hestor
y),t
heinf
requent
lyusedsecond-per
son(addr
esses'
you'
),
andthir
d-per
son(notachar
act
erinthest
ory).

Poi
ntofv
iewcanbecl
assi
fi
edi
ntot
hesecat
egor
ies:

1)Omni scient( t
hir
d-per
sonomni sci
ent):
Thenar r
at orcan, andusuallydoes, r
eporttheinner
feel
ingsandt houghtsofcharact
ers.Thenarr
atorisusual l
ynotanact ualcharacterinstorybut
aninv i
sibl
est oryt
ell
erwhocanseeandr epor
tany thing.Thisnarratorcani ncl
udejudgment s
i
ntot hestory( edi
tori
alomnisci
ence),orj
ustreportchar acters'
thoughts,feeli
ngs,acti
onsand
wordsandl etthereadercomet ohisorherownj udgment s(neutralomniscience).

2)LimitedOmni scient(thi
rd-personlimi
ted):
Thenar r
atortell
st hestoryinthet hi
rdperson,but
tel
lsitf
rom thev i
ewpoi ntofone( somet i
mesmor e)character(
s)i nthestory.Thisunnamed
narrat
orknowsev eryt
hingaboutt hemaincharacter,butdoesnotr evealtheinnerthoughtsof
othercharact
ers' thenar r
atorhassamel i
mitat
ionsast hepr otagonist.Thisperspecti
ve
approximatesreal l
if
emor ecloselythananomni scientpoint-
of-view.
3)Fir
st-Per
sonCent
ral
:Thenar
rat
ori
sal
sot
hepr
otagoni
stoft
hest
oryandt
ell
sthest
oryf
rom
herperspect
ive.

4)Fi
rst
-Per
sonObser
ver:Thenar
ratori
sacharact
erinthest
orybutnotnecessar
il
ythemai
n
char
acter'
hetel
l
stheprot
agoni
st'
sstory
,hav
ingwitnessedmostofi
t.

5)Objecti
ve:Thenarratorisnotacharacter
,butdi
splay
snoomni sci
ence,r
eport
snothought
s
orfeel
ings.Thi
snarratorisli
keajournali
stormov i
ecamera(t
hought hesevi
ewpoi
nts,
too,
haveanglesandbiases) ,
stri
ctl
yrepor
tingexter
nal
sandnotexplaini
nganythi
ng.

6)Stream-of
-Consci
ousness:Theaut
horgi
vesusnotonlythev i
ewpointchar
acter
'srel
evant
thoughtsorfeel
i
ngs,buti
mitatest
hewholefl
owofthatcharacter
'smind.Sent
encest r
uctur
e
canbecomeunconv enti
onalandtr
ansi
ti
onsil
logi
cal
astheaut horat
temptstorepli
catefr
ee
associat
ion.

7)Second-Person:Thenarratoruses'you't
ocreateanidenti
fi
cati
onwit
ht hereaderandthet
ext,
drawingthereaderintot
hewor kandev eni
mplicat
ingthereaderi
nthestory
'sacti
onsand
outcome.Thistechniqueisratherrar
eincontempor ar
ystori
eswrit
teni
nEngl i
shandoftenused
fordidact
icpurposes.

Ver yoften,thereadercandr awconcl usionsaboutast ory'

snarr
atorbaseduponwhati s
repor t
ed.Ther eadermayconcl udet hatanar ratorisreli
ableandpr ovidi
nganhonestand
straightfor
war daccount .Howev er,oftenanar rator,
especiall
yafirst-personnarr
ator,canseem
tobepr ovi
dingani nterpret
ati
ont hatisdi f
fer
entf rom theauthor'
sorwhi chisobv i
ouslybi
ased,
i
nwhi chcaset henar ratori
sviewedasunr el
iable.Somet i
mesanar ratorisunrel
i
ablebecause
shei sunsophi st
icated( ort
ooy oung, innocent,naive)andunablet of ull
yunderst
andt heevents
thatshedescr i
bes,althoughther eadercanusual lyseethesignif
icanceoft heev ents.

Onef i
nalthi
ngt okeepi nmindaboutnar
rati
veperspecti
veistheimpactthatt
imehasuponhow
thereaderperceivesevents;whi
l
esomest ori
esaretoldasiftheevent
shav ej
usthappened,
somet i
mesanar rat
orindi
catesthatt
heeventsofthestoryt
ookplacelongago,i
nwhichcase
thestoryi
sar etrospecti
veone.
Tone

Tonecanbedefi
nedastheval
uethatst
yleorgest
uregi
vest
owor ds.Mostof
ten,
astor
y'
stone
convey
sthewri
ter
'sort
hecharact
er'
satt
it
udetowardsomet
hing.Tonecanbesai
dtobe:

ser
ious,

sar
cast
ic,

l
i
ght
hear
ted,

angr
y,

oranynumberofot
hert
erms.

Poet
ry

'
Poetryawakensandenlar
gestheminditselfbyrenderingitt
her ecept
ableofathousand
unapprehendedcombi
nati
onsofthought
.Poet ryli
ftstheveil
from thehiddenbeautyoft
he
worl
d,andmakesf amil
i
arobject
sbeasift heywerenotf amili
ar..
.Thegreatinst
rumentof
moralgoodi st
heimagi
nati
on;andpoetr
yadmi nisterstotheeffectbyacti
nguponacause.'(
PB
Shel
ly)

Remarkedthatthelanguageofpoetr
yshoul
dbet hecurr
entl
anguage,t
oanydegr
eeheight
ened
andunli
keit
self,butnot
(imeannormally
:passi
ngfreaksandgracesar
eanot
herthi
ng)an
obsel
eteone:'
(Geral
dManl eyHopki
ns)

Poet
ict
ext
shav
eat
endencyt
o

r
elat
ivebr
evi
ty(
wit
hsomenot
abl
eexcept
ions)

denseexpr
essi
on

expr
esssubj
ect
ivi
tymor
ethanot
hert
ext
s

di
spl
ayamusi
cal
orsongl
i
kequal
i
ty

best
ruct
ural
l
yandphonol
ogi
cal
l
yov
erst
ruct
ured
besy
ntact
ical
l
yandmor
phol
ogi
cal
l
yov
erst
ruct
ured

dev
iat
efr
om ev
ery
dayl
anguage

aestheti
cself
-ref
erent
ial
i
ty(
whichmeanst
hattheydrawattent
iontothemselv
esasar
tfor
m
boththroughtheforminwhichtheyar
ewr
it
tenandthroughexpli
citr
efer
encestot
hewri
ti
ngof
poetry)

Poetry,
especial
lyint
hef or
m ofsong,isoneoftheoldestfor
msofarti
sti
cexpressi
on,much
oldert
hanpr ose,andthati
tseemst oanswer'ortoorigi
natein'
ahumani mpulsethatr
eaches
forexpressi
oninjoy,gri
ef,doubt
,hope,l
onel
iness,
andmuchmor e.

Ty
pesofPoet
ry

ACROSTIC:Thefi
rstl
ett
ersoft
hel
i
nesofthi
sty
peofpoem spel
l outt
hetopi
cort
it
leofthe
poem.Acrost
icpoemsmayormaynotrhy
me.Herei
sanacr ost
icpoem wri
tt
enbyFungai
Njenga:

Lov
e

Li
ket
her
hyt
hm ofar
iver

Ouraf
fect
ionsshal
lfl
owet
h

Vi
athepr
omi
seswegi
vet
h

Eachot
herasanal
i
bif
orev
er

BALLAD: ashortnarrat
ivepoem wi t
hst anzasoftwoorf ourli
nesandusual l
yar efr
ain.Thestor
y
ofaballadcanor i
ginat
efrom awi derangeofsubj ectmatterbutmostf requent l
ydeal swit
hfol
k
-l
oreorpopularlegends.Theyarewr it
teninstrai
ght-f
orwardverse,seldom wi thdetail
,but
alwayswi t
hgraphicsimpli
cit
yandf orce.Mostbal l
adsaresuitabl
ef orsingingand, while
sometimesv ari
edinpracti
ce,aregener al
lywri
tteninball
admet er.(i
.e.
,alternati
nglinesof
i
ambict etr
ameterandi ambictri
met er
,wi t
hthelastwordsoft hesecondandf our
thlines
rhymi
ng. )Anexampl eofaballadwoul dbeColeridge'
s'TheRimeoft heAnci entMar i
ner'

BLANKVERSE: Blankv erseispoetr

yt hathasnosetstanzasorl i
nel engt
h.I
tisacommonf or
m
ofpoetr
yseenof t
eninShakespear e,Mi l
ton,
Yeats,
Auden, St
ev ens,andFrost
.Infact
,agr
eat
dealofthegr
eatestl
iteratur
einEnglishhasbeenwr it
teninblankv erse.Bl
ankver
seis
unrhymedli
nesthatfollowast r
ictr
hy thm,usual
l
yiambicpent amet er.
CINQUAIN:aci
nquai
norqui
ntai
nisaf
ivel
i
nest
anza,
var
iedi
nrhy
meandl
i
ne,
usual
l
ywi
tht
he
rhymeschemeababb.

CLERIHEW:Arefunnypoemsaboutr ealpeople.Acler
ihewhasf
our-l
i
nesandanAABBr hy
ming
scheme.Thefi
rstl
ineincludest
heperson'sname.Forexample,
hereisacl
eri
hewwrit
tenby
FungaiNj
engaHerCl er
ihewMypr i
ncessRudoI 'l
lsacr
ifi
cemypr
izedlambi
nBordeauxTo
exorci
set
heraven'sheartasasignofloveWithinadov e

COUPLET: I
sapai
rofl
inesthatr
hyme.Thecoupl
etmaybecomplet
einit
sel
formaybepar
tof
alongerpoem:
Theart
istst
irr
edsomeblueandgreenTopai
ntanunder
waterscene.

DIAMANTE: Isaseven-
li
ne,di
amondshapedpoemst hatf
oll
owaspecif
icpat
ter
nsusi
ngpart
s
ofspeech.Eachli
neusesadi f
fer
entpar
tofspeech.Manydi
amantepoemsbeginwi
thone
subj
ectandt hent
ransi
ti
ons/endstoacont
rast
ingsubj
ecti
nthefour
thli
ne.

ELEGY:wasori
ginal
lyusedforatypeofpoeti
cmetre(El
egi
acmetre)
,buti
sal
sousedfora
poem ofmour
ning,fr
om theGreekelegos,
arefl
ect
iononthedeat
hofsomeoneoronasor r
ow
gener
all
y.I
nadditi
on,anelegy(
somet i
messpell
edeleg'
e)maybeatypeofmusi
calwork,
usual
l
yinasadandsomberat t
it
ude.

EPI
C:anEpicisalongnarr
ati
vepoem cel
ebr
ati
ngtheadvent
uresandachiev
ementsofahero..
.
epi
csty
pical
lydealwi
ththetr
adi
ti
ons,mythi
cal
orhist
ori
calofanati
on.Forexampl
e,'
Beowulf
'

FREEVERSE: aterm descri

bingv ar
iousstyl
esofpoetr
yt hatar
enotwrit
tenusi
ngst
ri
ctmet
eror
rhy
me, butt
hatstil
larerecognizabl
eas' poet
ry'
byvir
tueofcompl expat
ter
nsofonesor
tor
anothert
hatreaderscanperceivetobepar tofacoherentwhole.

HAIKU:i
sanunrhymedJapanesev er
seconsi
sti
ngofthr
eeunrhy
medlinesoffi
ve,seven,
and
f
ivesyl
l
ables(
5,7,5)or17sy l
labl
esi
nall
.Hai
kuisusual
lywr
it
tenint
hepresenttenseand
f
ocusesonnature(seasons)
.
LI
MERI CK:aLimericki
sarhy medhumor ousornonsensepoem off i
veli
neswhi choriginatedi
n
Li
merick,I
rel
and.TheLimerickhasasetr hy
meschemeof: a-a-
b-b-
awi t
hasy ll
ablestructureof
:
9-
9-6-
6-9.Therhyt
hm ofthepoem shoul dgoasfoll
ows:Lines1,2,5:weak,weak, STRONG,
weak,weak,STRONG, weak,weak, STRONG,weak,weakLines3, 4:
weak, weak,STRONG, weak,
weak,STRONG, weak,weakThi si
st hemostcommonl yheardfi
rstl
ineofalimer i
ck:"
Ther e
oncewasamanf rom Nantucket.
"Hereisali
merickwrit
tenbyFungai Nj
enga:

Myl
i
mer
ick

Iof
fermyl
ovet
oyou

Asal
oveof
fer
ingf
rom God'
sfew

Reser
voi
rsf
orI
'
m notascowar
dlyasThy
ami
s

TheEgy
pti
ant
hiefwhoi
sinsuchamess

Forki
dnappi
ngi
nor
dert
omar
ryanew.

LYRI
C:isaform ofpoetr
ythatdoesnotattemptt otel
lastor
y,asdoepicpoetryanddramati
c
poet
ry,buti
sofamor epersonalnaturei
nstead.Rathert
hanportr
ayi
ngcharactersandact
ions,
thel
yri
cpoetaddressesthereaderdir
ect
ly,port
rayi
nghisorherownfeeli
ngs,statesofmi
nd,
andpercept
ions.

NARRATI VE:i
spoetryt
hatt
ell
sastory.Init
sbr oadestsense,
iti
ncludesepi
cpoetr
y;some
wouldreserv
et henamenarr
ati
vepoetryforwor ksonasmal l
erscaleandgener
all
ywithmor
e
di
rectappealtohumanint
erestt
hantheepi c.

ODE:anOdeisapoem pr
aisi
ngandglori
fyi
ngaperson,
placeort
hing.Thepatt
ernsoft
he
st
anzaswit
hinanodefol
l
ownopr escr
ibedpat
ter
n.Awel l
knownexampl eofanodewouldbe
'
OdeonaGr eci
anUrn'
byJohnKeats.

QUATRAIN:
aQuatr
ainisapoem consi
sti
ngoff
ourli
nesofver
sewit
haspeci
fi
crhy
ming
scheme.Af
ewexamplesofaquatrai
nrhymi
ngschemeareasfol
l
ows:
1)abab

2)abba-
-env
eloper
hyme

3)aabb

4)aaba,
bbcb,
ccdc,
dddd-
-chai
nrhy
me

SESTINA:Asest i
naisacompl exfor
mr elyi
ngont herepeti
ti
onofend-words.Aswi thallpoeti
c
for
ms, t
hesestinawor ksbestwhenreadaloud.Agoodpoetwi l
lmaket hei
ncessantr epeti
ti
on
ofwords,necessaryinthisfor
m,seem natural
.Theform ofthesesti
naisdemandi ng.Thereare
39li
nesinthesest i
nabr okeni
nto6stanzasof6l i
neseachandonef i
nalst
anzaof3l ines.The
l
astwordineachoft hef ir
stsi
xli
nesofthepoem i sr
epeatedast hel
astwordinv aryi
ngl i
nes
thr
oughoutthepoem.

SONNET: thet er
m sonneti sderi
vedf rom t
hePr oven'alwordsonetandt heIt
ali
anword'sonett
o',
bothmeani nglit
tl
esong.Byt het hi
rteenthcentury
, i
thadcomet osi
gnifyapoem offourteen
l
inesfoll
owi ngast r
ictrhy
meschemeandl ogicalstruct
ure.Theconventionsassoci
atedwi t
h
thesonnethav echangeddur ingitshistor
y.Tradit
ionall
y,Engl
ishpoetsusuallyusei
ambic
pentameterwhenwr it
ingsonnets.IntheRomancel anguages,hendecasy l
l
ableand
Alexandr
inesar ethemostwi delyusedmet r
es.Sonnet sarewrit
teniniambicpentameter.

TheEngl
i
shsonnetadher
est
othi
srhy
mepat
ter
n:

ABABCDCDEFEFGG,
orav
ari
ati
ononi
t.

TheI
tal
i
ansonnetusual
l
yfol
l
owst
hispat
ter
n:

ABBAABBACDECDE.Somet
imest
het
ercet
s(gr
oupsoft
hreel
i
nes)v
ary
.Thesev
ari
ati
onscan
l
ookli
ke:

CDCDCDorCDCDDCorCDCEDC.

Therei
sasecondf orm ofEngli
shsonnetknownastheSpenseriansonnet.I
trhy
mesABAB
BCBCCDCDEE.I tf
oll
owst hesamebasicpatt
ernastheShakespeareansonnetbutvar
iest
he
rhy
me.Final
ly,t
hereisalsoanothert
ypeofasonnetknownast heMi l
toni
csonnetnamedafter
i
tsexponentJohnMi l
ton.

VILLANELLE: Borrowedfr
om t heFrench,thevi
llanel
lei
sapoem ofheav yrepeti
ti
onmade
famousbyDy l
anThomas' s'DoNotGoGent leIntoThatGoodni ght.
'I
nthispoem, asinall
vil
lanel
l
es,entir
el i
nesar
er epeated.Ninet
eenlineslong,t
hev il
lanel
lenotonlyrepeat
slines,
it
rhymes.Thepat terni
sABAABAABAABAABAABAA.Thef i
rstandt hi
rdl
inesofthepoem
repeatalt
ernati
velyatt
heendsofev erysubsequentstanza.Usuallycompletediniambic
t
etr
amet
erorpent
amet
er,
thepoem hasacl
earcadence.

