Drama Unit
Terms & Definitions
English 9
Drama Terms
Drama
literature intended for performance
by actors on a stage
Dramatic
structure
the organization of a play (acts & scenes)
Comedy dramatic work that has a happy
ending, and a tone/style that is
more light-hearted
Tragedy dramatic work that presents the
downfall of a dignified character
through their own actions
Tragic
Flaw
Tragic
Hero
fatal error in judgment or weakness
in a character that leads to his or
her destruction
protagonist in a tragedy; faces
defeat with great courage and
dignity
Comic
Relief
humorous scene, incident, or
speech that relieves the overall
emotional intensity of a tragedy
Chorus
group of performers who stood
outside the action; commented
on characters and hinted at
events to come
Dramatic
Devices that audiences accept as
Conventions realistic even though it does not reflect
real life
Aside
dramatic convention where the character
speaks thoughts aloud; intended to be
heard by audience but not other
characters
Monologue long, uninterrupted speech by one
character
Soliloquy speech in which a character expresses
his/her thoughts out loud for the benefit
of the audience
Literature Terms
Allusion
reference to a person, place or event the
reader is expected to know
Dialogue
written conversation between characters
Epithet
descriptive adjective or phrase used to
characterize someone or something
Foil
character who intensifies another character by
contrast
Motivation reason that explains or partially explains why
a character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in a
certain way
Irony
literary technique that portrays differences
between appearance and reality; the
opposite of what is expected.
Dramatic when the audience has knowledge that the
Irony
characters do not
Situational contrast between what is expected to
Irony
happen and what really happens
Verbal
contrast between what is said and what is
Irony
meant.
Poetic Terms
Prose
ordinary form of written language,
without rhyme or meter
Verse
poetry; literature in metrical form
Meter
regular pattern of accented and
unaccented syllables in a line of poetry
Pun
the use of a word or phrase to suggest two
or more meanings at the same time
Oxymoron figure of speech that combines apparently
contradictory terms
Couplet
two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
Iamb
Iambic
Pentameter
Blank verse
Sonnet
syllable pattern of one unstressed
syllable followed by a stressed syllable
five feet (units) of iamb verse; total of 10
syllables per line
unrhymed iambic pentameter
fourteen-line poem; written in iambic
pentameter; one of several rhyme
schemes
An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable. The rhythm can be written as:
da DUM
The da-DUM of a human heartbeat is the most common
example of this rhythm.
A line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row:
da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM
The tick-TOCK rhythm of iambic pentameter can be
heard in the opening line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 12:

 







When I do count the clock that tells the time
It is possible to notate this with a ˘ (breve) mark
representing an unstressed syllable
and a / (slash) mark representing a stressed syllable.
Let’s Practice!
Sonnet XVIII - William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Richard III – William Shakespeare
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.