ROMEO AND JULIET
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Act I: Vocabulary and Literary Terms
ACT I VOCABULARY
 Adversary: opponent, enemy
 Boisterous: stormy, rowdy, violent
 Nuptial: wedding
ACT I LITERARY TERMS
 Aside: words spoken by a character in a play, usually in an undertone
and not intended for others to hear
• Find an example!
 Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter
 Characterization: the personality a character displays; the means in
which the author reveals that personality
 Conflict: the struggle between opposing forces or characters (know the
types of external and internal conflict)
ACT I LITERARY TERMS
 Couplet: two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
 Epithet: a descriptive adjective or phrase used to characterize someone
or something
 Figurative Language: language that is not intended to be interpreted in
a literal sense
• Find an example!
 Foil: a character who sets off another character by contrast
• Find an example!
ACT I LITERARY TERMS
 Foreshadowing: the use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what
action is to come
• Find an example!
 Iambic meter: unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
 Iambic pentameter: five verse feet with each foot an iamb
 Metaphor: comparison between two unlike things without the use of
like or as
• Find an example!
ACT I LITERARY TERMS
 Simile: comparison of two unlike things using like or as
• Find an example!
 Pun: the humorous use of a word or phrase to suggest two or
more meanings at the same time
• Find an example!