0603-Week15
- 3 major genres: drama, epic and lyric
- classical unities (three unities)
The classical unities, Aristotelian unities, or three unities are rules for drama derived from a passage in Aristotle's Poetics. In their neoclassical form they are as follows:
1.unity of action: a play should have one action that it follows, with minimal subplots.
2.unity of time: the action in a play should occur over a period of no more than 24 hours.
3.unity of place: a play should exist in a single physical space and should not attempt to compress geography, nor should the stage represent more than one place. - Dithyramb
The dithyramb was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god: Plato, in The Laws, while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb." Plato also remarks in the Republic (394c) that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is the only speaker. - Dionysus (Bacchus)
Dionysus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in Greek mythology. - In medias res
A story which begins in medias res (Classical Latin:"in the middle of a thing") opens in the midst of action. Oftentimes exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually, either through dialogue, flashbacks or description of past events. - Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. - Motifs
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. - Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. - theme≠moral
Theme
In linguistics, the topic, or theme, of a sentence is what is being talked about, and the comment (rheme or focus) is what is being said about the topic. That the information structure of a clause is divided in this way is generally agreed on, but the boundary between topic/theme depends on grammatical theory.
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. - Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called "The Great American Novel". - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived.
- Vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, especially as distinguished from a literary, national or standard language, or a lingua franca used in the region or state inhabited by that population. - Closet drama
A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. A related form, the "closet screenplay," developed during the 20th century. "Although the term sometimes carries a negative connotation, implying that such works either lack sufficient theatrical qualities to warrant staging or require theatrical effects beyond the capacity of most (if not all) theaters, closet dramas through the ages have had a variety of dramatic features and purposes not tied to successful stage performance."
Samson Agonistes is a tragic closet drama by John Milton.
Thrust theatre
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. As with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may view the stage from three or more sides. Because the audience can view the performance from a variety of perspectives, it is usual for the blocking, props and scenery to receive thorough consideration to ensure that no perspective is blocked from view. Arena theatre Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre (also referred as central staging) is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area. Amphitheatre An amphitheatre or amphitheater is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. Ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium. |
Syllables
- de-→from, down, away, to do the opposite, reverse, against
denouement (n.)
Meaning: the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved. - temptress (n.)
Meaning: a woman who tempts someone to do something, typically a sexually attractive woman who sets out to allure or seduce someone. - amphi-→both