Romeo And Juliet: Literary Terms

Front 1

Drama

Back 1

fiction written to be preformed by actors in front of an audience. Plays are divided into acts; acts are subdivided into scenes.

Front 2

Iambic Pentameter

Back 2

a poetic meter in which each line has five metric feet and each foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Front 3

Blank Verse

Back 3

unrhymed verse written in a meter known as iambic pentameter. Much of Shakespeare's work is written in blank verse.

Front 4

Chorus

Back 4

a character who, as developed in Greek drama, functions as a narrator offering commentary on a play's plot and themes. Unlike other characters who engaged in dialogue, the chorus spoke directly to the audience in Elizabethan dramas and often spoke the prologue and epilogue.

Front 5

Prologue

Back 5

an introductory section of a play, speech, or literary work

Front 6

Dialogue

Back 6

conversation that takes place between characters in a literary work

Front 7

Monologue

Back 7

a long speech or written expression of thoughts by a character in a literary work

Front 8

Soliloquy

Back 8

a dramatic device in which a character, alone onstage (or while thinking he is alone), reveals his or her private thoughts and feelings as if thinking aloud.

Front 9

Aside

Back 9

in a play, a comment that a character makes to the audience, which other characters onstage do not hear. The speaker turns to one side -or "aside"- away from the action on stage and speaks directly to reveal what he or she is thinking.

Front 10

Tragedy

Back 10

a play in which a main character suffers a downfall. That character, the "tragic hero", is typically a person or dignified or heroic stature. The downfall may result from outside forces of from a weakness in the character which is known as the characters "tragic flaw"

Front 11

Tragic Hero

Back 11

same as tragedy

Front 12

Stage Directions

Back 12

instructions written by a playwright that describe the appearance and actions of characters, as well as the sets, props, costumes, sound effects, suggested for the play.

Front 13

Pun

Back 13

a humorous play on words. Puns usually involve words that are similar in sound. (merry, marry) A word that has several meanings.

Front 14

Oxymoron

Back 14

a figure of speech in which opposite ideas are combined (jumbo shrimp)

Front 15

Foreshadowing

Back 15

hints or clues that an author uses to prepare readers for events taht will happen later in the story

Front 16

Irony

Back 16

a difference between what is expected and what actually happens (3 types)

Front 17

Situational Irony

Back 17

the outcome is the opposite of what was expected

Front 18

Verbal Irony

Back 18

a character says one thing and means another

Front 19

Dramatic Irony

Back 19

the audience or reader knows information that the characters do not

Front 20

Sonnet

Back 20

a lyric poem of 14 lines, typically written in iambic pentameter and usually following strict patterns of stanza form and rhyme scheme. The Shakespearean sonnet consists of 3 quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet. the rhyme scheme is typically: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

Front 21

Extended Metaphor

Back 21

a metaphor that compares two unlike things in various ways throughout a paragraph, stanza, or entire selection

Front 22

Foil

Back 22

a character who provides a strong contrast to another character. By using a foil, a writer calls attention to the strengths and weaknesses of a character.