| Concept | Definition & Details |
|---|---|
| Six Elements of Tragedy | In Order of Importance: 1. Plot (Mythos): "Soul of tragedy", arrangement of incidents 2. Character (Ethos): Moral qualities of agents 3. Thought (Dianoia): What characters say to prove/disprove a point 4. Diction (Lexis): Choice of words 5. Melody (Melos): Musical element 6. Spectacle (Opsis): Visual element (least important) Memory: PC-TD-MS (Plot-Character-Thought-Diction-Melody-Spectacle) |
| Definition of Tragedy | "An imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude... through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation (catharsis) of these emotions" |
| Tragic Hero | • Not eminently good/just, nor utterly wicked • Falls through Hamartia (tragic flaw/error of judgment) • Should evoke Pity (undeserved misfortune) and Fear (misfortune of one like ourselves) • Classic example: Oedipus |
| Catharsis | Purgation/Purification of emotions of pity and fear through tragic experience MCQ: Therapeutic effect of tragedy on audience |
| Peripeteia | Reversal of Fortune: Change from good to bad or vice versa Example: Oedipus discovering his true identity |
| Anagnorisis | Recognition/Discovery: Change from ignorance to knowledge Best when coincides with Peripeteia (as in Oedipus) |
| Hubris | Excessive Pride/Arrogance: Often leads to nemesis (downfall) Common element in tragic hero's hamartia |
| Unity | Definition & Requirements |
|---|---|
| Unity of Action | • One main plot with all parts necessary and connected • Remove any part = whole falls apart • Aristotle emphasized this MOST • No subplots or irrelevant episodes |
| Unity of Time | • Action should occur within 24 hours • Or "single revolution of the sun" • NOT strictly Aristotle's rule - later interpreters |
| Unity of Place | • Action confined to one location • No scene changes • Also later addition, not Aristotle's |
| MCQ Alert | Aristotle only insisted on UNITY OF ACTION. Time and Place were additions by Renaissance/Neoclassical critics (especially Italian and French) |
| Genre | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Tragedy | • Serious action with unhappy ending • Protagonist's downfall through hamartia • Evokes pity and fear → catharsis • Elevated language, noble characters Examples: Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, King Lear |
| Comedy | • Light, humorous action with happy ending • Often involves mistaken identity, misunderstanding • Marriage/reunion typical conclusion • Common people, everyday situations Examples: A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Importance of Being Earnest |
| Tragi-Comedy | • Mixed mode: Tragic potential with comic resolution • Serious theme but happy ending • Mix of high and low characters Examples: The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale |
| Comedy of Manners | • Satirizes social conventions/manners of upper class • Witty dialogue, sophisticated humor • Restoration and 18th century England Examples: The Way of the World (Congreve), The School for Scandal (Sheridan) |
| Farce | • Extreme comedy: Improbable situations, physical humor • Slapstick, exaggerated characters • Focuses on laughter over message Examples: The Comedy of Errors, Charley's Aunt |
| Melodrama | • Exaggerated emotions: Clear good vs. evil • Sensational plot, suspense • Music accompaniment (melo = music) • 19th century popular form |
| Problem Play / Social Drama | • Addresses social issues/problems • Realistic, discussion-oriented Examples: Ibsen's A Doll's House, Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession |
| Absurdist Drama / Theatre of the Absurd | • Post-WWII movement • Meaninglessness of human existence • Illogical plots, circular dialogue • Key figures: Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter Examples: Waiting for Godot, The Bald Soprano |
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Exposition | Introduction of characters, setting, background information |
| Rising Action / Complication | Conflict develops, tension builds, complications arise |
| Climax / Crisis | Turning point, highest tension, decisive moment |
| Falling Action | Consequences unfold, tension decreases |
| Denouement / Resolution | Conflicts resolved, loose ends tied, final outcome revealed |
| In Media Res | "In the middle of things": Story begins amid action, not at chronological beginning Epic convention (Homer) adopted in drama |
| Form | Definition & Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Novel | • Extended prose narrative (typically 50,000+ words) • Complex plot, multiple characters, developed settings • Subgenres: Gothic, Bildungsroman, Picaresque, Epistolary, Historical, Psychological, etc. • Emerged prominently in 18th century England |
