Drama terminology!?

Question:ok ive been doing this for a long time, i cant figure them out.

instructions: you will be reading macbeth. Before you do, you need to understand the following dramatic terms. In order to find a definition and example of each term, look it up a dictionary. Be careful, especially literary terms. write the definition.

first of all, dont tell me to do my homework. ive been doing this since 5, not its 9:30. I really want to do this

i did most of them

these are the words I am stuck on:

classical
topical
anachronism
black verse
catharis
chorus
coincidence
contrast
couplet

if you know any of them can you give me the drama definition of it?

thanks in advance.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: ok ive been doing this for a long time, i cant figure them out.

instructions: you will be reading macbeth. Before you do, you need to understand the following dramatic terms. In order to find a definition and example of each term, look it up a dictionary. Be careful, especially literary terms. write the definition.

first of all, dont tell me to do my homework. ive been doing this since 5, not its 9:30. I really want to do this

i did most of them

these are the words I am stuck on:

classical
topical
anachronism
black verse
catharis
chorus
coincidence
contrast
couplet

if you know any of them can you give me the drama definition of it?

thanks in advance.

classical - normally refers to drama from the Greek stage, although when used with acting it can refer to the declamatory style used before naturalistic acting became common. Can also mean that a play has become established as a good work or is good enough to achieve that status - "The Crucible is a modern classic. Ubu Roi is an older play that I think is a classic piece of writing."

topical - plays which deal with current topics of interest, thus often becoming dated - an anti-communist play in the 50's (except for the Salem witch comparison with Congressional witchhunting in the Crucible by Arthur Miller which is topical but also eternal.)

anachronism - anything that appears in a play or production that does not belong naturally in the time of the play. If, in a production, Romeo uses a phone to call Juliet, that flies in the face of the language and is a production anachronism. In "Lion in Winter", much of the conflict is built on anachronistic modern attitudes about family with little historical support that anything like the personal conflicts in the play occurred.

black verse - I think this should be blank verse which is verse that reads more like prose without forced structure - Shakespeare. If it really is supposed to be black verse, I would have to guess it is depressed downbeat rhyming. although here is another guess http://forum.wordreference.com/showthrea...

catharis - relief of pain or stress by the working out of a play. It is a Greek term and refers to our sharing the pain of tragedy and by achieving catharis knowing that our lives are better.

chorus - Greek for the people who voiced the lines of setting and interludes when there was no scenery, effectively "We are here to tell you a story set in Athens not long ago in which two people are brought together." He speaks, She speaks. The chorus says "And the gods looked on them and were angry, saying ..."

coincidence - something happening by chance - two people find each other by bumping into each other on the street instead of one hunting frantically. Often decried when a plot depends so much on coincidence that we stop believing it could happen in a well made play - when you put that JFK's travel route just happened to go under the windows of the school book depository where someone who hated him worked, you get people disbelieving - too great a coincidence.

contrast - differences - In drama a tool for making a point - characters may contrast with each other, events may show a person in different attitudes - contrasting them. The song "I don't know how to love him" in Jesus Christ Superstar plays on the contrast of a love song vs. the profession of the character vs the philosophical complaint.

couplet - spoken verse written so every two lines end in rhymes - a couple of lines.
"I think the author is really thick,
I get tired of couplets really quick."

A dictionary can give you the answer to most of these within ten minutes. You spent nearly that much time logging in and writing out this question on Yahoo Answers.

Since you are, already on you computer, open up your word processor. It, also, has a dictionary. Copy the terms you have just typed into your question and past them into the word processor. Highlight them, one by one and look them up.

Heck, you can even copy and paste the answer into the document and turn it in as your homework.

You should give Mike1942 the Best Answer. Mike , ur a good man.