aside

Words that are spoken by a character in a play
to the audience or to another character, but that
are not supposed to be overheard by the others
on the stage.
dramatic irony

When the readers or audience know something that a character does
NOT know which makes that character’s words or actions funny in a
twisted sort of way.
When Capulet tells Paris that Capulet is sure Juliet will be
happy to marry Paris, his comments are funny to the
audience because we know Juliet has already married
Romeo, so she will NOT be happy to marry Paris.
foil
•Character who is used as a contrast to
another character.
apostrophe
Words that are spoken to a person who is absent or
imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea.
Death, lie thou there.
oxymoron
A figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are
used together intentionally for effect.
pun
• a joke which comes from a play on words
Imagery
• language that appeals to the senses that
create vivid images
monologue
a speech by one character that is spoken to
another character or characters
soliloquy

a speech in which a sole (single) character says
his or her thoughts aloud, usually while he or she
is alone on stage.
paradox
 a statement that seems to contradict itself, but
is true.
personification
 figure of speech which gives human qualities to
an object, an animal, or an idea
tragedy
 a dramatic work which presents the downfall of
a good character brought about by himself.
tragic flaw
•a trait (usually beyond the character's ability to control)
that causes a character's downfall that may result in death
dramatic conventions
certain practices or methods that are
accepted by a reader or an audience
even though they are not realistic.
allusion

an indirect reference to another literary work
or to a famous person, place or event.
couplet

a pair of rhyming lines usually the same
length and meter.
alliteration

The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
iambic pentameter


A line of poetry that has 10 syllables.
Each lightly-stressed syllable is followed by a heavily-stressed syllable
I hope
that I can go to school today.
blank verse

Poetry that does not rhyme, but uses iambic pentameter
as its meter.
I wish I were a frog on lily pads.
Then I could learn about the warming sun.
And bask in golden sun on leaves all day.
metaphor

a comparison of two things without using the
words “like” or “as.”
When Romeo saw Juliet standing on her
balcony he said, “Juliet is the sun.”
simile

a comparison of two things using “like” or “as.”
She laughed like a hyena!
foreshadowing

When an author includes hints about what will
happen later in the story.
The prologue foreshadows the events of the play.
comic relief
a humorous scene, incident, or speech that is
included in a serious play to break the tension
hyperbole
a figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated.
chorus
 in Greek tragedy, the chorus was a group of
actors who commented on the actions of the
characters
Sonnet
 a fourteen-line lyric poem usually written in iambic
pentameter. The English or Shakespearean sonnet
consist of three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a
couplet (two lines), usually rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.