Wright-Bhs-Romeo & Juliet Vocab 2014

Front 1

adversary

Back 1

opponent; enemy

Front 2

ambiguity

Back 2

statement or event in which meaning is unclear

Front 3

banishment

Back 3

exile

Front 4

boisterous

Back 4

stormy; violent; rowdy

Front 5

dexterity

Back 5

skill; cleverness

Front 6

idolatry

Back 6

extreme devotion to a person or thing

Front 7

lament

Back 7

to grieve for

Front 8

nuptial

Back 8

wedding

Front 9

peruse

Back 9

look over

Front 10

reconcile

Back 10

to become friendly again

Front 11

shroud

Back 11

a burial cloth

Front 12

allusion

Back 12

a reference in one work of literature to a person, place, or event in another work
of literature or in history, art, or music
9 Example: the band Veruca Salt is an allusion to the character Veruca Salt in the film
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Front 13

analogy

Back 13

an extended comparison showing the similarities between two things
9 Example: Juliet’s comparison of a rose and Romeo in her soliloquy

Front 14

antagonist

Back 14

the character or force that works against the protagonist; introduces the conflict

Front 15

aside

Back 15

words spoken by a character in a play, usually in an undertone and not intended

Front 16

blank verse

Back 16

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Front 17

characterization

Back 17

the personality a character displays; also, the means by which the author reveals
that personality

Front 18

climax

Back 18

the point of greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative

Front 19

conflict

Back 19

a struggle (between two opposing forces or characters)

Front 20

couplet

Back 20

two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
9 Example: My only love, sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!

Front 21

diction

Back 21

a writer’s choice of words for clarity, effectiveness, and precision

Front 22

dramatic irony

Back 22

a contrast between what the audience perceives and what a character does not
know

Front 23

dramatic structure

Back 23

the structure of a play

Front 24

epithet

Back 24

a descriptive adjective or phrase used to characterize someone or something.
(Peter the Great).
9 Example: Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover! (II.i.7)

Front 25

figurative language

Back 25

language that is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense

Front 26

foil

Back 26

a character who sets off another character by contrast

Front 27

foreshadowing

Back 27

the use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what action is to come

Front 28

iambic meter

Back 28

unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
9 Example: ǎ gain

Front 29

iambic pentameter

Back 29

five verse feet with each foot an iamb (a total of ten syllables)

Front 30

imagery

Back 30

language that appeals to any sense (sight, hearing, taste, touch, or smell) or any
combination of the senses

Front 31

irony

Back 31

literary technique that portrays differences between appearance and reality
(dramatic irony; situational irony; verbal irony)

Front 32

metaphor

Back 32

comparison between two unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning
to one of them

Front 33

motivation

Back 33

a reason that explains or partially explains why a character thinks, feels, acts, or
behaves in a certain way (Motivation results from a combination of the
characters personality and the situation to be dealt with.)

Front 34

pun

Back 34

the humorous use of a word or phrase to suggest to or more meanings at the
same time
9 Romeo: The game was ne’er so fair, and I am done.
Mercutio: Tut! Dun’s the mouse, the constable’s own word!
If thou art Dun, we’ll draw thee from the mire. (I.iv.39-41)

Front 35

repetition

Back 35

the return of a word, phrase, stanza form, or effect in any form of literature
(forms: alliteration; rhyme; refrain)

Front 36

monologue

Back 36

a long, uninterrupted speech presented in front of other characters

Front 37

oxymoron

Back 37

a figure of speech that combines apparently contradictory terms
9 “sweet sorrow”; “loving hate”

Front 38

personification

Back 38

a figure of speech in which an animal, object, natural force, or idea is given a
personality and described as human

Front 39

situational irony

Back 39

a contrast between what is expected and what really happens

Front 40

soliloquy

Back 40

a speech in which a character is alone on stage and expresses thoughts out loud

Front 41

sonnet

Back 41

a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, that has one of
several rhyme schemes. A sonnet form used by William Shakespeare is called
the Shakespearean sonnet. It has three four-line units (quatrains) followed by a
concluding two-line unit (couplet). The most common rhyme scheme for the
Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg

Front 42

symbol

Back 42

any object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself and that also
stands for something larger than itself—such as a quality, attitude, belief, or
value.

Front 43

suspense

Back 43

that quality of a literary work that makes the reader or audience uncertain or
tense about the outcome of events

Front 44

theme

Back 44

the central idea of a work of literature

Front 45

verbal irony

Back 45

a contrast between what is said and what is meant