William Shakespeare’S Drama Notes (Helman)

Front 1

Prologue

Back 1

introduction to a play that gives basic or background info

Front 2

Sonnet

Back 2

a 14 line poem that has a specific rhyme scheme

Front 3

Chorus

Back 3

in Shakespearean drama, a chorus is a group of narrators who sum up or preview the action

Front 4

Similes

Back 4

uses “like” or “as” to compare two unlike things

Front 5

Metaphorical Language

Back 5

uses metaphors to compare unlike things

Front 6

Personification

Back 6

giving an inanimate object human qualities

Front 7

Imagery

Back 7

use or rich language to evoke the senses, it helps in creating mood and tone as well as revealing characters

Front 8

Theme

Back 8

Insight to life, in tragedy it concerns the downfall of the hero or heroine. Can be universal (like love, revenge) or specific (illicit love does not always last forever).

Front 9

Comedy

Back 9

Comedies reflect the foibles, contradictions, and confusions of man and society. They may be broadly funny and playful, wry and cynical, or satirical and biting. Comic protagonists face many conflicts, but they usually emerge unscathed from them.

Front 10

Tragedy

Back 10

Drama type where central character meets with tragedy or misfortune. Conflicts usually end in death. Tragedies evoke the disillusionment and agony of life. Tragic protagonists are destroyed by their own self-destructive tendencies, or by external forces over which they have no control – nature, rivals, society, war, poverty, illness. Their downfall and death often seem predestined

Front 11

Foreshadowing

Back 11

the author gives hints and preparations for future events in the story

Front 12

Situational Irony

Back 12

(irony that a situation occurs that the reader does not expect, or is opposite of what is expects; if it is a situation that ends in death or tragedy, it then becomes cosmic irony, AKA “fate”), and dramatic irony (which is when the reader knows more about a situation in the story than the other characters do.)

Front 13

Irony

Back 13

4 types – verbal (sarcasm; saying something other than what is meant in order to cause a certain effect),

Front 14

Allusion

Back 14

reference to literature, religion, mythology, or history. Deepens meaning of the line or story.

Front 15

Aside

Back 15

brief remark from a character to the audience (off to the side) that is not heard by other characters.

Front 16

Dialogue

Back 16

conversation with at least 2 characters.

Front 17

Monologue

Back 17

character talks a long time, but in the presence or to other characters. (MONO=one)

Front 18

Soliloquy

Back 18

character is alone on stage expresses thoughts and feelings, as if thinking aloud (SOLO= by yourself))

Front 19

Dramatic Foil

Back 19

opposite/ brings out character traits of another character

Front 20

Blank verse

Back 20

unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter; every other syllable is accented.
NOT ALL of R&J is written in this. It is used to accentuate certain lines and to emphasize a serious or meaningful tone.

Ex: “But soft what light through yonder window breaks!”