Glossary

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dactylic
the metrical pattern in which each foot consists of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones.

denotation
a direct and specific meaning. See connotation.

descriptive structure
a textual organization determined by the requirements of describing someone or something.

diction
an author’s choice of words.

discriminated occasion
the first specific event in a story, usually in the form of a specific scene.

discursive structure
a textual organization based on the form of a treatise, argument, or essay.

dramatic irony
a plot device in which a character holds a position or has an expectation that is reversed or fulfilled in a way that the character did not expect but that we, as readers or as audience members, have anticipated because our knowledge of events or individuals is more complete than the char-acter’s.

dramatic monologue
a monologue set in a specific situation and spoken to an imaginary audience.

dramatic structure
a textual organization based on a series of scenes, each of which is presented vividly and in detail.

dramatis personae
the list of characters that appears either in the play’s program or at the top of the first page of the written play.