The CrucibleLITERARY ELEMENTS

Conversation between two or more people as a feature of a

book, play, or movie

DIALOGUE

An instruction in the text of a play, esp. one indicating the movement, position, or tone

of an actor, or the sound effects and lighting

STAGE DIRECTIONS

Essential background information conferred

through dialogue prior to rise of action in a play or film

DRAMATIC EXPOSITION

A warning or indication of (a future event)

FORESHADOWING

The place or type of surroundings where

something is positioned or where an event takes place

SETTING

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it

explicitly; an indirect or passing reference

ALLUSION

A long speech by one actor in a play or movie, or as part of

a theatrical or broadcast program

MONOLOGUE

An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by

oneself or regardless of any hearers, esp. by a character

in a play

SOLILOQUY

A remark or passage by a character in a play that is

intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play

ASIDE

The main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the

writer as an interrelated sequence

PLOT

Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is

understood by the audience but not by the characters in

the play

DRAMATIC IRONY

Irony in which a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses

words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the

literal meaning

VERBAL IRONY

A fallacy in logical argumentation

LOGICAL FALLACY

The events of a dramatic or narrative plot preceding the

climax

RISING ACTION

The most intense, exciting, or important point of

something; a culmination or apex

CLIMAX

The events of a drama after the climax (or crisis) but

before the denouement (or resolution)

FALLING ACTION

The action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter

RESOLUTION

A person in a novel, play, or movie

CHARACTER

Representation of a character or characters on the stage or in writing, especially by imitating or describing actions, gestures,

or speeches

CHARACTERIZATION

Indirect- the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, actions, appearance, etc. Direct- the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed by the use of descriptive adjectives, phrases, or epithets. Flat- an easily recognized character type in fiction who may not be fully delineated but is useful in carrying out some narrative purpose of the author. Round-a character in fiction whose personality, background, motives, and other features are fully delineated by the author. Dynamic-A character who undergoes change in the story Static- A character who goes through little or no chance in the story

Where the author creates a character whose primary

purpose is to create a contrast to another character

by laying emphasis or drawing attention to the

latter’s traits and characteristics through the

former’s obviously contradictory ones

FOIL

A serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one

CONFLICT

Internal-A struggle/ conflict within the mind of a characterExternal- A struggle between a character and an outside force like nature or another character

The main subject that is being discussed or described

in a piece of writing

THEME

A comparison between two unlike things that continues

throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or

lines in a poem

EXTENDED METAPHOR

The leading character or one of the major characters in a

drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text

PROTAGONIST

A person who actively opposes or is hostile to

someone or something; an adversary

ANTAGONIST

Professional entertainment consisting of jokes and

satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh

COMEDY

An event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural

catastrophe

TRAGEDY

Dominant impression or emotional atmosphere

evoked by the text

MOOD

An attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience

TONE

EX: Pokes fun at the fact that they think they are doing the right thing