Name: ____________________________________________
Shakespeare’s Language Tricks (adapted from Shakespeare Set Free)
Match the ‘Language Trick’ (literary device) Shakespeare uses with the specific line from Friar
Lawrence’s speech (2.3.1-22).
personification
metaphor
simile
classical allusion
reversed word
reversed thought
(oxymorons or opposites)
reversed sentence
construction
“From forth day’s path and Titan’s fiery wheels”
“And fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels”
“The gray-eyed morning smiles on the frowning night”
“I must upfill this osier cage of mine”
“check’ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light”
“And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find”
“The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb;
What is her burying grave, that is her womb”
Now find others! Go back through 2.3 and find other examples of these types of language tricks.
Remember to cite your examples (Act.Scene.Line).
1. personification:
2. reversed word:
3. reversed thought:
4. reversed sentence construction:
Now try your own! Experiment with Shakespeare’s language tricks! Write an original example of each of
the devices listed below. Be as creative and poetic as possible!
1. personification:
2. metaphor:
3. simile:
4. reversed sentence construction: