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Aside: (Katy Holt)
An aside is a form of dramatic irony in which the audience learns something another character does not know.  Specifically, an aside is a quick statement by a character in a work of drama.  The statement is assumed not to be heard by others on stage and it contrasts what the character is actully communicating.

Example One:
Pg. 82 Romeo and Juliet... Juliet shares her private thoughts - she forgives Romeo with all of her heart - and her mother of course, cannot know this.  (lines 81-83)

Example Two:
Pg. 1045 The Brute... Luka tells the audience she feels an evil spirit around - something she wouldn't reveal in front of Smirnov.  (line 56)

Example Three:
Pg. 1049 The Brute... Smirnow lets the audence in on his growing affection for Mrs. Povov while she has no idea.  (lines 34-35)

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Bathos:  (Lynn Isackson)
 

Anticlimax or melodrama that intends to be dramatic but goes to the extreme of  becoming ridiculous. Example 1: Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare) In the Play Romeo and Juliet the character Mercutio, Romeo's trusted friend, makes  a long drawn out speech on a fairy that allows maidens to dream of love. Shakespeare has a certain flare for going overboard with feeling and contend and this is a prime example of this. At the end of Mercutio's speech he yells " THIS IS SHE...THIS IS SHE" which is taking the moment to great extremes.  Example 2: The Brute (Anton Chekhov)  In the Drama Brute the character of Mrs. Popov lost her husband many many years from the moment the play took place the woman vows never to marry again never to love anyone again. In a speech she declares, "...Never shall I see the light of day, never strip from my body this...raiment of death!...Let his ghost learn how I love him! This example is a clear example of Bathos the character of Mrs. Popov took the love of her husband too far and the feeling that she produces is one of  an extreme manner Example 3: Hamlet (William Shakespeare) When the character Ophelia in Hamlet commits suicide the character Laertes jumps into the  grave and tells the men to bury him in the ground with her. This extreme measure of love tugs at the reader's emotions, but at the same time seems far too far fetched for reality.

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Climax: (Liz Koenig)
the peak of the action of the story.

The action and tension of the story gradually increases until it reaches its peak.  This is known as the climax. Generally, the action of the story rapidly decreases after the climax.

Example:
In the short story "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, the climax comes at the very end of the story when the town's people come to Emily's house, after her death, and discover that she has been sleeping with the corpse of her ex-lovers body for numerous years.

For example the play The Brute uses comedy well.  I think it is how things are said in the play rather than the events that take place.  Here's a prime example of comedy.  Smirvov says to Luka, "Dolt! Idiot! You talk too much!..."

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Denouement:  (Malene Little)
 

Definition:  The end of the drama at which point all issues are resolved. Example One:  In the play “Trifles,” the women hide the canary and the characters leave the farmhouse. Example Two:  In the play “The Brute,” Smirnov and Popov end their differences and begin a romance. Example Three:  In the play “A Doll’s House,” Kristine and Krogstad find happiness with each other, Rank goes off to die, and Nora leaves Tovald.

Examples:

1) In 'Trifles' a play by Susan Glaspell, the women notice all the little things that don't seem important at the time but help to solve the mystery in the end.
  These little quirks like the half clean table and the bread outside the bread box. When the bird is found it puts everything into place. The dead bird is the
  'dues ex machina of the story.

2) In 'Tender Offer' by Wendy Wasserstein, the dues ex machina are the leg warmers that Lisa is looking for. They symbolize the beginning of the talk with
    Paul and then the end of the argument when they both realize that they need to spend more time together and talk through their problems.

3) In 'Romeo and Juliet' by Shakespeare, the lovers are stopped by their parents from being together. The dues ex machina would be the poison that Juliet takes.
   It is introduced into the story as a solution that is not alluded to previously. It is also the major event in the ending of the story.

Exposition:  (Rosanne Rougemont)
The part of the story that gives us the critical information we need to understand the rest of the story.

Examples:

In Trifles, we are given information as the scene is set and in the opening dialogue to help us understand specifics that become important later in the play.(Glaspell, p. 951)

In The Brute, the exposition is presented almost solely in the opening dialogue. We learn of Mrs. Popov's attitude and mind-set that makes her change more significant later.(Chekhov, p. 1040)

In Tender Offer, we find little in the exposition, but nevertheless it sets the stage and describes a little about the characters and begins to explain the circumstances under which the action takes place.(Wasserstein, p. 1302)

Flashback (Angel Murphy)
Def: A tool used in writing to allow a character to explore events occuring at a different time. The reader follows the characters thoughts as they examine and earlier situation. This can be essential to the story in that, it can give needed background information. However, sometimes a flashback can upset the rhythm of the story and, therefore, have a negative effect. This is rare, most often a flashback serves a needed purpose by more fully examining a person or situation.

Three examples from our text are:

    Pg. 81 William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily.
    This story is written after the death of the character Ms. Emily, however, the narrator constantly
    refers to past events. These flashbacks serve to aquaint us with Emily and also her relationship
    with the rest of the town. This information is essential to the story. The narrator needs to have the
    flashbacks to relate the entire story from beginning to end.

    Pg. 43 Alberto Alvaro Rios' The Secret Lion.
    In this short story, flashback's are again used to relate past events by a present narrator. The
    events are essential to this story because it is an adult relating a coming of age event in his past.

    Pg. 144 Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing.
    This short story also contains flashbacks. The narrator is a mother who is relating the life of her
    daughter to a listener. In order to fully explain the life events that effected the development of the
    girl the writer must use flashbacks. It is especially useful in this situation when the narrator is
    practically recounting an entire lifetime.