IAMBI
CPENTAMETER: i
samet eri
npoetr
y.Itr
efer
stoalineconsi
sti
ngoffi
veiambi
cfeet
.The
word"
pentameter"si
mplymeansthatt
herearefi
vefeeti
ntheli
ne;i
ambicpent
ameteri
saline
compr
isi
ngfiv
ei ambs.

ELEMENTSOFPOETRY

MEANI
NG

THEME:
Apoem'
sthemei
sit
scent
ral
message'
i
tsgener
alst
atementaboutl
i
feorpeopl
e.

DI
CTION:Thechoiceofwordsanaut
horuses.Poet
sint
enti
onal
lyusewordswi
thmult
ipl
e
meani
ngsandderiveambigui
tyandr
ichnessf
rom t
heassoci
ati
onofthesewor
ds.When
st
udyi
ngdict
ion,
consider
:

1)
DENOTATI
ON:
Thest
andar
ddi
cti
onar
ymeani
ngofawor
d,wi
thoutassoci
ati
onsorov
ert
ones.

2)CONNOTATI ON: Theinterpretati

onsofawor dbey ondit
sli
teraldefi
nit
ion.Theemoti
onal,
psychol
ogical,
orsocialovertonesori mpli
cati
onsthatawor dcarriesinaddit
iont
oitsdi
cti
onary
meaning.Ifyoulookupt hewor df at
herinthedict
ionary,t
hefir
stdefini
ti
ony oufi
ndis?male
parent
.?Formostpeopl e,howev er
,thesamewor dhasaddi t
ionalmeaningsandcarri
esother
i
mpl i
cati
ons,suchasl ove,protecti
on,securi
ty,
andsy mpathy.Thus,wet al
kaboutthe
fat
herl
and, t
hefatherofourcount r
y,andafatherl
yat t
it
ude.

TONE: Theaut hor'

satti
tudetowardasubjectoraudience.Tounder standt one,wemustanal yze
al
lthepoeticel ements:i
magery,simil
e,metaphor,i
rony,overstat
ement ,denotati
on,connotat
ion,
andsof ort
h.Exampl es:bit
ter
,humorous,j
oy ous,i
roni
c,satiri
c,seri
ous,businessli
ke,ornat
e,
somber ,
cynical,mocking,whimsical
,sympatheti
c,desperate,exul
tant,cal
mr esignati
on,
admirati
on,etc.

I
MAGERY:Wordst
hatnamesensei
mpressi
onsofheari
ng,t
aste,
touch,smel
l
,andsight
.The
dev
icei
susedbyt
hepoett
odrawapict
ureint
hereader'
smind.Poetsoft
enusefi
guresof
speecht
ofor
mimager
y.I
mager
ymakesapoem comeal
i
ve.

TYPESOFI
MAGERY:

VI
SUAL-
imagesofsi
ght

AUDI
TORY-
imagesofsound

OLFACTORY-
imagesofsmel
l

GUSTATORY-
imagesoft
ast
e

TACTI
LE-
imagesoft
ouch

KI
NESTHETI
C-i
magesofmot
ionandact
ivi
ty(
appl
i
est
ohumanorani
mal
act
ivi
ty)

KI
NETI
C'i
magesofmot
ionandact
ivi
ty(
appl
i
est
ogener
almot
ionofobj
ect
s)

ALLEGORY:Aworkinwhicheachel ementsy
mbolizes,orr
epresent
s,somethi
ngelse.For
example,
thenur
ser
yrhyme- '
Humpt yDumpty'i
sreall
yapolit
icalal
l
egory
,repr
esenti
ngpeopl
ein
gover
nmentwhowerefal
lingfrom power.

FI
GURATI
VELANGUAGE,ORFIGURESOFSPEECH:Af
igur
eofspeechisanexpressi
onthathas
moret
hanal
it
eral
meani
ng.Thefol
lowi
ngar
eexampl
esofcommonf i
guresofspeech

PERSONI
FICATI
ON:
afi
gur
eofspeechi
nwhi
chobj
ect
sandani
mal
shav
ehumanqual
i
ties

HYPERBOLE:afi
gur
eofspeechi
nvol
vi
nggr
ossexagger
ati
onf
orr
het
ori
cal
eff
ect-
over
stat
ement:

'
Ourhandswer
efi
rml
ycement
ed.
'

JohnDonne,
-TheEcst
asy

METAPHOR: afi
gureofspeechwhi
chmakesadir
ectcompari
sonoftwounli
keobj
ect
sby
i
dent
if
icat
ionorsubst
it
uti
on.All
thewor
ld'
sast
age.Will
i
am Shakespear
e,AsYoul
i
keIt
EXTENDEDMETAPHOR: Anext
endedmet
aphorr
esult
swhenamet
aphorbecomesel
abor
ateor
complex.I
thasl
engt
handthei
deasar
emoreful
l
yil
lustr
ated.

SI
MILE:
adi
rectcompar
isonoft
wounl
i
keobj
ect
s,usi
ngl
i
keoras

ALLUSI
ON: ani
ndirectr
efer
encet
oaper
son,
event
,orpl
ace,
real
orf
rom anot
herl
i
ter
arywor
k,a
workofar
t.orhi
story.

STANZAFORM

STANZA:
ref
erst
oagroupi
ngofli
nesdi
vi
dingapoem l
i
kepar
agr
aphsi
npr
ose.Thef
oll
owi
ng
ar
esomecommontypesofst
anza:

COUPLET:
Ref
erst
oat
wov
ersest
anzat
hatr
hyme(
2li
nes)

TRI
PLETORTERCET:
Ref
erst
oat
hreev
ersest
anza(
3li
nes)

QUATRAI
N:Ref
erst
oaf
ourv
ersest
anza(
4li
nes)

SESTET:
Ref
erst
oasi
xver
sest
anza(
6li
nes)

OCTAVE/
OCTET:
Ref
erst
oanei
ghtv
ersest
anza(
8li
nes)

REFRAIN:
Ther
epet
it
ionofoneormor
ephr
asesorl
i
nesati
nter
val
sinapat
ter
nbet
ween
st
anzas.

CAESURA:
abr
eakorpausei
nal
i
neofv
erse
SOUND

RHYME:
thel
i
kenessofsoundexi
sti
ngbet
weenwor
ds.

ENDRHYME:
theuseofr
hymi
ngwor
dsatt
heendsofl
i
nes

I
NTERNALRHYME:
theuser
hymi
ngwor
dwi
thi
nli
nes.

EXAMPLE:
Smal
lfeetwer
epat
ter
ing,
woodenshoescl
att
eri
ng.

EXACTRHYME:
per
fectr
hymi
ngwor
ds,
wher
ebot
hthev
owel
andt
heconsonantsoundsr
hyme;

Mi
niv
erCheev
y,chi
l
dofscor
n,

Gr
ewl
eanwhi
l
eheassai
l
edt
heseasons;

Heweptt
hathewasev
erbor
n,

Andhehadr
easons.

NEARRHYME,
ORSLANTRHYME: theuseofr
hymingsoundst
hatar
esi
mil
arbutnoti
dent
ical
,
asi
nrav
eandrov
e;bl
eakandbr
oke;coul
dandsol
i
tude.

EYERHYME:
rhy
met
hatdependsonspel
l
ingr
athert
hanonsound'

Ty
ger
!Ty
ger
!bur
ningbr
ight

I
nthef
orest
soft
heni
ght
,

Whati
mmor
tal
handorey
e

Coul
dfr
amet
hyf
ear
ful
symmet
ry?

RHYMESCHEME: t
hepatter
norsequenceinwhi
chrhymesoccur
.Fir
stsoundisl
abel
eda,
secondi
sb, t
hir
disc,
etc.Whenthefi
rstsoundi
srepeat
edwit
hinthever
selabel
itaal
so.Her
e
i
showi t
'sdone:
Gat
hery
erosebudswhi
l
eyemay
,a

Ol
dti
mei
sst
il
la-
fl
yi
ng;
b

Andt
hissamef
lowert
hatsmi
l
est
odaya

Tomor
rowwi
l
lbedy
ing.b

Rober
tHer
ri
ck,
-'
Tot
heVi
rgi
nst
oMakeMuchofTi
me'

ALLI
TERATION:
repet
it
ionofbegi
nningconsonantsoundsi
ntwoormor
enei
ghbor
ingwor
ds,
as
i
nPeterPi
perpi
ckedapeckofpickl
edpeppers.

CONSONANCE:therepet
it
ionofconsonantsoundspr
ecededbydi
ff
erentv
owel
soundsi
n
nei
ghbor
ingwor
ds,asinwindandround

ASSONANCE: t
herepet
it
ionofvowel
soundsfol
lowedbydi f
fer
entconsonantsoundsi
n
nei
ghbori
ngwords,
asinprai
sedandplai
ns.Gener
all
y,assonanceoccursi
naccentedwor
dsor
syl
l
ables

ONOMATOPOEI A:t
heuseofwordsorphr
asest
hatsoundli
kethet
hingst
owhichtheyref
er.
Exampl
es:Thehowl
ingwi
nd,thewail
i
ngwoman,thebuzzofabee;
thegur
gli
ngbrook;t
hehiss
ofasnake;
meow,boom,cl
ink,et
c.

METER

RHYTHM Thear
rangementofst
ressedandunst
ressedsy
ll
abl
es.

METERThepatt
ernofstr
essedandunstressedsy
ll
ablesi
npoetr
y.Twopopularty
pesof
pat
ter
nsar
eiambic(unst
ressedandst
ressed)andtr
ochai
c(st
ressedandunstr
essed)
.

I
AMB, ORI AMBI
CFOOT(- -/):r
isingfootconsi
sti
ngoftwosyll
ables.Thefi
rstonei
s
unst
ressed;t
hesecondoneisstressed--
AFRAID.Themetermostcommonl yusedisiambi
c.
I
ambicisthemeterthatmostnear l
yapproxi
matesther
hythm ofordinar
yspeech.I
tist
he
rhy
thm commonlyusedbyrapart
ist
sandbyShakespear
e.Themostcommoniambi
cli
ne
l
engt hi
spent
ameter,
orfi
vefeet
.Thusali
neoffi
veiambicfeeti
scal
l
ediambi
cpent
ameter.
Basical
l
y10syll
abl
esperl
ine'

Thatt
imeofy
eart
houmay
sti
nmebehol
d

Wheny
ell
owl
eav
es,
ornone,
orf
ewdohang

Upont
hoseboughswhi
chshakeagai
nstt
hecol
d,

Bar
erui
n'
dchoi
rs,
wher
elat
ethesweetbi
rdssang.

Wi
l
li
am Shakespear
e,Sonnet73

Acompletedescr
ipt
ionofthemet erofali
neincludesbot
ht heter
mf orthetypeoffootthat
predomi
natesint
helineandt het
ermf ort
henumberoff eetintheli
ne.Themostcommon
Engli
shmetersar
eiambi ctet
rameterandiambicpentameter.Pl
easenotethatnotallofthe
ty
pesofmet er
saredefinedhere.

BLANKVERSE:
unr
hymedi
ambi
cpent
amet
er

FREEVERSE:av
oidst
radit
ionalpat
ternsofor
ganizati
onanddoesnotrel
yonmeter,r
hyme,
li
ne
l
ength,
orst
anzastoproduceorder
.Itoft
enpresentsradi
cal
vari
ati
onsinl
inel
engt
handhasno
rhy
meschemeordisti
nctstanzasatall
.

CONTRAST: Tocomparei nordertoshowunli

kenessordi
ffer
ences,notetheopposi
tenatur
es,
pur
poses,etc.InWi
ll
iam Shakespeare'
sSonnet130,t
hespeakercontr
astshismistr
essto
var
iousacceptedsy
mbol sofadorati
on:

Mymi
str
essey
esar
enot
hingl
i
ket
hesun;

Cor
ali
sfarmor
eredt
hanherl
i
psr
ed;

I
fsnowbewhi
te,
whyt
henherbr
east
sar
edun:

I
fhai
rsbewi
res,
blackwi
resgr
owonherhead.

IRONY:Theconf
li
ctbetweenwhatseemsandwhati
sder
ivesf
rom t
hiscl
ashbet
ween
appear
anceandreal
it
y.
PARADOX:
Ast
atementt
hati
scont
radi
ctor
y,y
etexpr
essesat
ypeoft
rut
h.

"
Myonl
ylov
espr
ungf
rom myonl
yhat
e!"

-
Shespeaks,
yetshesay
snot
hing.
"'Romeo&Jul
i
et

PARALLELI
SM: arhet
ori
caltechni
quei
nwhichapoetemphasi
zestheequal
v al
ueorwei
ghtof
twoormoreideasbyexpressi
ngthem i
nthesamegrammati
calf
orm,asinthephr
ase-wi
th
hope,
withj
oy,andwithl
ov e

REPETI
TION:Aphraseorwordwi
thi
nthepoem i
susedagai
nandagaintost
ressapoint
,tol
i
nk
andemphasi
zeideas,t
ogiv
ethepoem bal
ance,
ort
omakeabr eakbet
weenverses.

RHETORICALQUESTION:aquest
ionaskedforef
fectbutnotmeantt
obeansweredbecause
theansweri
sclearf
rom t
hecont
extasinChri
sti
naRossetti
'
sli
nes?Whohasseenthewind-
Neit
heryounorI.

Dr
ama

Dramaist
hespeci
fi
cmodeoff ict
ionrepr
esentedi
nperf
ormance.Theter
m comesfr
om a
Greekwor
dmeaning"act
ion"(
Classi
calGreek:
drama)
,whichi
sderivedfr
om t
hever
bmeaning
"
todo"or"
toact
".

Dr
amat
icSub-
genr
es

Ty
pesofComedi
es

Somet i
mes, schol
arsdisti
ngui
shbetweenhighcomedy,whi
chappealstotragicomedyt he
i
ntell
ect(comedyofi deas)andhasaseriouspur
pose(f
orexample,tocri
ti
cise),andlow
comedy ,wheregreateremphasisi
splacedonsit
uati
oncomedy,slapst
ickandf arce.Ther
ear
e
fur
thersub-genresofcomedy :

Romant
icComedy
:
Apairofloversandtheirstrugglet
ocomet oget
herisusual
l
yatthecentreofromanti
ccomedy.
Romanticcomedi esalsoinvolvesomeextr
aordi
narycir
cumstances,
forexample,
magic,
dreams,thefair
y-wor
ld,etc.Examplesar
eShakespeare'sAMidsummerNi ght
'sDream orAs
YouLikeIt.

Sat
ir
icComedy
:

Sati
ri
ccomedyhasacr i
ti
calpur
pose.Itusuall
yatt
acksphilosophi calnot
ionsorpolit
ical
pract
icesaswellasgeneral
deviat
ionsfrom soci
alnormsbyr idiculi
ngcharacters.I
not her
words:theai
mi snottomakepeopl e'l
aughwith't
hecharactersbut' l
aughat't
hem.Anear ly
writ
erofsati
ri
calcomedieswasAristophanes(450-385BC),laterexamplesincludeBen
Jonson'sVol
poneandTheAl chemists.

ComedyofManner
s:

Thecomedyofmanner sisalsosatir
icalinit
sout l
ookandittakesthear t
if
ici
aland
sophisticatedbehaviourofthehighersoci al
classesundercloserscrut
iny.Theplotusuall
y
revolvesar oundloveorsomesor tofamor ousintr
igueandthelanguagei smarkedbywi tty
reparteesandcy nici
sm.Anci entrepresentat
ivesofthi
sform ofcomedyar eTerenceand
Plautus, andtheformr eacheditspeakwi ththeRestorat
ioncomedi esofWi l
l
iam Wy cher
leyand
Will
iam Congr eve.

Far
ce:

Thef arcetypi
cal
lypr
ovokesv iewer
stohear t
ylaught
er.I
tpresent
shi ghl
yexagger at
edand
caricat
uredt y
pesofcharactersandoftenhasanunli
kelypl
ot.Farcesempl oysexualmix-
ups,
verbalhumourandphy sicalcomedy,andtheyformedacent r
alpartoftheItal
i
ancommedi a
dell
'art
e.InEngli
shplay
s, far
ceusuall
yappearsasepisodesinlar
gercomi calpieces,f
or
exampl e,i
nShakespeare'sTheTamingoft heShrew.

ComedyofHumour
s:

BenJonsondev elopedt hecomedyofhumour s,whichisbasedont heassumptionthata

person'
scharacterort emperamentisdeterminedbyt hepredominanceofoneoff ourhumours
(i
.e.
,bodyli
quids):blood(=sanguine),phl
egm (=phlegmat i
c),y
ell
owbi l
e(=choler
ic),bl
ackbi
l
e
(=melancholi
c).Inthecomedyofhumour s,charactersaremarkedbyoneoft hese
predi
sposi
ti
onswhi chcauset hei
reccentr
ici
tyordistort
edpersonali
ty.AnexampleisBen
Jonson'
sEv er
yMani nHisHumour .
Mel
odr
ama:

Melodramai satypeofst
ageplaywhichbecamepopularinthe19centur
y.I
tmixesr
omanti
cor
sensational
plotswit
hmusical
elements.Lat
er,
themusicalelement
swerenolonger
consideredessent
ial
.Mel
odramaaimsatav iol
entappealt
oaudienceemoti
onsandusual
l
yhas
ahappyendi ng.

Ty
pesofTr
agedi
es

SenecanTr
agedy
:

Apr ecursoroft
ragicdramawer et
hetragediesbyt
heRomanpoetSeneca( 4BC' 65AD).His
tr
agedi eswererecit
edratherthanstagedbuttheybecameamodel f
orEngli
shplaywri
ghts
entail
ingthefi
ve-actst
ructure,acomplexplotandanelev
atedst
yleofdi
alogue.

