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 heroa 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
Suspensea 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
PunShakespeare loved to use them.
Humorous use of a word with two meanings > sometimes missed by the reader because of Elizabethan language and sexual innuendo
ProseOrdinary writing that is not
poetry, drama, or songOnly characters in the lower social classes speak this way in Shakespeare’s plays
Why do you suppose that is?
A fourteen line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter
Topics: Love Friendship Mortality Immortality of poetry
Sonnets
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
SonnetsFirst 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
SonnetsA couplet is a series of
two rhymed lines
Summarizes and leaves the reader with a new, concluding image
SonnetsRhyme Scheme – a pattern of rhyme in a poem
Sonnet Rhyme Scheme: ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG
SonnetsIambic 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”