Aristotle

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Aristotles Six Ingredients to Classical Tragedy
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1. Nobility

• The individual involved has to be a member of
  upper nobility in order to be a tragic hero

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2. Hamartia

• The tragic hero must have some kind of flaw
  (hamartia) which might include a mistake in
  judgment or HUBRIS (pride), the greatest sin of
  all.

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3. Reversal

• The story must contain some type of obvious
  reversal. This could be a reversal in attitude or
  fortune.

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4. Suffering

• Not all tragic heroes die, but all suffer.
  Sometimes the suffering is mental, sometimes
  physical, however it is always great suffering.

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5. Self-Awareness or Knowledge

• The tragic hero becomes aware of his situation or
  plight, but this always comes to the character
  when it is too late to do anything about the
  outcome.

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6. Pity and Fear

• The audience must feel these in order for a
  tragic hero to be real
• Pity - punishment they received was too great
• Fear - can see themselves in the hero it could
  be me

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The Tragic Plot
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Exposition

• Gives the status quo of the present, introduces
  the main characters, gives background

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Inciting Action

• Incident which starts the plot, main conflict is
  introduced

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Ascending Action

• Events that are caused by the conflict and lead
  up toward the climax

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Climax

• The high point of the plot, usually a turning
  point for the main character.

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Reversal

• The point at which there appears to be no home
  for the main character.

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Descending Action

• When the actual suffering occurs

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Catastrophe

• The catastrophic event of the story (ex death,
  injury, loss)

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Denoument

• The calming, leveling off of the plot that which
  gives the audience a feeling that all is well.