Rev
engeTr
agedy/Tr
agedyofBl
ood:

Thistypeoft ragedyr epr esentedapopul argenreint heElizabethanAgeandmadeext ensive

useofcer t
ainel ement soft heSenecant ragedysuchasmur der,r evenge, mutil
ati
onsand
ghosts.Typical exampl esoft hi
ssub-genreareChr i
st opherMar lowe' sTheJewofMal ta,
Shakespeare'sTi tusAndr onicusandThomasKy d'
sTheSpani shTr agedy .Thesepl ay
swer e
writ
teninver seand, followingAr ist
otel
ianpoetics,themai nchar acterswer eofahi ghsocial
rank(thehighert heyar e, t
hel owertheyfall
).Apartfrom deal i
ngwi t
hv i
olentsubjectmatter
s,
theseplaysconv enti
onal lymadeuseofdumbshowsorpl ay-within-the-pl
ay,thatisaplay
performedaspar toft hepl otoftheplayasf orexampl e'
TheMouset rap'whichisperformedin
Haml et,
andf eignedorr eal madnessi nsomeoft hechar acters.

Domest
ic/Bour
geoi
sTr
agedy
:

Inlinewit
hachangi ngsocialsystem wher
ethemi ddleclassgai nedt heincreasingimpor t
ance
andpower , t
ragediesfrom the18centuryonwardshiftedtheirfocust opr otagonistsfr
om the
mi ddl
eorl owerclassesandwer ewri
tteni
nprose.Thepr otagoni sttypi
callysuffersadomest i
c
disasterwhichisintendedtoar ouseempathyratherthanpityandf earintheaudi ence.An
exampl eisGeor geLil
lo'sTheLondonMer chant:
or ,
TheHi storyofGeor geBar nwell(1731).

Modernt
ragedi
essuchasAr
thurMi
l
ler
'sTheDeat
hofaSal
esman(1949)f
oll
owl argel
ythenew
conv
enti
onssetfor
thbyt
hedomest
ict
ragedy(
commonconfl
i
ct,
commonchar acters,
prose)
andanumberofcont emporaryplayshaveexchangedthetragi
cher
oforananti-
hero,whodoes
notdispl
aythedigni
tyandcourageofat r
adit
ionalher
obutispassi
ve,pett
yandineff
ectual
.
Otherdramasresusci
tat
eelement sofanci
enttragedi
essuchasthechorusandverse,f
or
example,T.
S.Eli
ot'
sTheMur derintheCathedral(
1935).

Tr
agi
comedy
:

Theboundari
esofgenr
esar
eoftenbl
urr
edindramaandoccasi
onal
l
ytheyl
eadt
othe
emergenceofnewsub-
genr
es,
forexample,
thetr
agi
comedy.

Tragicomedies,asthenamesuggest s,i
ntermingl
econv ent
ionsconcer
ningplot,
characterand
subjectmatterderi
vedf r
om bot
htragedyandcomedy .Thus,char
acter
sofbot hhighandlow
socialrankcanbemi xedasinShakespear e'
sTheMer chantofVenice(1600),
oraser i
ous
confli
ct,whi
chi sl
ikel
ytoendindisaster
,suddenlyreachesahappyendi ngbecauseofsome
unforeseencircumstances

TheEl
ement
sofDr
ama

Theel
ementsofdrama,bywhi
chdramat
icwor
kscanbeanal
yzedandev
aluat
ed,
canbe
cat
egor
izedi
ntothreemaj
orar
eas:

Li
ter
aryel
ement
s

Techni
cal
element
s

Per
for
manceel
ement
s

Ar
ist
otl
e

Ari
stotl
e(384-322BC)wasaGr eekphil
osopherwhosewrit
ingssti
ll
infl
uenceustoday.Hewas
thefi
rsttowri
teabouttheessent
ialel
ementsofdramamor ethan2,000yearsago.Whil
eideas
havechangedsl i
ght
lyovert
heyears,westi
ll
discussAr
ist
otle'
sli
stwhentalki
ngaboutwhat
makest hebestdrama.

Ar
ist
otl
e'
sSi
xEl
ement
sofDr
ama

Ar
ist
otl
econsi
der
edt
hesesi
xthi
ngst
obeessent
ial
togooddr
ama:
Pl
ot:
Thi
siswhathappensi
nthepl
ay.Pl
otr
efer
stot
heact
ion;
thebasi
cst
ory
li
neoft
hepl
ay.

Theme:Whil
eplotr
efer
stotheacti
onoftheplay
, t
hemereferstothemeani
ngoft
hepl
ay.
Themeist
hemai ni
deaorlessontobelear
nedfrom t
heplay.Insomecases,t
het
hemeofa
pl
ayisobv
ious;
otherti
mesitisqui
tesubtl
e.

Charact
ers:Char
act
ersarethepeopl
e(someti
mesanimalsori
deas)por
trayedbyt
heact
orsi
n
theplay
.Iti
sthechar
acter
swhomov etheact
ion,
orpl
ot,
ofthepl
ayforward.

Di
alogue:
Thisref
erst
othewor
dswri
tt
enbytheplay
wr i
ghtandspokenbyt
hechar
act
ersi
nthe
pl
ay.Thedial
oguehel
psmovet
heact
ionoft
heplayalong.

Music/
Rhythm:Whil
emusicisoft
enfeatur
edi
ndr
ama,
int
hiscaseAr
ist
otl
ewasr
efer
ri
ngt
othe
r
hythm oft
heactor
s'voi
cesastheyspeak.

Spect
acl
e:Thi
srefer
stothevi
sualelement
sofaplay
:set
s,costumes,speci
alef
fect
s,et
c.
Spect
acl
eisever
ythi
ngthatt
heaudienceseesast
heywatchtheplay
.

TheModer
nTheat
er

Inthemoder
ntheat
er,
thi
sli
sthaschangedsl
ightl
y,al
thoughy
ouwill
noti
cet
hatmanyofthe
element
sremai
nthesame.Theli
stofessent
ialel
ementsinmoder
ntheat
eri
sasfol
lows:

Char
act
ers

Pl
ot

Theme

Di
alogue

Conv
ent
ion

Genr
e

Audi
ence
Thefir
stf
our,char
act
er,pl
ot,t
hemeanddial
ogueremai
nthesame,
butt
hef
oll
owi
ngaddi
ti
ons
arenowalsoconsi
deredessenti
alel
ement
sofdrama.

Conv
enti
on:
Thesearethetechni
quesandmet
hodsusedbyt
hepl
aywr
ightanddi
rect
ort
o
cr
eat
ethedesi
redst
yli
sti
ceffect
.

Genre:
Genrerefer
stot
hetypeofplay
.Someexampl
esofdi
ff
erentgenr
esi
ncl
udecomedy
,
t
ragedy,my
steryandhi
stor
ical
play
.

Audience:Thi
sisthegroupofpeoplewhowatchthepl
ay.Manyplaywri
ght
sandactors
considert
heaudiencetobethemostimport
antel
ementofdrama, asal
loftheef
for
tputi
nto
wri
ti
ngandpr oducingaplayi
sfortheenj
oymentoftheaudi
ence.

Li
ter
aryEl
ement
sofModer
nTheat
er

Ther
ear
esi
xst
agesi
napl
otst
ruct
ure.

1.I
nit
ial
inci
dent
:Theev
entt
hat'
get
sthest
orygoi
ng'

2.Prel
i
mi nar
yev
ent
:What
evert
akespl
aceBEFOREt
heact
ionoft
hepl
ayt
hati
sdi
rect
lyr
elat
ed
totheplay

3.Ri
si
ngact
ion:
Aser
iesofev
ent
sfol
l
owi
ngt
hei
nit
ial
inci
dentandl
eadi
ngupt
othedr
amat
ic
cl
imax

4.Cl
i
max:
Thet
urni
ngpoi
ntorhi
ghpoi
ntofast
ory
,whenev
ent
scangoei
therway

5.Fal
l
ingact
ion:
Theser
iesofev
ent
sfol
l
owi
ngt
hecl
i
max

6.Denouement
:Anot
hert
ermf
ort
heconcl
usi
onf
rom t
heFr
enchwor
dfor'
unr
avel
i
ng'
Ot
herLi
ter
aryEl
ement
s

Exposi
ti
on:
The'
who,
when,
wher
eandwhat
'par
toft
hepl
ay

St
oryor
gani
zat
ion:
begi
nni
ng,
middl
e,end

Conf
li
ct:
Theinter
nal orext
ernal
str
uggl
ebet
weenopposi
ngf
orces,
ideas,
ori
nter
est
sthat
cr
eat
esdr amat
ictension

Suspense:Afeel
i
ngofuncer
tai
ntyast
otheout
come,
usedt
obui
l
dint
erestandexci
tementon
thepartoft
heaudience

Language:I
ndrama,
theparti
cul
armannerofver
balexpr
essi
on,t
hedi
cti
onorst
yleofwr
it
ing,
or
thespeechorphr
asi
ngthatsuggest
saclassorprof
essi
onorty
peofchar
act
er.

St
yle:
theshapi
ngofdr
amat
icmat
eri
al,
set
ti
ngs,
orcost
umesi
nadel
i
ber
atel
ynon-
real
i
sti
c
manner.

Sol
i
loquy
:Aspeechbyasi
ngl
eact
orwhoi
sALONEonst
age

Monologue:
Alongspeechmadebyoneact
or(
amonol
oguemaybedel
i
ver
edal
oneori
nthe
pr
esenceofother
s.)

Techni
cal
Element
s

Scener
y(set
):Thetheat
ri
cal
equi
pment,suchascur
tai
ns,
flat
s,backdr
ops,
orpl
atf
orms,
usedi
n
adramati
cproduct
iontocommunicat
eenvir
onment

Cost
umes:
Clot
hingandaccessor
ieswor
nbyact
orst
opor
traychar
act
erandper
iod.
Props:Shor
tforpr
operti
es;
anyarti
cle,
exceptcost
umeorscenery
,usedaspartofadramatic
producti
on;
anymov eabl
eobjectt
hatappearsonstagedur
ingaperf
ormance,
from at
elephone
toatrai
n

Ot
herTechni
cal
Element
s

Lights:
Thepl
acement
,int
ensi
ty,
andcol
orofl
i
ght
stohel
pcommuni
cat
eenv
ironment
,mood,
or
feeli
ng.

Sound:Theeff
ectsanaudi
encehear
sdur
ingper
for
mancet
ocommuni
cat
echar
act
er,
cont
ext
,
orenvi
ronment.

Makeup:
Cost
umes,
wigs,
andbodypai
ntusedt
otr
ansf
orm anact
ori
ntoachar
act
er.

Per
for
manceEl
ement
s

Act
ing:
Useoff
ace,
body
,andv
oicet
opor
traychar
act
er.

Char
actermoti
vat
ion:Thereasonorreasonsf
orachar
act
er'
sbehav
ior
;ani
ncent
iveor
i
nducementforf
urtheract
ionforacharact
er

Char
act
eranal
ysi
s:Inrespondingt
odramat
icart
,thepr
ocessofexami
ninghowt
heel
ement
s
ofdr
ama'li
ter
ary
,technical
,andper
for
mance'areused

Empat
hy:
Thecapaci
tyt
orel
atet
othef
eel
i
ngsofanot
her
.

Speaki
ng:
Themodeofexpr
essi
onordel
i
ver
yofl
i
nes

Br
eat
hcont
rol
:Pr
operuseoft
hel
ungsanddi
aphr
agm muscl
eformaxi
mum capaci
tyand
ef
fi
ci
encyofbr
eat
hforspeaki
ng.

Vocal
expr
essi
on:
Howanact
oruseshi
sorherv
oicet
oconv
eychar
act
er.

I
nfl
ect
ion:
Changei
npi
tchorl
oudnessoft
hev
oice.

Pr
oject
ion:
Howwel
lthev
oicecar
ri
est
otheaudi
ence

Speaki
ngst
yle:
Themodeofexpr
essi
onordel
i
ver
yofl
i
nes

Di
cti
on:
Sel
ect
ionandpr
onunci
ati
onofwor
ds;
clar
it
yofspeech.

Nonv
erbal
expr
essi
on

Gest
ures:Anymov
ementoft
heact
or'
shead,
shoul
der
,ar
m,hand,
leg,
orf
oott
oconv
ey
meaning

Facialex
pressi
on:
Phy
sical
andv
ocal
aspect
susedbyanact
ort
oconv
eymood,
feel
i
ng,
or
personal
ity

Dr
amaFor
ms

Dr
amaf ormsarecomposedwi thi
nspecifi
cdramast ructurest
hatdefineshape,and
di
ffer
enti
atewaysinwhichdramaisexplored.Dr
amaf ormsoftenfol
lowanest abli
sheddesi
gn.
Dr
amat i
cstruct
uresar
emov ement,speech,impr
ov i
sation,andscenewor k.Wit
hinthese
st
ructur
es,thef
ormsofdramaar eli
stedanddefinedbel ow.

Mov
ement

Cl
owni
ng
Theactofcl
owni
ngdrawsuponski
l
l-basedexagger
atedmov
ement
sandgest
ures,
inor
dert
o
cr
eatehumourf
ortheaudi
ence.

Dance

Choreographeddancei saprepared,r
ehearsedseriesofmov ementswit
horwit
houtmusic.
Creati
vemov ementi sfr
eeandexpl or
ator
ymov ement,wi
thorwithoutmusi
c.Dancedramatel
l
s
anarrati
vet hroughdanceandmov ement.Mov ementtomusi cmaybeusedasawar m- up
acti
vi
ty.Itisanexplor at
ionofhowweuseourbodi estoexplorespaceandcommunicate
meaningi nanar rat
iveform.Stor
iestomusi ci
nv ol
vegeneralmovementstocommunicatea
narr
ativ
et ot heaudience.

MaskWor
k

Expl
orat
ionofmov
ementusi
ngmaskst
obr
ingf
ocust
othephy
sical
expr
essi
onoft
hebody
.

Mi
me

Pant
omimeisact
ingwithoutwordst
hroughfaci
alexpr
essi
on,gest
ure,
andmovement
.
Communicat
ioni
srenderedthr
oughthesil
entact
softheactor
.Onewhoperf
ormsint
his
conv
ent
ionisamime.

St
ageFi
ght
ing

Chor
eogr
aphedmov
ement
sdesi
gnedt
osi
mul
atef
ight
ingbet
weenact
ors.

Tabl
eau
Asil
entandmot i
onlessscenecreat
edbyactorst
odr awf
ocustothemainthemeoft
hedr
ama.
Theuseoft hi
sgenreisi
ntendedtodrawuponaudiencer
efl
ect
ionort
ointensi
fyt
heemot
ionof
thescene.Thepl
uralofthi
sgenreistabl
eaux
.

I
mpr
ovi
sat
ion

Char
act
eri
nRol
e

Apersonrol
e-pl
ayi
ngacharact
eri
napar
ti
cul
arsi
tuat
ion.Somet
imest
eacher
stakeonar
olet
o
assi
stwit
hthedramaprocess.

I
mpr
ovi
sat
ional
Drama

Aspontaneousst
yleoftheat
rei
nwhi
cht
her
eisnosetscr
iptandwher
escenesar
ecr
eat
ed
wi
thoutadvancepr
eparati
on.

Rol
ePl
ay

Act
ivi
tyi
nwhi
chi
ndi
vi
dual
sassumei
dent
it
iesot
hert
hant
hei
rown.

Spont
aneousSt
ori
es

Ver
bal
war
m-upact
ivi
tyi
nwhi
chnar
rat
ivesar
ecr
eat
ed.

Speech

Chor
alWor
k

Ensembl
espeechorsi
ngi
ng.Chant
ingcoul
dal
sobeused.
Monol
ogues

Longspeechesbyasi
ngl
echar
act
er.

Radi
oDr
ama

Adr
amat
hati
sint
endedt
obel
i
stenedt
oinst
eadofv
iewed.

Reader
'sTheat
re

Aper
for
mancecr
eat
edbyact
orsr
eadi
ngascr
ipt
.

Reci
tat
ion

Theor
alpr
esent
ingofascr
ipt
edpi
eceofwor
k.I
tof
teni
nvol
vesmonol
ogues,
rhy
mes,
bal
l
ads,
et
c.

Soundscape

Theuseofv
ari
ousov
erl
appi
ngsoundst
ocr
eat
eanat
mospher
e.

St
ory
tel
l
ing

Rel
ati
ngst
ori
est
oanaudi
ence.
SceneWor
k

Col
l
ect
iveCr
eat
ion

Thegr
ouppr
ocessofwr
it
inganor
igi
nal
scr
ipt
.

Docudr
ama

Theuseofdramati
cdev
icestoi
ll
ust
rat
earealli
fesi
tuat
ionthroughper
for
mance.I
tcoul
dal
so
beusedtodescr
ibeani
maginar
yeventasi
fitwereanactualevent
.

Puppet
ry

I
ncl
udesabroadrangeofprops:
almostany
thingbroughtt
oli
febyhumanhandst
ocr
eat
ea
per
for
mance.Typesofpuppetsi
ncl
uderod,hand,
andmar i
onett
e.

St
oryTheat
re

Atheat
ri
calper
for
manceofanexi
sti
ngst
orywher
eev
eryl
i
neoft
hest
oryi
sspokenbyt
he
char
act
ers.