Foil:(Barb Gunderson)
The foil character in a story is the character who is the exact opposite of the main character and therefor serves to maginfy certain characteristics of the main character.

In the play Trifles, the men are foils for the women. The men's heavy reliance on fact illustrates how much the women rely on emotion for reason.

In A&P Stokesie is a foil character for Sammy,  Stokesie's unimaginative nature highlights the creativity and enthusiasm posessed by Sammy.

In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is a foil in apposed to Benvolio.  Mercutio's violent, self centered stature shows how peaceful and unselfish Benvolio is.

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In Medias Res: (William Deline)

Beginning a story with a major event and explaining the background to it at a later time.

Examples:
I Stand Here Ironing
    A short story by Tillie Olsen

The story begins with a woman ironing. She is thinking about her child who needs help. She is interested in helping the child, but does not know how.
    It is not until the fifth paragraph that we gain knowledge about who the child is and what problems both the mother and daughter are facing. The rest of the story tells the background information and ends where it had started, with a woman ironing.

Trifles
    A play by Susan Glaspell

The play opens in the messy kitchen of a farmhouse belonging to John Wright. Huddled around the fire talking are a county attorney, a sheriff, the sheriff's wife, and a neighboring farmer.
    Very quickly details begin to spring up and it is easy to see why these people are in that place. A murder mystery evolves with all of the background being provided by allusions in the dialogue of the characters.

A Rose for Emily
    A short story by William Faulkner

This story begins with the funeral of a "monumental" woman who had been alone for quite a long time. A description of her eyesore house and burial in a military cemetery are then given.
    In the third paragraph, there is information revealed about who she was and what she had done in the community. The story gives insight to her and her husband and provides all necessary background events to fit the story together.

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Melodrama:  (Tonya Hohenthaner)
A play characterized by stereotypical characters, exaggerated emotions, and simplistic conflict.

Examples of a Melodrama:

• " The Brute" by: Anton Chekhov (Kirszner & Mandell, pgs. 1039-1051)

" Tender Offer" by: Wendy Wesserstein (Kirszner & Mandell, pgs. 1301-1308)

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Pathos:(JoAnne Taylor)
the quality in art and literature that makes us feel pity, tenderness or sorrow; suffering that exists simply to satisfy the Sentimental or morbid needs of the audience.
 

Ex. #1:  Lady Ophelia in Shakespeare's play Hamlet was a good example of  pathos.  We did not really get to know her except to find out that she was Hamlet's fiance, and she killed herself when Hamlet was being a jerk and made everyone think that he was insane.  Her death made us feel sorrowful, but her death was not the total tragedy in itself.

Ex. #2: Cordelia from Shakespeare's play King Lear is also a good example of pathos.  Cordelia is Lear's daughter and she is murdered in prison and it is framed as a suicide, that makes us feel pity.  Also, in many of literature, the most tortured souls in the afterlife are usually murdered souls, and this too makes us feel pity because not only is she murdered, but she is going to be tortured in the afterlife.

Ex. #3: Once again Shakespeare supplies us with our third wonderful example of pathos, Lady Capulet from Romeo and Juliet. She is a flat character that we do not really get to know, but at the end, after the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet, we find that she has died as well, and her death serves no real purpose except to add to the tragicness of all the events put together.  Her death in itself is not really a tragedy.
 

Proscenium (Erika Foss)
         A proscenium is the part of the modern stage that is in front of the curtain; it is the part of the stage where actors stand to be seen by the audience when the curtain is closed.

                   Examples:

1. The proscenium allows the audience to view the actors in action, as though the     stage were an adjoining room that has one wall cut away.
2. The proscenium arch (which is part of the proscenium), is part of a picture frame stage and it surrounds the opening of the stage.
3. The proscenium is a defining characteristic of modern stage and serves to keep the audience at a distance.

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Soliloquoy:(Amanda Buechler)
In plays a soliloquoy is a speech given by one character who is alone on the
 stage. During the speech the character reveals his thoughts, which may be unknown to other
 characters, to the audience.

 Example #1: Hamlet Act 1 Scene 2 pages 1061- 1062
                     During this scene Hamlet is alone on the stage and reveals his feelings about his mother's marriage to his uncle only one month after the death of his father.

 Example #2: The Brute page 1044
                     In this soliloquoy Gregory Smirnov reveals his hatred of women to the audience. He also reveals that the  money owed to him from Ms. Popov's deceased husband is a matter of life and death to him. Throughout his speech Mr. Smirnov is alone in Mrs. Popov's living room.

 Example #3: Hamlet Act 4 Scene 4 page 1122
                     While alone on the stage Hamlet reveals to the audience that he has finally decided to act on his plan to seek revenge.

Thrust Stage: (Raphael Duncan)
A stage surrounded on three sides by the audience, slightly raised to increase visibility
For an example of a thrust stage, click here.

Tragedy:(Richelle Braum)

Examples:

“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell:
Glaspell makes us feel pity for Minnie Wright even though she has just killed her husband.  On the other hand we have distain for Mr. Wright (the victim) because his treatment of Minnie has caused her to commit this crime.

“night Mother” by Marcia Norman:

Though one of the main characters has chosen to end her life, it is her mother that we feel sympathy for.Norman manages to shift the reader’s apathy from the victim onto the person who we want to blame for her daughter’s plight.

“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespear

This tragedy is defined by the outside forces that have strong attributes into the death of the young lovers.

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Xavier - a type of wolf that loves computers.
 

Xavier surfing the net.

The ANTI-Xavier.