| character | (1) The second in Aristotle's ranking of the six elements of theatre, which he described as "the agent for the action"; (2) a fictional being in a playwright's script. (2-21)
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| cinematic plot | The arrangement of the plot of a play that presents flash-backs and subjective scenes in other than chronological order. (2-21)
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| complex plots | A plot that interweaves more than one story, that includes "subplots." (2-18)
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| contextual plot | The arrangement and sequence of scenes in a play that is determined by their relationship to a central theme instead of by a chronological or cause-and-effect logic. (2-21)
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| dianoia | The Greek word for "the process of thought," used by scholars to name the third-ranked of Aristotle's six elements of theatre. (2-21)
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| diction | The choice and arrangement of words by the playwright that give a play its distinctive tone; not to be confused with "articulation," the preciseness of an actor's speech. (2-21)
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| exposition | Background information revealed in the dialogue to help the audience understand the unfolding plot. (2-21)
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| flashback | A scene in a film or play that takes place in an earlier virtual time than its placement in the structure of the plot. (2-18)
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| foreshadowing | Information included in the dialogue that the audience needs to know so it can understand later developments of the plot. (2-21)
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| linear plot | Description of the plot of a play that progresses without flashbacks to jumble the chronology; the action progresses "along a line." (2-21)
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| multiple plots | Description of a play that tells more than one story. (2-18)
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| music | The fifth-ranked of Aristotle's six elements of theatre; describes everything that is heard, from musical accompaniment to sound effects to the actors' voices. (2-23)
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| plot | The major action of the story that is told and that takes the audience on a journey from the status quo at the beginning to the changed circumstances at the end of a play; Aristotle described plot as "the life and soul of the drama." (2-18)
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| radio drama | Plays performed for radio broadcast only. (2-24)
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| resolution | The moment in a play's plot when the dramatic question is answered. (2-21)
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| reversal | A point in a play's plot when the protagonist suffers a temporary defeat. (2-21)
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| six elements of theatre | The six elements listed by Aristotle in The Poetics as the constituents of theatre; in order: plot, character, thought, diction, music, spectacle. (2-20)
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| spectacle | Sixth- and last-ranked of Aristotle's elements of theatre; includes all visual aspects of a production, from scenery to the movement of actors. (2-24)
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| thought | The third-ranked element of Aristotle's elements of theatre; see "dianoia." (2-21)
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| three unities | Organizing traits of a play as interpreted in the Italian Renaissance from Aristotle's The Poetics; unity of place, time, and action. (2-17)
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| unity of action | One of the three unities ascribed to Aristotle; an organizing trait of a plot in which a single story is told. (2-17)
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| unity of place | One of the three unities ascribed to Aristotle; an organizing trait of a plot in which the story takes place in one location. (2-17)
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| unity of time | One of the three unities ascribed to Aristotle; an organizing trait of a plot in which the story unfolds continuously. (2-17)
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