Gl
ossar
yofDr
amat
icTer
ms

Act:Amajordiv
isioninaplay.Anactcanbesub- div
idedintoscenes.(
Seescene).Gr
eekplay
s
werenotdiv
idedintoacts.Thef i
veactstr
ucturewasorigi
nall
yintr
oducedinRomant i
mesand
becametheconv enti
oninShakespeare'speri
od.Inthe19thcentur
ythiswasreducedtof
our
actsand20thcenturydr
amat endstofavourthr
eeacts.

Antagonist
:Acharacterorf
orceagainstwhi
chanotherchar
act
erst
ruggl
es.Examples:
Creoni
s
Anti
gone'santagoni
stinSophocl
es'playAnt
igone;
Tiresi
asi
stheant
agonistofOedi
pusin
Sophocles'Oedi
pustheKing.
Apr
on:Thepar
tofapr
osceni
um st
aget
hatst
icksouti
ntot
heaudi
encei
nfr
ontoft
he
pr
osceni
um ar
ch.

Aside:Wordsspokenbyanact
ordir
ectl
ytotheaudi
ence,butnot"hear
d"bytheother
charact
ersonstageduri
ngapl
ay.Example:
InShakespeare'
sOthell
o,I
agovoiceshi
sinner
thoughtsanumberofti
mesas"asi
des"fort
heaudience.

Bl
ocki
ng:
Movementpatt
ernsofact
orsont
hest
age.Usual
l
ypl
annedbyt
hedi
rect
ort
ocr
eat
e
meani
ngf
ulst
agepi
ctur
es.

Boxset:Asetbuil
tbehindaprosceni
um ar
chtorepresentthr
eewal
l
sofaroom.Theabsent
fourt
hwallontheprosceni
um li
neall
owsspect
atorstowitnesst
hedomest
icscene.Fi
rstused
i
nt heear
lyni
neteenthcent
ury
.

Catharsi
s:Thepurgi
ngoft
hefeel
ingsofpi
tyandfear
.Accor
dingt
oAr
ist
otl
etheaudi
ence
shouldexperi
encescat
har
sisatt
heendofat r
agedy.

Character:Animagi nar
ypersonthatinhabit
sal i
ter
arywor
k.Dramati
ccharact
ersmaybemaj or
orminor ,
static(
unchanging)ordy namic(capabl
eofchange)
.Example:I
nShakespear
e's
Othell
o,Desdemonai samaj orcharact
er,butonewhoisstat
ic.Ot
hel
loi
samaj orchar
acterwho
i
sdy nami c,exhi
bit
inganabili
tytochange.

Chorus:
Atradit
ionalchor
usinGr eektragedyisagr oupofcharacterswhocommentont he
act
ionofaplaywi t
houtpart
ici
patinginit.Amoder nchorus(anytimeaftert
heGreekperi
od)
ser
vesasimilarfunct
ionbuthast akenadi f
fer
entform;itconsist
sofacharacter
/nar
rat
or
comingonstageandgi vi
ngapr ologueorexpli
citbackgroundinformati
onorthemes.

Cli
max:Thetur
ningpointoftheact
ioninthepl
otofapl
ayandthepoi
ntofgreatestt
ensi
oni
n
thewor
k.Example:Thefinal
duelbetweenLaer
tesandHamleti
nShakespear
e'sHamlet.
Comedy :Adramaticwor kinwhichthecentr
almotifi
sthetr
iumphov eradversecircumstance,
result
inginasuccessfulorhappyconclusi
on.Comedycanbedi vi
dedintovisualcomedyor
verbalcomedy.Withinthese2divi
sionsther
earefurt
hersub-di
vi
sions.Forexamplev i
sual
comedyi ncl
udesfarceandslapsti
ck.VerbalComedyincl
udessati
re,blackcomedyandcomedy
ofmanner s.

Comi cRel
ief:
Comi creli
efdoesnotr el
atetothegenreofcomedy .Comicrel
iefserv esaspeci
fi
c
purpose:i
tgivest hespect at
oramomentof' r
eli
ef'
withalight-heart
edscene, aft
era
successi
onofi ntenselytragi
cdramat i
cmoment s.Typical
l
yt hesescenespar all
elthet r
agi
c
acti
onthattheyint er
rupt.Comicrel
iefislacki
nginGreektragedy ,
butoccursregular l
yin
Shakespeare'
st r
agedi es.Example:
Theopeni ngsceneofActVofHaml et
,inwhi cha
gravedi
ggerbanter swi t
hHaml et
.

Confl
i
ct:Thereisnodr amawi t
houtconf l
ict
.Theconf l
i
ctbetweenopposi ngf
orcesinapl aycan
beexter
nal(betweenchar acters)orint
ernal(wit
hinacharacter)andisusual
lyr
esolvedbyt he
endoftheplay.Exampl e:LadyGr egory'
sone-actplayTheRisingoftheMoonexempl i
fi
esboth
ty
pesofconf l
ictasthePol i
cemanwr estl
eswi t
hhisconscienceinaninnerconfl
ictand
conf
rontsantagonisti
nt hepersonoft heballadsinger
.

Compl
i
cat
ion:
Ani
ntensi
fi
cat
ionoft
heconf
li
cti
napl
ay

Conventi
on:Li
teraryconventi
onsaredefi
ningfeatur
esorcommonagreementuponstr
ategi
es
and/oratt
ri
but
esofapar t
icul
arli
ter
arygenres.Exampl
es:Theuseofachor
uswasa
conventi
oninGreektragedy.Sol
il
oquies,
(whicharenotreal
i
sti
c)ar
eaccept
edaspartofthe
dramati
cconvention.

Denouement/Resol ution:Liter
allyt heacti
onofunt y
ing.Adenouement( orresolut
ion)isthe
fi
naloutcomeoft hemai ncompl icationinaplay.Usuall
ythedenouementoccur sAFTERt he
cli
max(theturningpoi ntor" cri
sis").Iti
ssomet i
mesr eferr
edt oastheexpl anationorout come
ofadramat hatr evealsal lthesecr et sandmisunderstandingsconnect edtot heplot.Example:
InShakespeare'sOt hello,theclimaxoccur swhenOt hell
oki l
lshi
swi fe.Thedenouementoccur s
whenEmi li
a,prov est oOt hell
ot hathi swifewasi nf
acthonest ,t
rue,andf ait
hfultohim.

DeusExMachi
na:
Whenanext
ernal
sour
cer
esol
vest
heent
angl
ement
sofapl
ayby
supernaturalinter
venti
on.TheLat inphrasemeans, l
it
eral
l
y,"agodfrom themachine.
"The
phrasereferst otheuseofar t
if
icialmeanst oresol
vetheplotofaplay.Examples:
Manyof
Euri
pides'playshav egodscomi ngtorescuetheday.InMedeaadr agon-drawnchari
oti
ssent
byApollo,theSun- God,torescueMedeawhohasj ustmurderedherchil
dren.I
nJoeOr t
on'
s
cl
assicplay ,Whatt heButl
erSaw( 1969)thedeusexmachi nacomesint hefor
m notofagod
butofapol icemanwhosav est heday .

Di
alogue:
Theconver
sati
onofchar
act
ersi
nal
i
ter
arywor
k.I
npl
ays,
char
act
ers'
speechi
s
pr
ecededbythei
rnames.

Dicti
on:Accor dingtotheCambr i
dgeDict i
onary,di
ctionis'
themannerinwhi chwordsare
pronounced.'Dicti
on,however,
ismoret hant hat
: i
tisastyl
eofspeaking.Indramadicti
oncan(
1)
revealcharacter,(
2)implyatt
it
udes,(3)conv eyaction,(
4)identi
fyt
hemes, and(5)suggest
values.Wecanspeakoft hedicti
onpar t
iculartoachar act
er.Example:
Iago'sandDesdemona'
s
verydiff
erentway sofspeakinginOthello.

Dramat i
cI r
ony:Adevi
ceinwhichachar acterhol
dsaposi t
ionorhasanexpectati
onrever
sedor
ful
fi
ll
edi nawayt hatt
hecharacterdidnotexpectbutthattheaudi
enceorreadershave
anti
cipatedbecausethei
rknowledgeofev entsorindi
vi
dualsismorecompletethanthe
characters.Exampl
e:InShakespeare'
sOthelloOthel
loblamesDesdemonaf orcheat
ingonhim.
Theaudi enceknowsthatsheisfait
hfulandIagodeceiveshim.

DynamicCharacter:
Undergoesanimport
antchangeinthecourseoftheplay
-notchangesin
ci
rcumstances,butchangesi
nsomesensewi thi
nthecharact
erinquesti
on--changesi
ninsi
ght
orunder
standingorchangesincommitment,
orv al
ues.

Exodos:
Thef
inal
sceneandexi
toft
hechar
act
ersandchor
usi
nacl
assi
cal
Greekpl
ay.

Exposi
tion:'Thef ir
stst ageofaf icti
onal ordramat i
cplot,i
nwhi chnecessarybackground
i
nformationi spr ovi
ded' .Inmostdr amat hechar acter
shav etoexposet hebackgroundtothe
acti
onindirectlywhi l
et alkingint
hemostnat ur
al way.Whatanyper sonsay
smustbeconsi stent
withhi
schar acterandwhatheknowsgener all
y.Expositi
onf r
equent l
yemploysdevicessuchas
gestur
es, gl
ances, 'asides' Example:Ibsen'
sADol l'
sHouse, beginswithaconversat
ionbetween
thetwocent ralchar acters.Thisdialoguegivest heaudiencedet ai
ls(int
hemostnat ural
way )of
whathasoccur
redbef
oret
hepl
aybegan,
det
ail
s,ofi
mpor
tancet
othedev
elopmentoft
hepl
ot.

Fall
ingActi
on:Thi
siswhentheev
entsandcompli
cat
ionsbegi
nt or
esol
vethemsel
vesand
tensioni
srel
eased.Welear
nwhethert
heconf
li
cthasorbeenresol
vedornot.

Flashback:Aninter
rupti
onofapl
ay'
schronol
ogy(t
imel
ine)todescri
beorpresentaninci
dent
thatoccurr
edpr i
ortothemaint
ime-
frameofthepl
ay'
saction.Examples:
InShakespeare'
s
Othell
o,Othel
lorecall
showhecourt
edDesdemona.

Fl
atChar acter
s:Fl
atcharacter
sinapl ayareoft
en,butnotalways,rel
ati
v el
ysimpl
eminor
charact
ers.Theytendtobepr esentedthoughparti
cularandli
mitedtr
aits;hencet
heybecome
ster
eotypes.Forexample,theself
ishson,thepurewoman, thelazychi
ld, t
hedumbblonde,
etc.
Thesechar act
ersdonotchangei nthecourseofapl ay.

Foil
: Asecondar ycharacterwhosesit
uati
onoftenpar al
l
elsthatofthemainchar acterwhilehi
s
behav i
ororresponseorchar act
ercont
rastswit
ht hatofthemaincharacter,
throwi ngli
ghton
thatparticul
archaracter'
sspecifi
ctemperament.Examples:InHaml et
,Laert
es'
, fatheris
mur dered.Hissituat
ionpar al
lel
sHamlet'
ssit
uati
onbuthi sresponseisverydif
fer ent.I
nOthel
lo,
EmiliaandBi ancaaref oi
lsforDesdemona.

Foreshadowi ng: AntonChekhovbestexpl ainedthet er

mi nalett
erin1889: "
Onemustnotputa
l
oadedr i
fleont hest ageifnooneisthinkingoffir
ingit.
"Chekhov'sgun,orforeshadowi ngisa
l
iter
ar ytechniquet hatintr
oducesanappar entlyi
rrel
evantelementisint
roducedear lyinthe
story;it
ssignifi
cancebecomescl earlaterintheplay.Examples:Atthebeginningoft heIbsen'
s
ADol l'
sHouse, thepr ot
agonistNor
agoesagai nstthewishesofherhusbandi nav eryminor
way .Thisactionf oreshadowsherlatersignif
icantrebel
li
onandt otalr
eject
ionofherhusband.
InSy nge'sRiderst otheSeat hemother'svisi
onofherr ecentl
ydrownedsonf or eshadowst he
deathofherr emai ni
ngson.

FourthWall
:Theimaginarywallthatsepar
atesthespectat
or/audi
encef r
om theactiontaking
placeonstage.I
natraditi
onalt
heat r
esett
ing(asopposedtoat heatr
ei ntheround)this
i
magi nar
ywallhasbeenr emovedsot hatt
hespectatorcan'peep'i
ntothef i
cti
onalworldand
seewhatisgoingon.Iftheaudienceisaddresseddi
rectl
y,t
hisisref
erredtoas' br
eakingthe
fourt
hwall.
'
Gestur
e: Thephysi
calmovementofachar act
erduri
ngaplay.Gest
ureisusedtoreveal
char
act er
,andmayincludef
aci
alexpressi
onsaswel lasmovementsofotherpart
sofanact or
's
body.Example:Mostmodernplay
wrightsexpli
cit
lymenti
onbothbodil
yandfacialgest
ures,
prov
idingdetai
ledi
nstr
ucti
onsi
nthepl ay'
sstagedir
ecti
ons.

Hubris: TheGr eekterm hubrisisdi

ffi
culttotr
anslat
edi rectl
yintoEngli
sh.Thi
snegat i
vet erm
i
mpl i
esbot harrogant,excessivesel
f-
pr i
deorself-
confidence,andal ackofsomei mpor tant
percept i
onori nsi
ghtduet opr idei
none'sabil
iti
es.Thisov erwhelmingpri
deinevit
ablyleadstoa
downf all.Example:InSophocl esOedipus,Oedipus'r
efusal t
olistentoanyoneill
ust
rateshubr i
s.
Hebel iev esheknowsbest' evenbetterthantheprophetTi r
esias'andhisrefusalt
olistenleads
tohisdownf al
l.

Li
nearPlot:Atradi
ti
onalpl
otsequenceinwhi chtheinci
dentsinthedr
amapr ogress
chronol
ogical
l
y; i
notherwords,al
loftheeventsbuil
dupononeanot herandthereareno
fl
ashbacks.Li
nearplotsar
eusual l
ybasedoncausality(t
hatis,oneev
ent"causes"anot
hert
o
happen)occurmor ecommonl yincomedythaninot herf
orms.

Monol ogue:Aspeechbyasi nglecharacterwit

houtanothercharacter
'sresponse.Thecharact
er
howev er,
isspeaki ngtosomeoneel seorev enagroupofpeopl e.Examples:Shakespeare'
s
playsaboundwi thchar act
erstal
kingwi t
hnooner esponding.Aclearexampl eofhowa
monol ogueaddr essessomeoneoccur swhenHenr yVdelivershisspeechtot heEngl
ishcamp
i
nt heSaintCrispin'sDayspeech.Hewant stoi
nspir
ethesol di
erstofighteventhoughtheyare
outnumber ed.Thisi samonologuebecause( a)healonespeaks( b)heisaddr essi
ngother
characters.

Motiv
ati
on:Thethought
(s)ordesi
re(
s)thatdr
ivesachar actertoacti
velypursueawantorneed.
Thiswantorneediscal
l
edt heobj
ecti
ve.Achar act
ergeneral l
yhasanov eral
l obj
ect
iveorlong-
ter
m goali
nadr amabutmaychangehi sorherobject
ive,andhencemot i
vation,f
rom sceneto
scenewhenconf r
ont
edwithvari
ousobstacl
es.Example: I
nt heplayOthel
lo,Iago'
sobjecti
veis
Othel
lo'
sdownfall
.

Pl
ot:
Thesequenceofeventst
hatmakeupast ory
.Accor
dingt
oAr i
stot
le,
'Thepl
otmustbe'a
whol
e'wi
thabeginni
ng,
mi ddl
e,andend'
(Poet
ics,Par
tVI
I)
.Aplotneedsamot i
vat
ingpur
pose
t
odr
ivet
hest
oryt
oit
sresol
uti
on,
andaconnect
ionbet
weent
heseev
ent
s.

Pointofat tack:Thepointi nthestoryofapl aywherethepl otbegins.Thi smayoccuri nthefi

rst
scene, oritmayoccuraf tersev eralscenesofexpositi
on.Thepoi ntofat t
ackisthemai nact
ion
bywhi chal lother
swill
ar ise.Iti
st hepointatwhichthemai ncompl icationisint
roduced.Point
ofattackcansomet imeswor khandi nhandwi t
haplay'
si ncit
ingincident,whichisthefir
st
i
ncidentl eadingtotherisingact i
onoft heplay.Someti
mest heincit
ingi nci
dentisanev entt
hat
occurredsomewher eint hechar acter'
spastandi sr
evealedt otheaudi encethroughexposit
ion.

Proscenium Ar
ch:Anar chit
ectur
alel
ementsepar ati
ngtheper f
ormancear eafr
om the
auditor
ium i
natheatre.Thearchfunctionstomaskst agemachi neryandhelpscr
eatea'f
rame'
forthestageacti
on.FirstusedinEuropeduringt
heRenai ssance,thearchdevel
oped
throughoutt
he18thand19t hcentur
iesint
ot he'
pict
ureframe'stageoft hel
ate19thcent
ury
.

