Domains and Classes aren't quite the same thing?

I am working my way through the Dramatica Dictionary trying to brush up on my terms when I started thinking about Domains and Classes. Originally I had assumed that they were the same thing - just synonyms. But after reading the various definitions I am pretty sure that they are talking about two different things.

From my new understanding, am I correct in stating that a Domain only exists when a Throughline is allocated to a Class?

For example, we allocated the OS Throughline to the Class of Situation it then becomes its own Domain?

If so, how should we use this term if we want to be accurate?

Should we talk about the “OS Domain of Situation”? or if the OS Throughline has yet been assigned to a Class we would discuss "Where do you think the “OS Domain is?” which is synonymous with saying “Which Class do you think the OS Throughline resides?”

So we should never really talk about the Situation Domain, unless it already incorporates a throughline?

I am thinking about this the right way?

I have been through all the dictionaries (web, software and Dramatica Dictionary) and this is the best I could come up with. It seems as though I may have been using the term inaccurately for some time now. (Main Character Problem: Non-Accurate) :wink:

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You’re correct. Consider that the Table is interesting in its own right, bereft of any story analysis or storyforming. In that case, the table is Classes (like Activity), Types (like Obtaining), Variations (like Morality), and Elements (like Faith). It’s only when you start plugging those into the story that they become Domains, Concerns, Issues, and Problems (among other things).

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Thanks for the response ActingPower. That’s a lot clearer now!

I now it was a basic point, but it was something that I had inadvertently been mis-using all this time…

To actingpower’s point, Domains are associated with perspective throughlines, e.g. the Main Character Domain or the Overall Story Domain. Once they are aligned with the Dramatica structure through storyforming, one can say, “The Main Character Domain of Fixed Attitude” or “The Overall Story Domain of Activity”.