The structure of a dramatic work such as a play or film.
According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.
Exposition
The exposition is the portion of a story that introduces important background information to the audience; for example, information about the setting, events occurring before the main plot, characters' back stories, etc. Exposition can be conveyed through dialogues, flashbacks, character's thoughts, background details, in-universe media or the narrator telling a back-story.
Rising action
In the rising action, a series of related incidents builds toward the point of greatest interest. The rising action of a story is the series of events that begin immediately after the exposition (introduction) of the story and builds up to the climax. These events are generally the most important parts of the story since the entire plot depends on them to set up the climax, and ultimately the satisfactory resolution of the story itself.
Climax
The climax is the turning point, which changes the protagonist’s fate. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the plot will begin to unfold in his or her favor, often requiring the protagonist to draw on hidden inner strengths. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist, often revealing the protagonist's hidden weaknesses.
Falling action
During the falling action, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action may contain a moment of final suspense, in which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.
Dénouement
The dénouement comprises events from the end of the falling action to the actual ending scene of the drama or narrative. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)
William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
● William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech
He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
● Definition of midterm exam
1. Fiction
any narrative, especially in prose, about invented or imagined characters and action. Today, we tend to divide fiction into three major subgenres based on length—the short story, novella, and novel. Older, originally oral forms of short fiction include the fable, legend, parable, and tale. Fictional works may also be categorized not by their length but by their handling of particular elements such as plot and character. Detective and science fiction, for example, are subgenres that include both novels and novellas such as Frank Herbert’s Dune and short stories such as Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Murders at the Rue Morgue" or Isaac Asimov’s "I, Robot."
2. Plot
the arrangement of the action. The five main parts or phases of plot are exposition, rising action, climax or turning point, falling action, and conclusion or resolution.
subplot
a secondary plot in a work of fiction or drama.
overplot
especially in Shakespearean drama, a subplot that resembles the main plot but stresses the political implications of the depicted action and situation.
3. Narration and Point of View
point of view
the perspective from which people, events, and other details in a work of fiction are viewed; also called focus, though the term point of view is sometimes used to include both focus and voice. The point of view is said to be limited when we see things only from one character’s perspective; it is said to be omniscient or unlimited when we get the perspective of multiple characters.
narration
(1) broadly, the act of telling a story or recounting a narrative;
(2) more narrowly, the portions of a narrative attributable to the narrator rather than words spoken by characters (that is, dialogue).
4. Character
an imaginary personage who acts, appears, or is referred to in a literary work. Major or main characters are those that receive most attention, minor characters least. Flat characters are relatively simple, have a few dominant traits, and tend to be predictable. Conversely, round characters are complex and multifaceted and act in a way that readers might not expect but accept as possible. Static characters do not change; dynamic characters do. Stock characters represent familiar types that recur frequently in literary works, especially of a particular genre (e.g., the "mad scientist" of horror fiction and film or the fool in Renaissance, especially Shakespearean, drama).
5. Setting
the time and place of the action in a work of fiction, poetry, or drama. The spatial setting is the place or places in which action unfolds, the temporal setting is the time. (Temporal setting is thus the same as plot time.) It is sometimes also helpful to distinguish between general setting—the general time and place in which all the action unfolds—and particular settings—the times and places in which individual episodes or scenes take place. The film version of Gone with the Wind, for example, is generally set in Civil War– era Georgia, while its opening scene takes place on the porch of Tara, Scarlett O’Hara’s family home, before the war begins.
6. Theme
(1) broadly and commonly, a topic explored in a literary work (e.g., "the value of all life");
(2) more narrowly, the insight about a topic communicated in a work
e.g., "All living things are equally precious"). Most literary works have multiple themes, though some people reserve the term theme for the central or main insight and refer to others as subthemes. Usually, a theme is implicitly communicated by the work as a whole rather than explicitly stated in it, though fables are an exception.
● Vocabulary
resignation (n.) [͵rɛzɪgˋneʃən]
definition: a formal statement, document, etc., stating that one gives up an office, position, etc.
sentence: His resignation followed weeks of protests and was apparently motivated by internal politics unrelated to his environmental views.
dismiss (v.) [dɪsˋmɪs]
definition: to bid or allow (a person) to go; give permission or a request to depart.
sentence: It's easy to dismiss all attempts to put oneself at a remove from the subject of a story.
intellectual (adj.) [͵ɪnt!ˋɛktʃʊəl]
definition: possessing or showing intellect or mental capacity, especially to a high degree
sentence: In today's global economy, however, there is growing importance on intellectual property.
lilac (n.) [ˋlaɪlək]
definition: any of various shrubs belonging to the genus Syringa, of the olive family, as S. vulgaris, having large clusters of fragrant purple or white flowers: the state flower of New Hampshire.
sentence: It might be alluring, but a rare flower hat jelly's lilac -tipped fringe can deliver a painful sting.
naïve (adj.) [nɑˋiv]
definition: having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.
sentence: But of course to have found fault reveals the naïve temper of criticism in the late seventies.
obliterate (v.) [əˋblɪtə͵ret]
definition: to remove or destroy all traces of; do away with; destroy completely.
sentence: The heavy rain obliterated all footprints.
confederate (n.) [kənˋfɛdərɪt]
definition: a person, group, nation, etc., united with others in a confederacy; an ally.
pillar (n.) [ˋpɪlɚ]
definition: an upright shaft or structure, of stone, brick, or other material, relatively slender in proportion to its height, and of any shape in section, used as a building support, or standing alone, as for a monument
sentence: We mourn the loss of our beloved member, devoted supporter, and pillar of strength.