Prol
ogue: (
1)Inor i
ginalGreektragedy,thepr ol
ogueisei thertheact i
onorasetofi ntr
oductory
speechesbeforet hefir
stentryofthechor us.Here,asi ngleact or'smonol ogueoradi alogue
betweentwoact or
swoul destabli
sht heplay'sbackgroundev ent s.(2)Inlaterl
it
eratur
e, t
he
prol
ogueser vesasexpl i
citexposit
ionintr
oduci ngmat eri
al beforet hef i
rstscenebegins.The
prol
ogueisper formed/deliv
eredbyt hechor us.Exampl e:Achor usgi vesapr ol
oguewi ththe
backgroundinformat i
onast othefeudbet weent hefami liesinShakespear e'sRomeoandJul i
et.

Props:Art
icl
esorobj
ectst
hatappearonstageduri
ngaplay.Pr
opscanalsotakeona
si
gnifi
cantorevensymbol
i
cmeani ng.Exampl
es:TheChri
stmastr
eeinIbsen'
sADoll'
sHouse
andLaura'
scoll
ecti
onofgl
assanimalsinTennesseeWil
l
iam'sTheGlassMenageri
e.

Pr
otagoni
st:
Themai
nchar
act
erofal
i
ter
arywor
k.

Reper
tory:
Asy st
em ofproducingplaysinwhichacompanyofact or
sisassembledtostagea
numberofplay sduri
ngaspeci fi
cperiodofti
me.Therepert
orycompanyincludedactor
s,each
ofwhom playedrolesinseveralplay
st hr
oughoutat
heatri
calseasonandwhoof tenspeci
alized
i
naspecifict
y peofroleResoluti
on:Thesorti
ngoutorunravel
ingofaplotattheendofapl ay,
novel
,orstor
y.
ReversalorPeripetei
a:Thepointatwhicht
heactionoftheplotturnsi
nanunexpect
eddirect
ion
fortheprotagonist-f
rom f
ail
uretosuccessorsuccesstofai
lure.Exampl
es:
Oedipus'
sand
Othell
o'smoment sofenli
ght
enmentar eal
soreversal
s.Theylearnwhatt
heydidnotexpectt
o
l
earn.

Risi
ngAction:Anevent,conf
li
ctorcri
sisorsetofconfl
i
ct sandcri
sest
hatconst
it
utethepar
tof
aplay'spl
otleadi
ngupt othecli
max.Example:TheresultofOthel
l
opromoti
ngCassiorat
her
thanIagosetsinmotioneveryt
hingel
sethatfol
lows.

RoundCharacters:Aroundchar acterisdepict
edwi t
hsuchpsy chologi
caldepthanddetail
t hat
heorsheseemsl i
kea" r
eal"person.Ther oundcharactercontr
astswiththefl
atcharact
erwho
serv
esaspecificormi norl
iter
aryfunct i
oninat ext
,andwhomaybeast ockcharact
eror
simpli
fi
edster
eot y
pe.Iftheroundchar acterchangesorev ol
vesov ert
hecourseofanarrativeor
appearstohavethecapacityforsuchchange, t
hecharacterisalsodynamic.I
nlongerplays,
ther
emaybesev eral
roundchar acters.

Sati
re:Ali
ter
aryworkthatcri
ti
cizeshumanmisconductandr
idi
cul
esvi
ces,
stupi
dit
ies,
and
fol
l
ies.Example:
JoanLittl
ewood'sOh!WhataLov el
yWaraboutWorl
dWarI.Eventheti
tl
e
i
ndicatesthi
sisasati
re.

Scene:Atradi
tionalsegmentinaplay
.Scenesar eusedtoindi
cate(1)achangeintime(2)a
changeinlocation,
(3)provi
desajumpf r
om onesubplottoanother,(
4)int
roducesnew
charact
ers(5)rearr
anget heact
orsonthestage.Tradi
ti
onall
yplaysarecomposedofacts,
brokendowni ntoscenes.

Scener
y:Thephy
sicalrepr
esentat
ionofthepl
ay'
sset
ting(
locati
onandt
imeper
iod)
.Ital
so
emphasizest
heaestheti
cconceptoratmospher
eofthepl
ay .

Strophe(&Anti
str
ophe) :
Apor t
ionofachoralodeinGreektragedyfol
lowedbyamet ri
cal
ly
similarpor
ti
on,
theantistr
ophe.Thewordsmean' tur
n'and'counter
-t
urn,
'suggest
ingcont
rast
ing
mov ementsofthechoruswhiletheodewasbei ngsung.Thesetwopar t
saresomet i
mes
fol
lowedbyanepode, duringwhichthechor
usmayhav eremainedstati
onary
Soli
loquyAspeechmeanttobeheardbytheaudiencebutnotbyotherchar
actersonthestage
(asopposedtoamonologuewhichaddressessomeonewhodoesnotr espond).Inasol
il
oquy
onlytheaudi
encecanheart
hepriv
atethoughtsofthechar
acter
s.Example:Hamlet'
sfamous
"Tobeornottobe"speech.

StageDir
ecti
on:Aplaywri
ght'sdescr
ipt
iveorinter
preti
vecomment st
hatprovi
dereader
s(as
wellasactor
sanddirect
ors)withinf
ormationaboutthedial
ogue,set
ti
ng,andacti
onofaplay
.
Modernplaywri
ghtstendtoincl
udesubstant i
alst
agedirect
ions,
whil
eearl
ierpl
aywri
ght
s
ty
pical
lyusethem moresparsely,
impli
cit
ly,ornotatal
l.

Stagi
ng:Thespectacl
eaplaypresent
sinper
formance,i
ncludi
ngtheposi
ti
onofactor
sonst
age,
thesceni
cbackground,t
hepropsandcostumes,andtheli
ghti
ngandsoundeff
ects.

Stat
icCharact
er:
Ali
ter
aryordr
amati
ccharact
erwhounder
goesl
i
ttl
eornoi
nnerchange;
a
char
acterwhodoesnotgrowordev
elop.

SuspensionofDisbel
ief:
Samuel TaylorColer
idgefir
stusedthetermin1817.Basical
lyt
het er
m
meanst hatyouacceptsomet hi
ngasr ealorrepr
esenti
ngt her
ealwhenitobviousl
yisnotreal
.
I
ndr amat hi
sisacrucialcondit
ion,as'youhav etoputasideputasi
deyourdisbeli
efandaccept
thepremiseasbeingreal f
orthedur ati
onofthest or
y

StockCharacter:Ar
ecogni
zablechar
acterty
pefoundinmanyplays.Comedi
eshave
tr
aditi
onal
lyreli
edonsuchstockcharact
ersast
hemi ser
lyf
ather
,thebeaut
if
ulbutna'
vegi
rl
,the
tr
ickst
erservant.

Subpl
ot: Asubsi
diar
yorsubor
dinat
eorparall
elpl
ott
hatcoexi
stswit
hthemainplot
.
Example:
Thestor
yofRosencr
antzandGuil
denster
nformsasubplotwi
thi
ntheov
erall
plotof
Hamlet
.

Theat
reoftheAbsurd:Atypeofdramaandper for
mancet hatconvey
sasenseofl i
feasdevoi
d
ofmeaningandpurpose.Theterm wascoinedbythecri
ti
cMar ti
nEsslin,
whodescri
bedand
anal
yzedagroupofmi d-
twenti
eth-
centur
yplayinhisbook,TheTheatreoftheAbsur
d,i
ncl
uding
theworkofSamuelBeckettandEugeneIonesco.
Tr
agedyAtypeofdramainwhi
chthechar
acter
sexper
iencerever
saloff
ortune,
usual
l
yfort
he
worse.I
ntr
agedy
,suff
eri
ngawai
tsmanyofthechar
acter
s,especi
all
ythehero.

Tragi
cflaw:
Aweaknessorl
imi
tati
onofchar
act
er,r
esul
ti
ngi nthefal
loft
het
ragi
cher
o.
Example:Ot
hel
l
o'sj
eal
ousyandtootr
ust
ingnat
ureishi
stragicfl
aw.

Tragichero:Aprivi
l
eged,exaltedcharacterofhighreput
e, who,byvi
rt
ueofat r
agi
cfl
awand/or
fate,suf
fersafall
from ahigherstati
oninl i
feint
osuffer
ing.Example:Sophocl
es'
Oedi
pus.Uni
ty
oft i
me,place,
andact i
on("theunit
ies")
:limit
ingtheti
me, place,
andacti
onofaplayt
oasingle
spotandasi ngleacti
onovert heperi
odof24hour s.

TheAr
gumentEssay
'sOut
li
neSt
ruct
ure

FI
RSTPARAGRAPH

Thisi
sacl ear,
condensedstatementofy ourover
allvi
ewpointontheessaytopicorquesti
on.
Thisstat
ementi st
hensli
ghtlyexpandedbypr ovi
dingasuccinctsummat i
on(i
.e.aki
ndofl i
st)
ofwhatwi l
lfor
mt hemainpointsofy ourargument.Theseearl
yfewsentencestogetheractt
o
provi
dethemaj or'
si
gnposts'thatshowt hegener
al di
rect
ionoftheessayanditsar
gument .

Toprovideanaccountoftheso-calledbigpict
ureofthetext-andthustosetanauthor
it
ati
ve
tonethatsuggest
syouknowt het extwellt
heopeningpar agr
aphalsoneedstohaveahighl
y
condensedaccountofthetext
's'story'
and'cir
cumstance'-butonethati
stight
lyf
ocusedonthe
needsoftheessayti
tl
eorquest i
on.

Theopeningparagr
aphsometimesal
soneedstoincl
udebri
efdetai
l
soft
heaut
hor
'scont
ext
,
butonl
yifenti
rel
yrel
evantandi
mport
antt
ot heessayquest
ion.

NB:Noti
cehow,al
loft
hetime,youareavoi
dingwaff
leandgener
ali
sedcomment ,
inst
ead
keepi
ngall
youwri
teti
ght
lyfocusedontheneedsoftheessayt
it
leorquest
ion.

BODYPARAGRAPHS
Aseri
esofpar
agr
aphsf
oll
owswi
theachbei
ngdev
elopedar
oundasi
ngl
eimpor
tantandwhol
l
y
r
elev
antpoi
nt.

Far,f
artooof t
enessayparagraphsopeninway sthatdonotshowt hatthest
udentisinsome
i
mpor tantwayclearl
yanddirectl
ydevel
opi
ngt heessay's'answer'
orargument.Thiski
ndof'off
-
tar
get'openi
ngl eadstowaff
leandgeneral
isati
onand...lostmarks.Tryhardtoavoi
dthisby
openingeachandev erypar
agr aphwi
thatopicsentence-onet hatcontainst
hemai nargument
oftheparagraph.

Thepointaroundwhicheachparagraphisbasedneedst oprovidej
usti
fi
cationforthethesis
statementgi
venintheopeningparagraph.Thepoint
smustdonomor ethandev el
opthe
argumentandeachpoi ntmustbesuppor t
edwi t
hevidence,
oftenintheform ofaquotation
takenfrom t
hetext
,alongwithanexplanati
onofhowt hisevi
dence'works'bothasanef fect
ive
useoflanguageandasacont ri
buti
ont othetext
.

CONCLUDI
NGPARAGRAPH

Thisi
sarest
atementoftheopeni
ngargument
,al
i
sti
ngoft
hemai
npoi
ntsandacommenton
thewi
derimpl
icat
ionsofthef
indi
ngs.

Whati
fyouressayt
it
lei
sn'
ti
nthef
orm ofaquest
ion?

Ifyouthi nkabouti
t ,al
lessaysti
tl
esareaki ndofquest ion.Theyhav etobebecauset heyar e
askingf oryouropinionaboutsomething.Howev er
,ifyouressaytitl
edoesn'teasil
ylendi tsel
fto
youseei ngitasat ypeofquest i
on,y
ourt eacherwillal
mostcer t
ainlybewi l
l
ingtoalteritinto
onei fyouask.Forexampl e,i
fyouweregi venthetit
le,'
DiscussShakespear e'
spresentationof
ambi ti
oni nMacbet h',
youcouldmentall
yconsi derthisas,'HowandwhydoesShakespear e
presentt hethemeofambi ti
oninMacbet h?'.I
fyouthinkaboutit,you'l
lseethatbothoft hese
essayt i
tlesareall
-butidenti
calandwil
lleadt othesamef i
nalessay.

Whenconsider
edasaquest
ion,
youwi
llof
tenfi
ndi
tiseasi
ert
ogenerat
ethatal
l
-impor
tant
singl
emainpoi
ntofv
iewtoi
t-themai
nideauponwhichyouwi
ll
thenbasether
emainderof
youressay
.

Herei
sanexampl
eofamai ni
deasucci
nctl
ystat
ed(i.
e.t
hesi
sst
atement
)thatcoul
dbeusedt
o
cr
eateanar
gumentessayf
rom t
heabovequesti
on:
'
Shakespear epresent
sthet
hemeofambi
tioninhi
splay
, Macbet
h,t
hroughtheplay
'st
womajor
character
s,LordandLadyMacbet
h,andt
histhemeisbroughtt
oaterri
bleconcl
usi
onast
he
playprogresses.
'

Theremainderoft hi
s-oranyother-essaymustthenbenomor ethanali
nkedser
iesofpoints
wit
heachpoi ntexplai
ned,dev
elopedandsupport
edinapar agraphofit
sown.Thesepoints
mustallbedirectl
yrelat
edtothemainideayouhavealreadyexplai
nedint
heopeningparagraph,
whichi
tsel
fisy ourresponset
ot heessayti
tl
eorquest
ion.

Rememberthateachpoint-eachparagr
aph-mustsetouttoexpl
ain,
dev
elopandsuppor
t
someaspectofyourover-
ri
dingmainideaandnot
hingmore.

Inthi
sexampl e,t
heparagr
aphthatfoll
owstheopeningpar
agraph-thefi
rstofwhati
scal
ledt
he
bodyparagraphsofyouressay-couldbebasedonthepointt
hatthethemeofambi t
ioni
s
shownthroughwhatMacbet handLadyMacbet haregiv
enbyShakespearetosayanddoinAct
Oneofthepl ay.

Thethi
rdpar
agraphofy
ouressay-i
tssecondbodyparagr
aph-mightthenexpl
ore,
dev
elopand
suppor
thowthethemeofambiti
oni
sshownt hr
oughthesetwocharacter
sinsomepartofAct
2,andsoon.
..

FOURKEYASPECTSTHATWILLHELPFORM THEBASI
SOFANESSAY:
ANANALYSI
SOF
FORM,CONTENT,
STRUCTUREANDSTYLE

FORM

Whenyouconsi
dertheform ofatext
,youwi
l
lbeanal
ysi
nghowaspect
sot
hert
hant
hemeani
ng
ofi
tsl
anguagehel
pitinimportantways.

Youy our sel

fmakeuseoft heform ofl anguage, f
orinstance,whenyouchooset osayawor dor
phrasel oudlyorsoft
ly,
orwheny ouemai l
ortextafriendandwr i
teinallcapi
tall
ett
ers(auseof
for
mt hatsi gnalsyouare'
shouting').Also,wheny oucreateshortorlongsentencesor
paragraphsy ouareaffect
ingthel ook-t hefor
m -ofy ourwr i
ti
ngand, i
nsubtl
eway s,t
hiswil
l
aff
ectt hewayt hewr i
ti
ngisreceivedandunder st
ood.
Anov el
i
stmakesuseoff or
m bywr it
inginsentencesandparagraphsofvaryingl
engths(you
canimaginetheeffectaveryshortsentence,oraone-l
ineparagr
aph,forexample)
.Theuseof
dial
ogue(spokenwor dsshowni nsi
despeechmar ks)i
salsoaneffect
iveuseofform, asi
sthe
useofunderli
ning,
boldorital
ics-or,innon-f
ict
iontext
s,thei
nclusi
onofbul l
etpoi
ntsor
secti
ons.

Poetsareacutel
yawar eofandv erycreati
vewit
htheuseofform.Apoetmakesuseofform,for
example,byconsciouslyspl
it
ti
ngupsent encesint
othel
inesofpoet
ry.Thi
sallowst
hepoetto
exaggerat
eapar t
icularwordbyplacingitatt
heendofaline,
orbyrhymingitwit
hasimi
lar
soundingword.

Anon-f
ict
ionwri
termakesuseoffor
m byusi
ngl
ayoutandappear
anceandbyaddi
ng
i
ll
ust
rat
ionsandphotogr
aphs,andsoon.

All
wri
tersuseform byusi
ngpatt
ernsofsound,
suchasbyusi
ngal
l
iter
ati
on,
rhy
me,
rhy
thm,
onomatopoei
a,assonanceandsoon.

Apl aywr
ight,ofcourse,usesfor
mv erydi
ffer
ently
.Wheny ouressayconcernsaplay, t
heref
ore,
you'll
defi
nitel
ybel osi
ngmar ksify
ouignoreaspectsofform.Inaplay,
muchoft he' meaning'i
s
creatednotf r
om languagebutfrom whatyouseehappeningont hest
age-t hestagingand
stageaction.Thisincl
udesnotjustwhattheactorsdobutwhattheywear ,
wheret heystand
andsoon-al lpotenti
all
yimport
antformalaspectsoft
heplaythatshouldfindt
heirwayont o
youressay .

Formisal
way
swor
thyofcommenti
fitadds,
eveni
fsubt
ly,
tot
hemeani
ng-t
hecont
ent-ofa
text
.

