8 dactyl-denouement-deusexmachina

Dactyl

A foot of poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed

syllables.

Dactyl

BTW: ptero- means “wing,” so pterodactyl means “wing-finger”

How the name came about:Dactylos is Greek for “finger”

DactylDactyls are usually arranged in dactylic pentameter or hexameter.

However, these meters are more flexible because dactyls are hard to incorporate all the time.

Each foot in a dactylic hexameter verse has the potential to be a dactyl or a spondee (foot with two long syllables—but we’ll look at those later)

Dactyl“Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie”Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.”

You should notice inconsistencies within the meter. Dactyls are spotted sporadically.

Denouement

The conclusion or tying up of loose ends in a literary work; the resolution of the conflict or plot

French meaning: the untying of a knot

Denouement

Typically a scene in which all the plot’s intricacies are revealed.

Deus ex machinaA Greek invention in which a character

appears at the last moment and resolves the loose ends of a play.

Deus ex machinaTranslates to “deity from out of a

machine”

From Greek and Roman dramas—if characters found themselves in an impossible situation, a god would be lowered from a crane to resolve the problem.

Deus ex machina

Problem

solved!

Deus ex machina

A modern example:

Lord of the Rings (click image for YouTube video)