Aristotle 384-322 B.C. Poetics
1 All fiction is the same, imitations form from words and meter, but not all that comes from words and meter is fiction (medical treatises).
2 Artists who produce imitations are better, worse, or the same as the original (action/object).  There is a norm.
3 Art is categorized by means, object and manner
4 Rhythm moved from dance (tetrameter) to iambic, when dialogue was introduced.  Iambic used to be invective (satiric); now it is used for tragedy.
5 All aspects of epic poetry can be found in tragedy, but not vise versa. Comedy was not originally viewed as a serious form and therefore did not have the same value as tragedy.
6 tragedy is composed of 6 parts: thought, character, diction, spectacle, melody, plot
7 the most important element of tragedy is that incidents be arranged in order: beginning, middle, end.  There should be a proper length for each moment.
8 plot involves unity as it pertains to one whole action.
9 the poet writes about events as they might be, not as they necessarily are. Plot should deal with that which is universal and probable.
10 plots are simple (without recognition) or complex (with recognition, reversal, or both) based on the actions within them
11 tragedy is comprised reversal of fortune, recognition, and suffering
12 four parts of tragedy: prologue (before the chorus), episode (section of tragedy), exode (section of tragedy after which there is no chorus) which are spoken and advance the plot; choral parts (parode  (1st speech) stasimon) deal with overall theme
13 a plot of simple construction is essential to tragedy; it should involve a move from good to bad fortune.
14 Poet should evoke pity and fear and should use stories (and families) that are handed down over the generations
15 characters ought to be consistent, good, appropriate, true to life yet better than they really are in reality.
16 recognition occurs through reasoning, by being stimulated, by being contrived for an occasion and, less preferably, by external signs
17 in constructing plots, actions and gestures must be visualized and recorded by the poet.  Poet should avoid incongruity.
18 poets must understand and use complication and resolution in tragedy; poets should not try to make tragedy out of epic (poetry) because the scope is too long and varied.  The chorus should be an integral part of the play.
19 speech should convey thought; speech involves proof and refutation and the production of an emotional effect
20 scope of diction starts with letters, syllable, connective (prefix), noun, verb (time), reflection (singular or plural), and sentence.  These elements are combined to produce speech
21 words including metaphor are subjective, and are thus a double edged sword to the writer/poet; poets use analogical language (the evening is the old age of the day; x is like y or is y).  Nouns are gendered or neuter.
22 there is a time and place for certain kinds of diction, but most important is using metaphor skillfully.  diction should include strange words and common ones. See page 59.
23 In narrative verse (epic), Homer is skilled because he did not try to portray the whole Trojan war, but just the important moments
24 In contrast to the tragedy, epic poetry constitutes many lines of action rather than just one (Iliad). It also doesn't have song and spectacle. Epics should be written in heroic meter and not iambic or trochaic tetrameter (dance).  Epic allows for marvelous.
25 Criticisms stem from the improbability of the action, that is irrational, that is "morally harmful", that is fails technically
26 Tragedy is superior to the epic, in part because of the nature of acting and because of its spectacle and music