CONTENT

Wordsnotonl yhaveform,theyalsocontai
nmeani ng-thi
siscal
l
edt hei
rcontent
.Form and
contentarel
iketwosidesofacoi n.Therearesev
er al
waysthatwri
tersareablet
omakeuseof
thecontentoflanguagethatarecreat
ive,i
nter
est
ingtoreader
sandinengagingtheirat
tent
ion:
Li
ter
alMeani
ng

Everywordandphrasehasali
ter
almeaning.Thisi
sit
sbasi
cdict
ionarymeaning-a'
basic'
meaningthati
salsocal
ledi
tsdenotat
ion.Forexampl
e,'
Int
hisst
ory,t
heauthor'
sdet
ail
ed
descri
pti
onofdar
knessdenotesthecomingonofast or
m'.

Fi
gur
ati
veMeani
ng

Thi
sisawayofpl ayingwitht hemeani ngofwor dst hatcancertai
nlyhelpmakewr i
tingmor e
vi
vid,
emot i
onalandi nt
eresting.Wordsandphr asescanbeusedout sideofthei
rli
teralcontext
andbegivenadi f
ferentkindofmeani ngcalledaconnot at
ion.Usingconnotati
onorf igurat
ive
l
anguage,awr i
tercaneasi l
ycr eatemor ethanonel ayerofmeani ng-especi
all
yemot ional
meaning(don'
tforgetwor dscr eatebothmeani ngandf eeli
ng).Themostcommonwayt hisis
doneistouseawor dnotf oritsli
ter
al meaningbutf ori
tsmet aphori
calmeaning.Anot herway
i
stouseawor dthatactsasasy mbol f
oradi f
ferentmeaningal t
ogether.

Forexampl e,
'Aswel lassuggest
ingthecomingofastorm,thedar
knessalsoactstosuggesta
metaphoricaldarknessistaki
ngoverthecharact
er'
smind.I
nthiswaythedarknessseemstobe
symboli
singaki ndofev i
l'
.

Usi
ngapun-aplayonwords-isanot
herwaythatmeaningcanbeplayedwit
hinaninter
est
ing
way.Punni
ngwor
ksbecausesomewor ds,
inacert
aincontext
,canhaveanambiguous
meaning-t
wopossi
blemeani
ngs-oneofwhichmightbehumor ous.

I
rony

I
ronyisanotherimpor tantwayt hroughwhi chlanguagecancr eatemor ethanonel ayerof
meaning.Unli
kesar casm whi chisaf orm ofir
onyt hati
sintendedusuallytohurtsomeone' s
f
eeli
ngsandi srathercr udeandeasy ,ironyismor esubtl
e,sophisti
catedandwi tt
y;altoget
hera
moreintel
li
gentuseofl anguage.Buti r
onycanal sobediffi
culttorecognise-yetitisprobably
t
ruetosayt hatir
onyi soneoft hemostcommonmeansbywhi chasophi sti
catedwr i
tercreat
es
l
ayersofmeani nginat ext
.
Ir
onycanengager
eader
sclosel
ywithatextbecause,
rat
herl
ikesol
vingapuzzle,
ther
eis
enjoy
mentandsat
isf
act
ioninunpi
ckingt
helevelsofmeani
ngcreat
edbytheirony.

Creati
ngan' ir
oni
ctoneofvoice'inwr i
ti
ngismuchhardert
haninspeechbecauset heori
ginal
soundofv oiceandfaci
alexpressionorbodylanguageoft
hespeakerar
eabsent .Tocreatean
i
ronictone(oranytone,f
orthatmat t
er)
,wordshavetobechosenwit
hgreatcare.Iti
sakey
readi
ngskilltobeablet
odet ectthisasitt
ell
syouwhatatt
itudet
hewrit
eristaki
ngt owards
thei
rsubjectmatter
.

STRUCTURE

Thecontentofatexti
snev eravailabl
eimmedi at
ely(exceptinasi
ngleword,maybe:STOP!
).
Meaningneedstobebuiltupthr oughoutatextinway sthatareof
tenimport
antt
ot heover
all
eff
ectontheli
stenerorr
eader .Thisisthestr
uctureofthetext.

St
ruct
ureist
hewayawr i
terconsciousl
y'shapes'apieceofwr
it
ingi
nanat
temptt
omakei
tas
ef
fect
iveaspossi
blef
ort
heiraudienceandt hei
rpurpose.

I
tisimpor
tanttocommentont hest
ruct
ureofatext,
forexampl
e'Thewaytheauthorsl
owly
bui
ldsupthetensi
ont
hroughoutthi
schapterhel
pscreat
eafeel
i
ngofrealexci
tementand
myster
y'
.

STYLE

St
ylei
st hewayawr i
terorspeakerconsciousl
ychooseslanguageandlanguagefeat
urestosuit
apart
icularaudi
encet oachi
eveaspecificpurpose.Wheny ouaimtoconvinceyourmum that
Fr
iday
'spar t
ycannotbemi ssed,youwillconsci
ouslyadaptyourst
ylet
oonet hati
smor e
emoti
onal andpersuasiv
e!

Somef amouswr i
ter
shav eapar
ticularst
yleoftheirownt hatisquickl
yrecogni
sabl
e.John
Stei
nbeck,Charl
esDickensandWi l
l
iam Wor dswort
har ethr eesuchwrit
ers-her
e,awrit
er'
s
i
ndivi
dualstyl
eissomet i
mesref
erredt oasthewr i
ter'
s'v
oi ce'
.
Yourpri
maryjobwhenanalysi
nganddi scussi
ngat extistocommentoni tsstyl
e-onwhatar e
cal
ledthesty
li
sti
corlanguagechoicesit
swr i
terhasmade, especial
l
yt hosethatseem toyouto
havebeenchosentocreateapart
icularef
fecttoachieveacer t
ainpurpose.So..
.ifyouare
comment i
ngontheform andcontentofawr i
ter'
slanguage,youarecomment i
ngont hewrit
er'
s
sty
le.

Compar
ingt
woormor
etext
s

Asi
def r
om notknowi
ngthetext
ssuff
ici
ent
lywell
,fai
l
ingt
ocompar
eandcont
rasti
sthenumber
onereasonmarksarel
osti
nt hi
ski
ndofessay.

Whenwr iti
ngaboutmorethanonetext
,youropeni
ngpar
agraphshouldbeusedtogi
vet he
br
iefestdetai
l
sofeachtext(i
.e.y
ourwri
ti
ngneedstobesuccinct
!)
.Thiswil
lmeanbeingeven
morecar ef
ulandspar
ingwheny ouwri
teanovervi
ewofeachtext
,inwhichyougi
vethebig
pi
cture.

I
t'
sv i
tal
tokeepever
ythi
ngr
elev
antandt
ight
lyf
ocusedont
her
equi
rement
soft
heessay
quest
ionandyourar
gument
.

Ther
ear
etwomet
hodsy
oucanconsi
derusi
ngwhencompar
ingt
ext
s:

1)Writ
eaboutthefi
rsttextf
ull
ybef
oremovi
ngontothesecond-sti
ll
usi
ngthetechni
ques
outl
i
nedabove;butwheny ougoontowri
teaboutt
hesecondtext
,youmustcompareand
contr
asti
twit
ht hef
irst
.

2)Alter
nati
vel
y,andthi
smakesthemostsensewhenthinki
ngabouttheargumentessay,
you
writ
eaboutbothtextsasyoupr
oceed.Thi
sall
owsyoustil
l,
asshownabov e,t
ocreateacent
ral
argument,onei
nwhi chexampl
estosuppor
tthepoi
ntsaretakenf
rom oneorbothtext
sas
rel
evanttothepoint
.

Thi
ssecondmet
hodi
sthemor
ecompl
exandsophi
sti
cat
edoft
het
wo.

Youwi
l
lst
il
lneedt
oopeneachpar
agr
aphwi
thapoi
ntt
hathel
psanswert
heessayquest
ion,
t
hati
s,apoi
ntt
hatsuppor
tsy
ourov
eral
lvi
ewst
atedi
ntheopeni
ngpar
agr
aph.

Not
abl
eCi
tat
ionsf
rom Nov
elsandPl
ays

Ot
hel
l
obyShakespear
e

1."
Wecannotal
lbemaster
s,noral
lmast
ersCannotbet
rulyfol
low'd.
"Iagosaysthatt
houghhe
ser
veshi
smaster
,Ot
hell
o,hedoessoonl
yforhi
sownpur poses,nottotrul
yfol
l
owhi m.

2.'
Iam notwhatIam.'I
agoboast
sthatOt
hel
l
odoesn'
treal
l
yknowhi
m.Thi
sphr
asespeakst
o
Othel
l
o'sdupl
ici
tousnat
ure.

3.'Iunder
standafur
yinyourwor
ds,
Butnott
hewor ds.
'WhenOthel
l
ospeaksofDesdemonaas
thoughshei sawhor
e,Desdemonat
ell
shi
mt hatsheknowshe'
sangry
,butnotwhyhe'
sangr
y.

4.'
Putoutt
hel
i
ght
,andt
henputoutt
hel
i
ght
'Ot
hel
l
osay
sthi
sjustbef
oreheki
l
lsDesdemona.

5.'
Shewasf
alseaswat
er.
'Ot
hel
l
otoEmi
l
iar
egar
dingDesdemona.

6.Emil
ia'
sresponset
oOthel
lo'
sprev
iouscomment
:"Thouar
trashasf
ir
etosay
,/t
hatshewas
fal
se.O,shewasheavenl
ytr
ue!'

7.'Tr
if
lesl
ightasair
/Ar
etot
hejeal
ousconf
ir
mationsst
rong/
Aspr
oof
sofhol
ywr
it
.'I
ago
regar
dinghisplott
omakeOthel
loj
eal
oususingt
hehanky.

8.Ot
hel
l
osay
sthathewant
stober
emember
edas'
onet
hatl
ovednotwi
sel
y,butt
oowel
l
.'

9.'
Whendevil
swil
ltheblackestsi
nsputon, /
Theydosuggestatfi
rstwit
hheavenl
yshows.'I
ago
i
nAct2.Thisemphasizestheideathatwhatyouseei
sn'
tnecessari
lywhatyouget.'
Honest
I
ago'appear
sheavenl
yandgoodt oother
sbutheispur
eev i
l.f
rom Kati
eStephanandAndrew
Schi
ff
10."Heavenismyj udge, notIforl
ov eanddut y,
/Butseemi ngsof ormypecul i
arend./Forwhen
myout wardactiondot hdemonst r
ate/Thenat i
veactandf igureofmyheart/Incompliment
exter
n,'
tisnotlongaft er
/ButIwi l
lwearmyhear tuponmysl eeve/Fordawst opeckat .Iam not
whatIam"( 1.1.
65-71).Thisquotegi vesthereaderinsightintowhatkindofpersonIagoi sand
whathisintenti
onsar e.Thisconversati
ont akesplaceinthef i
rstsceneofthefir
stactaf t
erI
ago
fi
ndsoutt hatOthell
ohast akentheposi ti
onofl i
eutenant.I
agor eveal
sthat
, al
thoughitmay
seem li
kehei stry
ingt ohelpoutOthel l
o,heisusingOt hell
o'str
usttobetr
ayhim, ashei snot
whathei s.

11.'
Iam gl adIhav efoundt hisnapkin. /Thiswasherf ir
stremembr ancefrom t heMoor .
/My
waywar dhusbandhat hahundr edtimes/Wooedmet osteali
t,butshesol ov esthet oken"
(3.
3.334-297) .Emili
asay stheselinesaf tershefoundDesdemona' shandker chief.I
nt hisquote,
Emili
aexpl ainsthebackgr oundofOt hell
o'sgifttoDesdemona, andshowst hehowi mpor t
ant
thehandker chiefistoOthello.Emili
aal sor eveal
sthatIagowant edtostealit,butshedoesn' t
knowwhy .Iagoev entual
lyusest hesi gnifi
canceofthehandkerchiefinhispl ottogetr ev enge
onOt hel
lo,byt urni
nghi m againsthisownwi fe,showingIago'
sabilit
ytomani pulateot her
people.

12."I
fshebefalse,
o,thenheavenmocksi t
self
!/I'
llnotbelieve't"(3.
3.321-22)Othell
omakes
thi
scommenti mmediatel
yaf t
erIagotri
estoconv incehi mt hathiswife,Desdemona, is
cheati
ngonhim wit
hhi sf
riend,Cassi
o.Thequot er epresentsOthel l
o'
sdesi retokeepfait
hin
Desdemona,andhowhi sloveforherisstil
lstr
ong.Thi squot esignifi
estheOt hel
lo'
sincreasi
ng
suspi
cionaboutDesdemona, whichult
imatelyleadst ohismur deringofher .Thequoteisa
sol
il
oquywhichissaidbetweenI ago'
sexitandDesdemona' sent rance.

13.'AsIam anhonestman, Ithoughtyouhad/r eceivedsomebodilywound'(2.

3.285).Thi
s
statement,madebyIago,i
soneexampl eofverbal i
rony.I
agoistheexactopposit
eofhonest.
Thequot ecomesaf t
erCassiodrunkenlystar
tsabr awl,andbecomeswor r
iedabouthis
reputat
ion.Cassi
oisconfi
dinginIagoforhelp,unknowi ngthatI
agohadplannedthewhol e
scene.Thisquotefur
ther
sIago'sroleasv i
l
lai
nint heplay,andmakesitapparenttothe
audiencethatheisuptonogood.

14.'
Thenyoumustspeak/Ofonethatl
ovednotwisely
,buttoowell
'(5.
2.404-
5).Thisquotei
s
sai
dbyOthell
oshortl
ybef
orehestabshi
mself.Hehasjustr
eali
zedIago'
st r
eacherousplan,
but
i
tistool
atebecausehehasmurderedhi
swife,Desdemona.Othel
l
oaskshi sfel
lowstatesman
t
orememberhiminagoodli
ght,andst
atest
hathi
smai
ncr
imewasl
ovi
nghi
swi
fet
oomuch.
f
rom Kr
ist
inDal
yandPet
erSwigget

15.'Ifhesayso, mayhi sper nicioussoul /Rothal fagr ai

naday !Heliestot h' hear
t./Shewas
toof ondofhermostf il
thybar gain.'Emili
asay sthesewor dstoOt helloduringActV, sceneiiof
Othello,whenEmi l
i
ahasent eredt heroom i nwhi chOt hel
lohasj ustsuf f
ocat edDesdemona.
Othello'
spar anoiaisappar entint hi
sscene, becauseDesdemonamut teredt oEmi li
athatshe
was' fal
selymur dered'
.Thi squot eindicatesEmi lia'
sacknowl edgementofherhusband' s,Iago,
hiddenev il
.Thisalsoist hefirsttimeOt hellohassecondguessed' HonestI ago' '
sintent
ionsas
well.Further
mor e,'
Shewast oof ondofhermostf i
l
thybargain'addresseshowDesdemonawas
bli
ndedbyhermar ri
age( 'bargain'
)andnev ersuspect edOt hel
lotodoany thingt ohurther
becauseofherobl ivi
on.

16.'Iam gl adIhav efoundt hi

snapki n./Thiswasherf i
rstr emembr ancef rom t heMoor ,
/My
way wardhusbandhat hahundr edt imes/Wooedmet ost eal i
t,butshesol ovest hetoken' /For
heconj uredhersheshoul dev erkeepi t'/Thatsher eservesi tev er
mor eabouther /Toki ssand
tal
kt o.I'l
lha't
hewor kta'enout ,
/Andgi v e'
tIago.Whathewi ll
dowi thit,
/Heav enknows, notI .'
Emi l
iadescr i
best hishandker chief ,
whi cht urnsi nt
oscandal plannedbyI ago, duringActI II
scenei i
i ofOthel
lo.The' napki n' inthisquot ereferstothehandker chief
, andt hisisthefirsttime
wear ei ntr
oducedt ot hi
sscandal .Emi l
ia'sspeechexpl ai
nst hatthehandker chiefisthefirstgift
Othellogav eDesdemona, i
tr epr esent st heiroldestandpur estf eel
ingsforoneanot her,
andi sa
symbol ofthestrongr ootsoft hei rrelationship.Shesay st hatIagohasaskedhermanyt imest o
getitforhi m,withfaithf
ul loveandconf idencei nwhathewi l
ldowi thit
.Si nceEmi l
iaisobl i
vious
toIago'st r
ueintentions,thehandker chiefser vesasanot hert i
mei nwhi chI agohast he
extraordinarypowert omaket hosear oundhi m seeonlywhatt heywantt osee.

17.'Mynobl efather,/Idopercei veher eadi videddut y.

