The tension curve, sometimes referred to as the stress curve, is the representation of the rise and fall of tension in a literary text. The term “construction of tension” is often referred to in a dramatic work. In the latter, the figures are presented (exposition), then the tension rises in the excitatory moment, reaches its climax and falls on it (peripetia), then to be retarded (retarding moment) and ultimately in a catastrophe. In the classical drama the individual acts are each occupied by one of the five elements presented (cf. Katharsis).
term
The term is not used uniformly in the literature and is also rarely found in relevant lexicons. Often, the terms stress arc and stress curve are also used synonymously. Practically, however, differences between these concepts can be identified.
As a rule, the tension curve means the course of the tension in a work that varies in the tragedy between hope and pessimism. The highlight is the point in the text in which the recipient (viewer, reader, listener) has the greatest hope that the drama could still find a happy ending with his protagonists. In comedy it is different.
In contrast, the stress curve means not only the course of the tension in the piece, but, in general, the construction, rise and fall of the action in the work. If one were to visualize such a curve, it would be mostly jagged because the voltage in the individual stages of the work is different and the voltage curve could be a semicircle over the course of the action.
Short overview: The most important part of the term at a glance
The tension curve means the tension in the literary text, but can also be the name for the visualization of the voltage profile (see the diagram above). The stress curve means the rising, then decreasing course of the stress.
In the classical drama, the individual concept is almost cover-equal. In other forms of text, however, these can vary widely – usually the stress curve describes a typical semicircle, which can be laid over the whole story, whereas the stress curve can fluctuate very frequently and strongly, especially in longer texts.
Note: In the case of multi-part films or continuation films, a sequence is usually interrupted at a point at which the voltage rises sharply. This can be explained quite simply by the voltage curve and is commonly referred to as a cliffhanger.