Romeo & Juliet
Literary Terms
Drama
a story written to be
performed by actors
Soliloquy
a long speech
expressing the
thoughts of a
character alone on
stage
Monologue
a speech by one
character in a play,
story, or poem

Prologue
 an opening speech
that introduces the
play’s main
characters, plot, and
setting
Tragedy
 a work of literature,
especially a play, that
results in a
catastrophe for the
main character.
Tragic hero
a character of noble birth with
the potential for greatness, but
due to a tragic flaw in his
character makes an error in
judgment that leads to his
death
Aside
 a short speech delivered
by an actor in a play
traditionally directed at
the audience.
Comic Relief
 a technique that is used
to interrupt a serious part
of a literary work by
introducing a humorous
character or situation.
Dialogue
 a conversation
between
characters
Blank Verse
poetry written in
unrhymed iambic
pentameter
Dramatic Foil
a character that
provides a contrast to
another character –
opposites
Suspense
a feeling of uncertainty
about the outcome of events
in a story –
a way to keep the reader
interested
Dramatic Irony
when a reader
knows something
that a character
doesn’t know

Pun
Shakespeare loved to use them.
Humorous use of a word with
two meanings > sometimes
missed by the reader because
of Elizabethan language and
sexual innuendo
Prose
Ordinary writing that is not
poetry, drama, or song
Only characters in the lower
social classes speak this way
in Shakespeare’s plays
Why do you suppose that is?
Sonnets
A fourteen line lyric poem, usually written
in rhymed iambic pentameter
Topics:
Love
Friendship
Mortality
Immortality of poetry
Iambic Pentameter
 A series of five
stressed and
unstressed syllables
in a line of poetry
Couplet
a pair of rhyming
lines in poetry
That completes our notes on
literary terms. Now we will discuss
sonnets more in depth.
Sonnets
A sonnet consists of
three quatrains and one
couplet
Sonnets
A quatrain is a series
of four rhymed lines
Sonnets
First quatrain: the subject is revealed
and why it is loved is explained
Second quatrain: describe what is
special about the subject – be
descriptive and imaginative
Third Quatrain: A problem arises with
loving the subject
Sonnets
A couplet is a series of two
rhymed lines
Summarizes and leaves the reader with a
new, concluding image
Sonnets
Rhyme Scheme – a pattern of
rhyme in a poem
Sonnet Rhyme Scheme:
ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG
Sonnets
Iambic Pentameter:
five beats of alternating unstressed
and stressed syllables (“da-DUH”);
ten syllables per line.
Meter means rhythm.
Sonnets
“Who’s wood / these are / I think / I know
/his house”
“Is in / the village / though he / will not /
mind me / stopping”