/Toy ouIam boundf orli
feand
education./Mylifeandeducat ionbot hdol ear nme/Howt or espectyou.Youar et helordofmy
duty,
/Iam hi t
hertoy ourdaught er.Buther e'smyhusband, /Andsomuchdut yasmymot her
showed/Toy ou, preferr
ingyoubef oreherf ather,
/SomuchIchal l
engethatImaypr ofess/Due
totheMoormyl or d.'Desdemonaspeakst oherf atherinthisquot e,duri
ngActIscenei i
i.These
areherf i
rstwords, andi mmedi atelychar act eri
zedDesdemonaast houghtful,butalsoasbr ave
andcour ageous.Sheacknowl edgest hatherr espectf orherlov erandherfat heris'div
ided' and
confrontsherinti
mi datingfatherwi ththishar shrealit
y,despi tepotenti
alnegat i
ve
consequences.Thi ssameabi litytosepar at edi f
ferentkindsofaf fecti
onwi l
lexplainwhy
Desdemonat endst oCassi o,fuelingOt hello'sjealousy.AlthoughDesdemonai sonl yhonestand
kind,Othell
o'
smani pulati
onbyI agoblindshi mt oanyaspectoft hi
s,andthinkingi ti
sf alseheis
ulti
matelypoisoned.
18.' ThusdoIev ermakemyf ool mypur se: /ForImi neowngai n'dknowl edgeshoul dpr ofane,
/IfIwoul dtimeexpendwi t
hsuchasni pe./ Butformyspor tandpr of i
t .Ihatet heMoor :/Andi tis
thoughtabr oad, that'twixtmysheet s/Hehasdonemyof fice:Iknownoti f
'tbet r
ue;/ButI ,
for
mer esuspi cionint hatkind, /Wi l
ldoasi fforsurety .Hehol dsmewel l;/Thebet t
ershal lmy
pur posewor konhi m./Cassi o'
sapr operman: letmeseenow: /Togethi spl aceandt opl ume
upmywi ll
/I ndoubl eknav ery--
How, how?Let '
ssee: --/Aftersomet ime, toabuseOt hell
o'sear /
Thathei stoof amiliarwithhi swi f
e./Hehat haper sonandasmoot hdi spose/Tobesuspect ed,
framedt omakewomenf alse./TheMoori sofaf reeandopennat ure, /Thatt hinksmenhonest
thatbutseem t obeso, /Andwi llast enderlybel edbyt henose/Asassesar e./Ihav e't.I
ti s
engender ed.Hel landni ght/Mustbr ingt hismonst r
ousbi rtht othewor l
d'slight .'
Inthis
quot at i
onf rom Act1, scene3, Iagoisgi vingasol i
l
oquyaf terthedukeofVeni ceappr ovesof
Ot hello'srelati
onshi pwi t
hDesdemona.Wi t
hinthispassage, I
agost at est hathe' hatesthemoor
(Ot hello)'
,suspect i
ngt hatOt hellohashadanaf f
airwi t
hhi swi fe.Iagot henr ev ealstothe
audi encehi spl antot urnOt hell
oagai nstCassi oandsubsequent l
yr uinOt hel l
obyconv i
ncing
himt hatDesdemonahashadanaf fairwi t
ht helieutenant.Thi sexcer ptaccent uatesIago's
char act er,
showi ngj usthowev ilandcunni ngher eal l
yis.Itrevealshowdr asticallyheiswi lli
ng
toacti nresponset ohi sjealousyofCassi oandt ohi sbasel esssuspi cionofOt hell
o,two
seemi nglypet t
ymot ives.

19.'Beshrewmei fIwoulddosuchawr ongf ort hewhol ewor ld!

'I
nthisquotati
onf r
om Act4,
SceneI I
I,Desdemonai sr
espondingtoEmi l
ia'sst atementt hatshewouldcommi tadult
eryifthe
payofffordoingsowasl argeenough.Thisquot ati
onpr ovesDesdemona' sunwav eri
ng
fai
thful
nesst oOthell
o.BecauseDesdemonapr oclaimst hatshewouldnotcommi tadulter
y'for
thewhol eworld'
,shebecomesasy mbolofthemal eidealoftheperfectwifewhoi simpervious
toanyt emptati
ontocheat.Thisquotati
onisi ronicbecauseDesdemonapl acessomuch
emphasi sonandt akessomuchpr i
deinherf aithfulnesstoOt hel
lo,
yetsheul t
imatel
ydies
becauseOt hell
oissosuret hatshecheatedonhi m.

20.IAGO: '
O, bewar e,mylord,ofjealousy!I
tisthegreen-
eyedmonster..
.'
Thisquotationis
i
mpor tantbecauset hewhol eplayisshapedbyj eal
ousy.I
tisi
roni
cal
lysaidbyIagowhoi sthe
characterthatcausesj ealousytoexi stwit
hinOthel
l
o'smind.I
agoappear stoal
loft he
charactersasanhonestandsi nceremanwhocoul dneverdoanywr ong;however
, heisdriven
byhishat redandj ealousyofOt hel
lo.Thisstat
ementsparksOthel
lo'
sjealousyofCassi owhich
growsuni magi nablyquickly
.

21.EMI
LIA:
'O,
whohat
hdonet
hisdeed?
'DESDEMONA:
'Nobody
.Imy
sel
f.Far
ewel
l
.Command
met omyki ndlor
d.O,far
ewell
.'
ThisshowsDesdemona'struel oyal
tytoOthell
o.Eventhoughhe
mur der
edher ,shesti
l
lgrant
shim onelastki
ndactofnottel
lingEmi l
ia.Thi
sisimportant
becausei ti
salsowhenOt hel
loreal
izest
hatDesdemonaact uallyal
way shasbeentruthf
ul and
fai
thful
.Itisoneofthemostt r
agicmoment soft
heplayandl eadstot heconcl
usionthatIagois
notanhonestman.

22.BRABANTI O:'Lookt
oher ,Moor
, i
fthouhasteyestosee:Shehasdeceivedherfat
her,
and
mayt hee.
'Brabanti
oist
alkingtoOthell
oshortl
yafterheisconvi
ncedbythecourttol
etOthell
o
marryDesdemona.Hewar nsOthel
l
ot hatDesdemonawasabl etokeepasecretf
rom hi
m, and
shemayal sodeceivehi
m; thi
ssowst heseedsofOt hel
lo'
sparanoi
djeal
ousyofher.I
agolater
expandsont hesesuspi
cionsandmani pul
atesOthell
otohisdoom.

GLOSSARYOFLI
TERARYTERMS

ALLEGORY'
thi
ngsorpeopl
ethatr
epr
esentani
deaorgener
ali
zat
ion.

ALLI
TERATION' t
herepet
it
ionofconsonantsoundsatt
hebeginningsofwords,
forexampl
e,
"
Doubti
ng,dreamingdr
eamsnomor taleverdar
edtodream bef
ore."'Poe,
TheRaven

ALLUSION' ar
eferencet oaperson,aplace,anev ent,oraliterar
yworkthatthewr i
terexpectsa
readertorecognize.All
usionsmaybedr awnf r
om my t
hology ,
rel
igi
on,hi
stor
y,orgeogr aphy,
e.g.
Ani l
l
usiontoGreekmy thologyi
sfoundinthislinef r
om Ol i
verWendellHolmes''TheChamber ed
Nautil
us',
"Ingulf
senchant ed,wheretheSirensings'".Holmesal l
udestotheSirens,seany mphs
whoenchant edsai l
orswiththei
rsongsandl uredt hem totheirdeathsontherocks.

ANAPEST'
asi
n'un-
der
-st
and'

ANTI
THESI
S'Anopposi
ngorcont
rastofi
deas.

ANTAGONIST'aper
sonorforceopposi
ngthepr
otagoni
stinadramaornar
rat
ive.Thewor
d
'
ant
agoni
st'comesf
rom aGreekwordmeaning"
tostr
uggleagai
nst.
"
APHORI
SM 'ashor
tter
se,point
edst
atementexpr
essi
ngsomewiseorcl
everobser
vat
ionabout
l
if
e,f
orexampl
e,'
Hethatl
i
v esuponhopewil
ldief
asti
ng'
'Benj
aminFr
ankl
in

APOSTROPHE' di
rectaddr
esstoanabsentordeadperson,anabstractquali
ty,
orsomething
i
nanimateornonhumanasi fi
tcoul
dhearandunderst
and.f orexample,'
Death,benotpr
oud,
thoughmanyhavecall
edthee/
Mightyanddanger
ous,f
ort houartnotso.'JohnDonne

APPEARANCE'
seeI
ndi
rectChar
act
eri
zat
ion

APPROXI
MATERHYME'
thewor
dsar
esi
mil
arbutdonotr
hymeexact
ly

ASSONANCE' t
herepet
it
ionofsi
milarv
owel
sounds.f
orexampl
e,'
From t
hemol
ten,
gol
den
not
es.
'EdgarAl
lanPoe,'
TheBell
s'

BALLAD' narr
ati
vepoem usual
lymeanttobesung.Ball
adsar egeneral
l
yclassi
fi
edasfolk
ball
adsorl i
terar
yball
ads.Fol
kball
adshavenoknownaut hor.Theauthorofali
ter
aryball
adis
known.Themostpopul art
hemesofball
adsare:di
sappoint
edl ove,j
eal
ousy,r
evenge,
sudden
disaster
,anddeedsofadv ent
ureanddari
ng.Thestor
yistoldthroughdial
ogueandaction.A
refr
ain,orchorus,i
sacommonel ement.

BASI
CSI
TUATI
ON'
(exposi
ti
on)achar
act
eri
nasi
tuat
iont
hatl
eadst
oapr
obl
em orconf
li
ct.

BLANKVERSE' i
ambicpent
ameterunrhy
med. forexampl
e,'
Likeonewhowrapsthedraperyof
hi
scouch/Abouthi
m, andl
i
esdownt opleasantdreams.Wil
l
iam Cul
lenBy
ant,
'Thanatopsi
s'

CAESURA' abreakorpausei nalineofpoet

ry,whi
chcontr
ibutestot
herhythm oft
hepoem.For
exampl
e, '
Gofort
h, undertheopensky,andl
ist/
ToNatur
e'steachi
ngs,whi
lefr
om allar
ound-
/Ear
thandherwat ers,andthedepthsofai
r-/Comesasti
llvoi
ce''
Will
i
am Cull
enBryant,
'
Thanatopsi
s'
CHARACTERI
ZATION't
hemeansbywhi
chawr
it
err
eveal
sachar
act
er'
sper
sonal
i
ty.
Gener
all
y,a
char
act
eri
sdevel
oped;

(
1)t
hrought
hechar
act
er'
sact
ions

(
2)t
hrought
hechar
act
er'
sspeechesandt
hought
s

(
3)t
hroughaphy
sical
descr
ipt
ionoft
hechar
act
er

(
4)t
hroughshowi
ngwhatot
herchar
act
erst
hinkorsayaboutt
hechar
act
er

(
5)t
hroughadi
rectst
atementr
eveal
i
ngt
hewr
it
er'
sideaoft
hechar
act
er.

CANTO'
div
isi
onofal
ongpoem.

CLI
MAX'
themosti
ntensemomentormoment
s.

COMPLI
CATI
ONS'
(ri
singact
ion)mor
epr
obl
emsar
iset
omakesi
tuat
ionwor
se.

CONFLI CT' astruggl

ebetweentwoopposi
ngf or
cesorcharact
ersinashort,st
ory,
novel
,pl
ay,
ornarrativepoem.Thestruggl
emaybeext er
nal(bet
weentwoper sons,bet
weenapersonand
societ
y, betweenapersonandnatur
e),
oritmaybeani nt
ernalconfl
ict(
betweentwoelement
s
str
ugglingf ormaster
ywithi
naperson)
.

CONNOTATION'aword'
sownt
onet
hatdoesnotchange.Meani
ngs,
associ
ati
onsoremot
ions
thatawor
dsuggest
s.
CONSONANCE' t
herepeti
ti
onofsi
mil
arconsonantsoundsi
nthemi
dstofagroupofwords.
for
example,
'Gr
ewleanwhil
eheassail
edtheseasons.
'EdwinAr
li
ngt
onRobi
nson,
'Mini
verCheev
y '
repet
it
ionof'
l'
and's'
withi
nwords.

COUPLET' t
woconsecutiv
elinesofpoetr
ythatr
hyme.f
orexampl
e,
'Fort
hysweetl
ove
rememberedsuchwealthbri
ngs/Thatt
henIscornt
ochangemystatewi
thKi
ngs.'
Wil
l
iam
Shakespear
e,Sonnet#29

DACTYL'
asi
n'des-
per
-at
e'

DENOTATI
ON'
thel
i
ter
ary
,di
cti
onar
ymeani
ngofawor
d.

DENOUEMENT' theoutcomeofaplot
.From t
heFrenchwordfor'
unknot
ting',i
tist
hatpar
tof
st
ory,nov
el,
play,
narr
ati
vepoem i
nwhichconfl
ict
sareresol
vedandthefortunesofthe
pr
otagoni
staredeci
ded.

DI
CTI
ON'
awr
it
er'
schoi
ceofwor
ds,
par
ti
cul
arl
yforcl
ari
ty,
eff
ect
iveness,
andpr
eci
sion.

DI
METER'
two(
2)f
eet
.

DI
RECTCHARACTERI
ZATI
ON'
exact
lywhatt
hechar
act
eri
sli
keasdescr
ibedbyt
hewr
it
er.

DI
RECTMETAPHOR'
tel
l
sdi
rect
ly'
Iam'
'

DRAMATI
CIRONY'
weknowwhati
sgoi
ngt
ohappenbutt
hechar
act
erdoesnot
.

DRAMATI CMONOLOGUE' apoem i

nwhichonecharact
erspeakstooneormoreli
stener
s
whoserepli
esar
enotgiven.Theoccasi
oni
susuall
yacrucialonei
nthespeaker
'sl
i
fe,andhi
s
wordsservetor
eveal
hispersonal
i
ty.
DYNAMI
CCHARACTER'
someonewhochangesdur
ingt
hecour
seoft
hest
ory
.

EFFECTONCHARACTER'
seeI
ndi
rectChar
act
eri
zat
ion

ELEGY' apoem ofmourni

ng,usuall
yoverthedeat
hofaperson,t
houghitmayalsobealament
overthepassi
ngofli
feandbeaut yoramediati
ononthenatur
eofdeat
h.Iti
salyri
cpoem,
melanchol
yorsolemnintone.forexample,'
WhenLil
acsLasti
ntheDooryar
dBloomed'byWalt
Whitmanlamentsthedeat
hofLi ncol
n.

END-
STOPPEDLI
NES'
li
nesi
napoem wi
thpunct
uat
ionatt
heend.

ENDRHYME'
endsofl
i
nest
hatr
hyme.

EPI
C'l
ongnar
rat
ivepoem aboutaher
o.

EPIGRAM 'ashor
t,wit
ty,
pol
i
shedsay
ingi
npr
oseorv
erse.Forexampl
e,
'Theusedkeyi
sal
way
s
bri
ght.
'Benj
aminFrankl
in

EPI
TAPH'
shor
tpoem orv
ersewr
it
teni
nmemor
yofsomeone.

EPITHET' adescr
ipt
ivenameorphr aseusedtochar
acteri
zesomeoneorsomet
hing,suchas
'
fai
r-weatherf
ri
end.'
ThomasPai neuses'thesummersoldi
er'
and't
hesunshi
nepatr
iot'
to
charact
erizet
hosewhof ai
ltoserv
et hei
rcountr
yint
imeofcrisi
s.

EXACTRHYME'
alway
srhy
me;
forexampl
e,y
ell
owf
ell
ow.

EXPOSI
TION'
theki
ndofwr
it
ingi
ntendedpr
imar
il
ytopr
esenti
nfor
mat
ion.Thet
erm'
exposi
ti
on'
al
sorefer
stothatpartofashor
tst
ory,
anovel
,anar
rat
ivepoem,
orapl
ayt
hatgi
vest
her
eader
oraudi
enceessenti
albackgr
oundi
nfor
mati
on.

EXTENDEDMETAPHOR'
dev
elopedov
ermanyl
i
nes.

EXTERNALCONFLI
CTS'
causedbysomet
hingout
sideoft
hechar
act
er.

FABLE'
abr
iefst
oryt
hati
stol
dtopr
esentamor
al,
orpr
act
ical
lesson.

FI
GUREOFSPEECH'
aphr
aset
hati
snotsupposedt
obeunder
stoodl
i
ter
all
y.

FI
RSTPERSONPOI
NTOFVI
EW '
'I
'tel
l
sthest
ory
.

FLASHBACK' asceneinashortstory
,anovel
,anarr
ati
vepoem, oraplaythati
nter
rupt
sthe
acti
ontoshowanev entt
hathappenedearl
i
er.Oft
enaflashbacktakestheform of
remini
scencebyoneofthecharacter
s.

FLATCHARACTER'
canbedescr
ibedi
nonesent
ence.

FOIL'achar
act
erwhoset
sof
fanot
herchar
act
erbycont
rast
.forex
ampl
e,
Macbet
handBanquo,
Brut
usandCassius

FOOT' aunitofrhy
thm inpoet
ry.Afooti
smadeupofonest r
essedsyl
lableorbeat,andoneor
moreunstressedsyll
abl
es.InEngl
ishpoet
ry,
typesoff
eetar
e:spondai
c,iambic,
trochai
c,
anapest
ic,
anddact yl
ic.

FORESHADOWI
NG'
theuseofhi
ntsorcl
uesi
nanar
rat
ivet
osuggestwhatact
ioni
stocome.
FREEVERSE'
nosetr
hymepat
ter
n.

GOTHI
C' at
ermthatdescr
ibest
heusei nfi
cti
onofgrot
esque,
gloomysett
ings(
oft
encast
les)
andmyst
eri
ous,
viol
ent,
andsupernat
uraloccur
rencest
ocreat
esuspenseandawe.

HEPTAMETER'
sev
en(
7)f
eet
.

HEROICCOUPLET'
twosuccessi
ver
hymi
ngl
i
nes(
iambi
cpent
amet
er)makesacompl
ete
t
hought.

HEXAMETER'
six(
6)f
eet
.

HYPERBOLE' afi
gur
eofspeechusi
ngexaggerat
ion,
oroverst
atement,f
orspeci
alef
fect
.For
exampl
e,
'Andamouseismi r
acl
eenoughtostaggersext
il
li
onsofinf
idel
s..
.'
WaltWhit
man,
'
SongofMy sel
f'

IMAGERY' wor
dsorphr
asest
hatcreat
esensei
mpr
essi
onsi
nther
eader
'smi
nd(
appeal
sto
sight
,touch,t
aste,
smel
l,
hear
ing)
.