| Novella | • Medium-length narrative (17,500-40,000 words approximately) • More focused than novel, less compressed than short story • Single conflict/theme developed in depth Examples: Heart of Darkness (Conrad), The Metamorphosis (Kafka), Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck) |
| Short Story | • Brief prose narrative (typically under 10,000 words) • Edgar Allan Poe: "Unity of effect/impression" - read in one sitting • Single plot, few characters, one setting • Every word contributes to overall effect Examples: The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe), The Lottery (Jackson) |
| Flash Fiction / Microfiction | • Very brief narrative (under 1,000 words, often 300-500) • Sudden revelation, compressed storytelling • Also called: Sudden fiction, postcard fiction |
| Type | Definition & Examples |
|---|---|
| Bildungsroman | "Formation/Education Novel": Traces protagonist's growth from youth to maturity Coming-of-age story, moral/psychological development Examples: Great Expectations (Dickens), Jane Eyre (Brontë), The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger) |
| Künstlerroman | "Artist Novel": Development of an artist (subset of Bildungsroman) Examples: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce), To the Lighthouse (Woolf) |
| Picaresque | "Rogue Novel": Episodic adventures of a roguish hero of low social class • Satirical, episodic structure • Spanish origin: pícaros (rogues) Examples: Don Quixote, Tom Jones (Fielding), Moll Flanders (Defoe) |
| Gothic Novel | Elements: Mystery, horror, supernatural, gloomy settings (castles, abbeys) • Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764) - first Gothic novel Examples: Frankenstein (Shelley), Wuthering Heights (Brontë), Dracula (Stoker) |
| Epistolary Novel | Written as series of letters (epistles) • Creates intimacy, multiple perspectives Examples: Pamela (Richardson), Dracula (Stoker - mixed form), The Color Purple (Walker) |
| Historical Novel | Set in past era, blend of historical fact and fiction • Sir Walter Scott pioneered the form Examples: Ivanhoe (Scott), A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) |
| Psychological Novel | Focus on interior consciousness of characters • Mental/emotional states emphasized over external action Examples: Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky), Mrs. Dalloway (Woolf) |
| Stream of Consciousness Novel | Presents flow of thoughts without conventional structure • William James coined term "stream of consciousness" (1890) Examples: Ulysses (Joyce), To the Lighthouse (Woolf), The Sound and the Fury (Faulkner) |
| Type | Characteristics & Examples |
|---|---|
| First Person | "I" narrator: Character in story tells it from their perspective • Reliable narrator: Trustworthy account • Unreliable narrator: Biased, limited, or deceptive Examples: The Catcher in the Rye, Great Expectations, Lolita (unreliable) |
| Second Person | "You" narrator: Addresses reader directly as protagonist • Rare, experimental Examples: Bright Lights, Big City (McInerney), If on a winter's night a traveler (Calvino) |
| Third Person Limited | "He/She" narrator: Focuses on one character's consciousness • Access to one character's thoughts/feelings • Most common in modern fiction Examples: Harry Potter series, Mrs. Dalloway |
| Third Person Omniscient | "All-knowing" narrator: Access to all characters' thoughts, past/future events • Can comment on action • Common in 19th century fiction Examples: Middlemarch (Eliot), War and Peace (Tolstoy) |
| Third Person Objective | "Fly on the wall": Only external actions/dialogue, no internal thoughts • "Dramatic" or "Camera eye" method Examples: Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" |
| Technique | Definition & Usage |
|---|---|
| Stream of Consciousness | Continuous flow of character's thoughts • No logical organization, mimics actual thinking • Free association, interior monologue Modernist technique: Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner |
| Interior Monologue | Direct presentation of character's thoughts • More structured than stream of consciousness • May use first or third person |
| Flashback / Analepsis | Scene set in earlier time than main narrative • Provides background, context • Disrupts chronological order |
| Foreshadowing | Hints/clues about future events • Creates suspense, anticipation • Prepares reader for outcomes |
| Frame Narrative | "Story within a story": Outer story frames inner tale(s) Examples: Wuthering Heights (Nelly Dean's narration), The Canterbury Tales, Heart of Darkness |
| Free Indirect Discourse | Blend of narrator's voice and character's thoughts • Third person but with character's idiom/perspective • Pioneered by Jane Austen, perfected by Flaubert Example: "She was very unhappy. How could he do this to her?" (narrator + character's voice) |
| Metafiction | Fiction about fiction: Self-aware narrative that comments on its own fictional nature • Breaks fourth wall, addresses reader directly Examples: Tristram Shandy (Sterne), If on a winter's night a traveler (Calvino) |
| Magic Realism | Magical elements in realistic setting presented as ordinary • Latin American tradition Key figure: Gabriel García Márquez Examples: One Hundred Years of Solitude, Midnight's Children (Rushdie) |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Plot vs. Story | Story: Chronological sequence of events (what happened) Plot: Artistic arrangement of events (how story is told) E.M. Forster: "The king died and then the queen died" = story; "The king died, and then the queen died of grief" = plot (causality) |
| Fabula vs. Syuzhet | Russian Formalist terms: Fabula: Chronological sequence of events Syuzhet: Actual presentation/order in narrative Similar to Story vs. Plot |
| Deus ex Machina | "God from the machine": Artificial, improbable resolution • Sudden intervention that solves problem • Generally considered weak plotting |
| Red Herring | Misleading clue that diverts attention from real issue • Common in mystery/detective fiction |
| Cliffhanger | Suspenseful ending leaving outcome uncertain • Reader must continue to next chapter/installment |
| Type | Definition |
|---|---|
| Round Character | Complex, multi-dimensional • E.M. Forster's term (Aspects of the Novel, 1927) • Capable of change, surprises reader • Realistic, psychologically deep |
| Flat Character | One-dimensional, simple • Defined by single trait • Predictable, unchanging • Often minor/comic characters |
| Static Character | Remains unchanged throughout story • No development or growth |
| Dynamic Character | Undergoes significant change • Evolves, learns, transforms |
| Stock Character | Conventional, stereotypical figure • Examples: Cruel stepmother, wise old mentor, damsel in distress • Recurring across many narratives |
| Foil | Character who contrasts with another (usually protagonist) • Highlights qualities of main character • Example: Benvolio as foil to Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet |
| Protagonist | Main character, central figure of narrative |
| Antagonist | Opposes protagonist, creates conflict • Not necessarily villain (can be nature, society, self) |
| Anti-Hero | Protagonist lacking traditional heroic qualities • Flawed, morally ambiguous Examples: Holden Caulfield, Raskolnikov, Heathcliff |
| Question Type | Key Facts |
|---|---|
| Aristotle's Six Elements ORDER | Plot > Character > Thought > Diction > Melody > Spectacle Plot is "soul of tragedy" (most important) |
| Three Unities | Only Unity of Action emphasized by Aristotle Time & Place added by Renaissance/Neoclassical critics |
| First Gothic Novel | The Castle of Otranto (1764) - Horace Walpole |
| Stream of Consciousness Term | William James (1890) - philosopher/psychologist Literary technique: Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner |
| Round vs. Flat Characters | E.M. Forster - Aspects of the Novel (1927) |
| Short Story Theory | Edgar Allan Poe - "Unity of effect", single sitting |
| Plot vs. Story | E.M. Forster's example: Story = events; Plot = causality Russian Formalists: Fabula vs. Syuzhet |
| Theatre of the Absurd | Post-WWII, existential themes Key figures: Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter Example: Waiting for Godot |
| Bildungsroman | Coming-of-age, formation novel Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Portrait of the Artist |
| Free Indirect Discourse | Pioneered by Austen, perfected by Flaubert Blend of narrator + character's voice in 3rd person |
| Don't Confuse | Distinction |
|---|---|
| Hamartia vs. Hubris | Hamartia: Tragic flaw/error (general term) Hubris: Excessive pride (specific type of hamartia) |
| Peripeteia vs. Anagnorisis | Peripeteia: Reversal of fortune (change in circumstances) Anagnorisis: Recognition/discovery (change in knowledge) |
| Novella vs. Novel | Novella: 17,500-40,000 words, focused Novel: 50,000+ words, complex, multiple strands |
| Stream of Consciousness vs. Interior Monologue | Stream of Consciousness: Unstructured, free-flowing thoughts Interior Monologue: More organized presentation of thoughts |
| Bildungsroman vs. Künstlerroman | Bildungsroman: ANY coming-of-age story Künstlerroman: Specifically artist's development (subset) |
| Protagonist vs. Hero | Protagonist: Main character (value-neutral) Hero: Admirable, courageous protagonist Anti-hero is protagonist but NOT hero |
| Static vs. Flat | Static: Doesn't change (relates to development) Flat: One-dimensional (relates to complexity) Character can be both or just one |
Page 30/30 - RPSC AP English Paper 02 Complete!
Drama & Fiction Forms | Literary Criticism Theory Complete | Best of luck!