English I
Name______________________________
21 March 2013
Shakespeare’s Language Tricks
Romeo & Juliet
The list below contains some of the “language tricks” that Shakespeare used when writing Romeo & Juliet.
Have you guessed yet that “language tricks” are simply literary elements?
Personification
“The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,” (2.3.1)
Metaphor
“Check’ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light;”(2.3.2)
Simile
Classical Allusions
Reversed word
Reversed thought
“And fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels” (2.3.3)
“From forth day’s path and Titan’s fiery wheels.” (2.3.4)
“upfill” (2.3.7)
“The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb; /What is her burying grave, that is her
womb” (2.3.9-10).
English I
Name______________________________
21 March 2013
Homework: Find examples of Shakespeare’s language tricks in 2.3 and explain the meaning. Try it! I am
grading as much on your effort as I am on the correctness of your explanation. Be sure to write down the line
numbers!
Personification
Metaphor
Simile
Reversed word