I
MPLI
EDMETAPHOR'
suggest
edbyav
erbdescr
ibi
ngbot
hsi
tuat
ions.

INDIRECTCHARACTERI ZATI
ON' wri
teri
ndirect
lydescri
beschar
act
erbyt
hei
rappear
ance,
speech,pr
ivat
ethought
s,eff
ectonothercharacter
s,andact
ion.

I
NTERNALCONFLI
CT'
str
uggl
ewi
thani
nter
nal
qual
i
ty.

I
NTERNALRHYME'
rhy
mewi
thi
nthel
i
nes.
I
RONY'acontr
ast
,incongr
uit
y,ordi
scr
epancybet
weenwhatisstatedandwhati
smeant,or
bet
weenwhati
sexpectedtohappenandwhatact
ual
lyhappens.Threeki
ndsofi
ronyar
e:

(1)v
erbal'
e.g.I
nEzraPound'
spoem '
L'
Art
,1910'
,t
hepoetdescr
ibesadi
stast
eful
pai
nti
ng,
but
hesays:'
Come,letusf
eastourey
es.
'

(2)dramati
cirony'thereaderknowsmor ethanthechar
acter
.Thereaderoraudi
encepercei
ves
somet hi
ngdif
ferentfr
om whatachar act
erinthestor
yorplayknows.forexampl
e,I
n
Robinson'
spoem, '
MiniverCheevy'
,Mi
niverdeludeshi
mselfi
ntobel
ievi
ngthathei
sthevicti
m of
fate,
butthereaderknowst hathi
sfaulti
sofhi sownmaking.

(3)i
ronyofsituat
ion'thewri
tershowsadiscrepancybet
weentheexpectedr
esul
tofsome
acti
onorsituati
onandi t
sactualr
esul
t.e.
g.InRobinson'
spoem,'Ri
char
dCory'
,Cor
y,who
seemst ohaveev er
yreasonforli
vi
ng,i
nexpl
icablyki
ll
shimsel
f.

LI
TOTE'
for
m ofunder
stat
ement
,negat
ionofcont
rar
y.

LYRI
C'apoem,usual
l
yashortone,t
hatexpressesaspeaker
'sper
sonal
thought
sandf
eel
i
ngs.
Theel
egy
,ode,
andsonnetar
eallfor
msoft helyri
c.

METAPHOR' afigureofspeechthatmakesacompar isonbet

weentwot hi
ngswhi chare
basi
call
ydissimil
ar.forexampl
e,'Li
fei
sadr eam.'
,
'Li
feisaval
eoftears.
'Manymet aphorsar
e
i
mpliedorsuggest ed.I
nherpoem, '
UpontheBurningofOurHouse',
AnneBr adst
reetusesan
i
mpliedmet aphorwhen, i
nref
err
ingtoheaven,shespeaksofthebeauti
ful
'house'abovebui
l
tby
themighti
est'ar
chitect
'.

METER'
regul
arpat
ter
nofst
ressedandunst
ressedsy
ll
abl
es.

METONYMY'
subst
it
uti
ngonewor
dforanot
hercl
osel
yrel
ated.
MONOMETER'
one(
1)f
oot
.

MOTI F'arecurr
ingf
eature(
suchasaname, animage,
oraphr ase)inawor kofli
teratur
e.A
mot i
fgeneral
lycont
ri
butesi
nsomewayt othethemeofashor tstory,novel
,poem,orplay.f
or
example,I
nAmyLowel l
'
spoem '
Patter
ns',sheusesavari
etyofpat t
ernsasamot iftoreveal
thatherwholeli
feasawomani ntheeighteent
hcentur
yisrigi
dlystructur
edorpatterned.

MOTI
VATI
ON'
whatmov
esaper
sont
oactast
heydo.

NARRATI
VE'
ast
oryorst
oryt
ell
i
ng

NARRATI
VEPOEM '
apoem t
hatt
ell
sast
ory
.forexampl
e,epi
c,r
omance,
bal
l
ad.

OCTAVE'
anei
ght
-l
inepoem orst
anza;
thef
ir
stei
ghtl
i
nesofanI
tal
i
ansonnet
.

OCTOMETER'
eight(
8)f
eet
.

ODE' acomplexandoft
enlengthylyri
cpoem writ
teninadi gni
fied,f
ormalstyl
eonsomel of
tyor
seri
oussubj
ect.Odesar
eof t
enwr it
tenforaspeci
al occasion,
tohonouraper sonoraseason,
ortocommemor ateanevent
.forexampl e,
HenryTimr od'Odeont heConfederat
eDead't
obe
sungataceremonyin1867inwhi chthegravesoftheConf ederatedeadatMagnoli
aCemet er
y
i
nChar l
est
on,SouthCar
oli
na,weredecor at
ed.

OMNI
SCI
ENTPOI
NTOFVI
EW '
all
-knowi
ngpoi
ntofv
iew

ONOMATOPOEI A't
heuseofawor dwhosesoundi nsomedegreeimitatesorsuggest
sit
s
meaning.Thenamesofsomebi r
dsareonomat opoet
ic,
imi
tat
ingthecriesofthebir
dsnamed:
cuckoo,whippoorwi
ll
,owl,
crow.Someonomat opoeti
cwordsarehiss,
clang,rust
le,
snap,
buzz.
InPoe'spoem 'TheBel
ls'
,t
hewordtint
innabul
ati
onisonomatopoeti
c.
OXYMORON' afi
gureofspeechthatcombinesopposi
teorcont
radi
ctor
yideasort
erms,
asi
n
'
sweetsor
row'
,'
wisefool
'
,'l
i
vingdeath'
,'
honestt
hief
'.

PARADOX' ast
atementt
hatreveal
sakindoftr
uth,
alt
houghitseemsatf
irstt
obesel f
-
cont
radi
ctor
yanduntr
ue.forexampl
e,'
Muchmadnessi sdi
vi
nestsenset
oadi scer
ning
eye/
Muchsensethestar
kestmadness'
.Emil
yDicki
nson

PARODY' i
mitat
ionofal
i
ter
arywor
kforamusement
.PASTORAL'
poem t
hatdeal
swi
tht
he
subj
ectofr
urall
ife.

PENTAMETER'
fiv
e(5)f
eet
.

PERSONIFI
CATION' afi
gur
eofspeechinwhichsomethi
nginani
mat
eisgi
venli
fe.forexampl
e,
I
n'BecauseIcoul
dnotstopforDeat
h,heki
ndlyst
oppedforme',
Emi
lyDi
cki
nsonper soni
fi
es
deat
hbydepicti
ngitasapersonwhodri
vesacarri
ageandmakesst
opsforpassengers.

PLOT'
thesequenceofev
ent
soract
ionsi
nashor
tst
ory
,nov
el,
play
,ornar
rat
ivepoem.

POINTOFVI
EW '
thev
ant
agepoi
ntf
rom whi
chanar
rat
ivei
stol
d.Ther
ear
etwobasi
cpoi
ntsof
vi
ew:

(
1)fi
rst
-per
son' t
hestor
yistol
dbyoneofthechar
act
ersi
nhi
sorherownwor
ds,
andt
her
eader
i
stol
dwhatt hi
scharact
erknowsandobser
ves

(2)thir
d-person' t
henar r
atorisnotachar act
erinthestoryatall
.Thethi
rd-personnarr
ator
mightt el
lastoryfrom ali
mi tedpointofv i
ewf ocusi
ngononl yonecharacterinthestory
,such
asin'AWor nPath'byEudoraWel t
y,i
nwhi chthenarr
atorfocusesonPhoeni xJackson.The
thi
rd-personnarrat
ormi ght,ontheot herhand, beanall
-knowing,oromni
scient,observ
erwho
describesandcomment sonal lthechar acter
sandact i
onsinast ory
.
PRI
VATETHOUGHTS'
seeI
ndi
rectChar
act
eri
zat
ion.

PROTAGONIST'thecentr
alchar
act
erofadrama,novel
,shor
tst
oryornar
rat
ivepoem.The
prot
agoni
sti
sthecharact
eronwhom theact
ioncent
ersandwit
hwhom thereadersy
mpathi
zes
themost.

PSALM '
sacr
edorr
eli
gioussongorl
yri
c.

PUBLICSYMBOL' hear
tequalsl
ove,
snakeequal
sev
il
:sy
mbol
swi
del
yrecogni
zedas
repr
esent
ingsomethi
ngelse.

QUATRAIN'usuall
yastanz
aorpoem off
ourli
nes.However,
aquatrai
nmayal
sobeanygr
oup
off
ourl
inesunif
iedbyarhymeschemeasisal
lofShakespeare'
ssonnet
s.

QUI
NTET'
fiv
eli
nest
anza.

REFRAI
N'r
epeat
edsev
eral
timesi
nthepoem.

REPETI
TION'
repeat
ingawor
dorphr
aset
ocr
eat
easenseofr
hyt
hm.

RESOLUTI
ON'
'unt
yingt
heknot
'
;fi
gur
ingoutwhathappens.

RHYME'
repet
it
ionofaccent
edv
owel
sounds.RHYMESCHEME'
pat
ter
nofr
hyme.

RHYTHM '
alt
ernat
ionofst
ressedandunst
ressedsy
ll
abl
es.
RI
SINGACTI
ON'
mor
epr
obl
emsar
iset
ocompl
i
cat
ethesi
tuat
ion.

ROMANCE'achar
act
er'
sdr
eamsandguest
scomet
rue;
boymeet
sgi
rl
,boyal
mostl
osesgi
rl
,
boywi
nsgi
rl
.

ROUNDCHARACTER'
(ormai
nchar
act
er)mor
ecompl
ex,
cannotbedescr
ibedi
nlesst
hant
wo
sent
ences.

RUN-
ONLI
NE'
ali
neofpoet
rywi
thnopunct
uat
ionatt
heend.

SARCASM '
int
ent
iont
obi
teorwoundi
nahur
tful
way
.

SATI RE' akindofwr it

ingthathol dsupt oridi
cul
eorcontempttheweaknessesandwr ong
doingsofani ndiv
idual(s)groups, i
nsti
tut
ions,orhumanityi
ngeneral.Theaim ofsati
ri
stsisto
setamor alstandardforsoci ety
,andt heyat t
empttopersuadethereadertoseetheirpointof
vi
ewt hrought hefor
ceofl aughter .f
orexampl e,
cert
ainexcerpt
sofMar kTwain's'The
Adv enturesofHuckl eberryFinn'aresatir
ical.

SCANNI
NG'
anal
yzi
ngt
hemet
ri
cal
pat
ter
n.

SEPTET'
sev
enl
i
nest
anza.

SESTET'asix-l
i
nepoem orst
anza.Usual
l
ythet
erm sest
etr
efer
stot
hel
astsi
xli
nesofan
I
tal
iansonnet.

SETTING't
hetime,pl
ace,spi
ri
tual
oremot
ional
atmospher
einwhi
chev
ent
sinashor
tst
ory
,
novel
,pl
ayornarr
ati
vepoem occur.

SI
MILE'
afi
gur
eofspeechcompar
ingt
woessent
ial
l
yunl
i
ket
hingst
hroughaspeci
fi
cwor
dof
compar i
son,suchas'l
ike'
,
'as'
,'
than'
,
or'r
esembles'
.
forexampl
e,'
Thi
sistheAr
senal.From f
loor
toceil
ing,Li
keahugeor gan,r
isetheburni
shedarms'
.HenryWadswor
thLongfel
l
ow, '
The
ArsenalatSpri
ngfi
eld'

SI
TUATI
ONALI
RONY'
descr
ibesanoccur
rencet
hati
sopposi
teofwhatweexpect
ed.

SOLILOQUY'anextendedspeech,usual
l
yinadr ama,del
i
v er
edbyachar act
eral
oneonstage.
Thecharact
err
evealshisorheri
nnermostthoughtsandfeel
ingsdi
rect
lytotheaudi
ence,asi
f
thi
nkingal
oud.

SONNET' alyr
icpoem off
ourt
eenli
neswri
ttenini
ambicpent
ameterandusi
ngaparticul
ar
rhy
mescheme.e. g.t
heShakespear
eansonnethasarhymeschemeofababcdcdef
efgg;the
I
tal
iansonnethasarhymeschemeofabbaabbacdcdcd.

SPEECH'
seeI
ndi
rectChar
act
eri
zat
ion.

SPONDEE'
asi
n'snow-
stor
m'

STANZA' auni
tofapoem t
hati
slongert
hanasingl
eli
ne.Manystanzashaveaf
ixedpatt
ern'
thatis,
thesamenumberofli
nesandthesamerhymescheme.Ast anzamaybeasshortasa
couplet,
tworhymingl
i
nes.Thet
erceti
sastanzaofthr
eeli
nes.Thequatr
aini
safour-
li
ne
stanza.

STATI
CCHARACTER'
stay
sthesameatt
heendandt
hebegi
nni
ngoft
hest
ory
.

STREAM OFCONSCI OUSNESS' thestyleofwri

ti
ngt hatatt
emptstoi
mit
atethenatur
al f
lowofa
character'
sthoughts,f
eel
ings,r
eflect
ions,memories,andmentali
mages,asthecharact
er
experiencesthem.forexample,Katheri
neAnnePor terusesthi
sdevi
cet
opr esentGr
anny
Weat heral
l'
sthoughtsin'
TheJilt
ingofGr annyWeatherall
'
.
STYLE'awri
ter
'scharact
eri
sti
cwayofwri
tingdet
erminedbythechoi
ceorwords,
the
ar
rangement
sofwor dsinsent
ences,
andtherel
ati
onshipoft
hesentencest
ooneanother
.

SUSPENSE'
hint
sthr
owni
ntoi
ncr
easeouranxi
ety
.

SYMBOL' anyobj
ect,person,pl
ace,oract
iont
hathasameaningi
nitsel
fandthatalsost
ands
forsomethi
nglar
gerthanitsel
f,suchasaqual
ity
,anatt
it
ude,
abeli
ef,oraval
ue.forexample,
a
roseisoft
enasymbol ofloveandbeauty;
askulli
soft
enasymbolofdeath;
spri
ngandwi nt
er
oftensymbol
izeyout
handol dage.

SYNECDOCHE'
usi
ngpar
tofsomet
hingt
orepr
esentt
hewhol
e.

SYNTAX' Syntaxisnotsimply'wordorder'
.Syntaxisthestr
uctureofasentenceorsent ences,
or
thearrangementofwor dsi nasentence.Adiscussionofsyntaxinyouressaycoul dinclude
suchconsider ati
onsas:thelengt
horbr evi
tyofthesentencesthetypesofsent ences
(i
nterr
ogative,declar
ati
ve,excl
amatory,imperati
ve).whatt
ypesofinter
rogativesentences
(questi
ons).Forexampl e,r
hetori
calquesti
ons.whatt y
pesofdeclarat
ivesentencesar eused'
peri
odicsent ences;l
oosesentences;si
mpl e,
compound, andcompl exsentences.

TETRAMETER'
four(
4)f
eet
.

THEME' thegeneral
ideaorinsi
ghtaboutl i
fet
hatawriterwi
shestoconvey .I
nsomelit
erar
y
worksthethemeisexpresseddir
ectly
, butmoreoft
enthemeisimpli
cit'
thatis,i
tmustbedug
outandthoughtabout.Asimplethemecanof tenbestatedi
nasingl
esent ence,
butsometimes
ali
ter
aryworkisri
chandcompl ex,reveali
ngnumerouscomment saboutthehumancondi t
ion.

THI
RDPERSONLI
MITEDPOI
NTOFVI
EW '
thi
rdper
sonwi
thonl
yoneper
son'
sthought
s.

TONE' theatt
it
udeawr i
tert
akestowardhisorhersubject
,charact
ers,
andreader
s.for
example,Li
ncol
n's'Gett
ysbur
gAddr ess'
issol
emni ntone.Twain'
s'Li
feontheMissi
ssippi
'i
s
humorousandaf fecti
onatei
ntone.
TRAGEDY' adramainwhichtheprotagonistorheromeetsadi
sast
rousendbecauseofafl
aw
i
ncharacteroraner
rori
njudgement.Thet ragi
chero,t
houghdef
eated,
gainsameasureof
wisdom orsel
f-
awar
eness(epiphany
)bef orehisdownfal
l
.

TRANSCENDENTALI SM ' aphil

osophywhi chholdsthatbasict ruthscanber eachedthrough
i
ntuit
ionratherthant hroughreason.Toar r
iveatsucht r
uths, peoplemustgobey ond,or
tr
anscend, whattheirreasonandt hei
rsensest el
lthem.Tr anscendentali
stthinkers,i
nfl
uenced
byRomant i
cism,str
esst hebeautyofnat ure,t
heessentialdivini
tyofallpeople,andtheprimary
i
mpor tanceoft hehumanspi r
it
.Transcendentali
sm wasdev elopedinthe1830' sand1840'sby
RalphWal doEmer son, HenryDavidThoreau,andt hethi
nkerswhometwi ththem inConcor d,
Massachuset ts.

TRI
PLET'
thr
eel
i
nest
anzaTRI
METER'
thr
ee(
3)f
eetTROCHEE'
asi
n'mer
-cy
'

VERBALI
RONY'
sayonet
hing,
meananot
her
.

VERNACULAR' t
heever
ydayspokenlanguageofpeopl
einapar
ti
cul
arl
ocal
i
ty,
andwr
it
ingt
hat
i
mitat
esorsuggest
ssuchlanguage.