English techniques definitions (Hamlet)

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, For example, "all hands on deck" uses "hands" to represent sailors, can also be used when a part is referred to as a whole e.g. “use your head” referring to your brain → narrows focus

Exposition

insertion of important background information in a story that helps to set the stage for the plot

stichomythia

dialogue especially of altercation or dispute delivered by two actors in alternating lines e.g. A3S4 when hamlet is confronted by gertrude

Metonym

a figure of speech in which one thing is replaced with a word closely associated with it e.g "The Crown" (Monarchy/Queen/King), or “ The state of denmark” - represents the entire court

Antithesis

use of contrasting concepts, words, or sentences within parallel grammatical structures e.g “to be or not to be”

Allusion

brief, indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance → widens focus, invites the reader to connect something universal (macrocosm) to a particular situation (microcosm)

Hendiadys

figure of speech in which two words connected by a conjunction are used to expressed a single notion that would normally be expressed by an adjective and a substantive e.g. grace and favour, instead of gracious favour, uses language in order to slow down the rhythm of thought and perception e.g. ““auspicious and drooping eye”

Anacoluthon

a syntactic deviation and interruption within a sentence from one structure to another, disrupts the grammatical flow of sentences e.g. “to sleep- perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub…”

Aposiopesis

figure of speech in which the speaker or writer breaks off abruptly and leaves the statement incomplete- up to the readers own interpretation, for dramatic or comedic effects e.g. “like Nobie, all tears - why, she, -/ O God!”

Apostrophe

when a character addresses an abstract concept, absent person, or inanimate object e.g. “frailty, thy name is woman”, used so characters can address spiritual beings

Anagnorisis

moment in a plot or story, specifically a tragedy, where the main character recognises his/her true nature, or that of the other character’s true identity, or discovers true nature of his situation or others , leading to the resolution of the story, for Hamlet: when ghost tells him abt murder? play within a play? just before duel with him accepting death?

Foil

a character who contrasts with another character e.g. hamlet, laertes and fortinbras, ophelia’s real madness vs Hamlet’s feigned madness

Assonance ??

when the repetition of similar vowel sounds takes place in two or more words in proximity to each other within a line of poetry or PROSE

Anaphora

repeated words or phrases used to emphasise a point, especially at the beginnig of successive sentences or paragraphs e.g. “tis a fault to heaven, /a fault against the deed/ a fault to nature”

Foreshadow

hints to future events through unusual circumstances in the present

Hyperbole

exaggeration for effect

Irony

a contradiction between what something appears to mean and what it really means

Dramatic irony

when the audience knows something that a character in the play doesn’t know

Meter

repeated patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

→ iambic- measure of 2 syllables, first is unaccented second is accented

→ dactylic- measure of 3 syllables, first is accented, other two are unaccented

→ trochaic (trochee) - measure of 2 syllables, first accented, second unaccented

→ anapestic- measure of 3 syllables, only accent on final syllable

→ spondaic (spondee)- measure of 2 syllables, both accented

Motif

a re-occuring image, verbal pattern or theme

Chiasmus

where two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures

Paradox

An statement which appears to be contradictory, but which reveals a deeper (or higher) truth e.g. i must be cruel to be kind

Catharsis

feeling of release which makes you feel better afterwards

tragic flaw/ Hamartia

hamartia is usually pride/ hubris, both result in the fall of protagonist, making them a tragic hero

asyndeton

a list without the use of conjunctions

syndeton/polysyndeton

a list with the use of conjunctions

body politic

is an extending metaphor that conceptualizes the people of a nation, state, or society as a single, organized biological body e.g Claudius representing the State of Denmark

calumny

to make false or defamatory statements about someone in order to damage their reputation e.g. Get thee to a nunnery

Blank verse

unrhymed verse, especially the unrhymed iambic pentameter —> majority of Hamlet in blank verse

Prose

form of language with no formal metrical structure, just applies a natural flow of speech —> no emotion, logical, whenever Hamlet puts on an antic

(Context)) Machiavellian

is associated with deceit, deviousness, ambition, and brutality e.g. in play is Claudius

(context) Malcontent

character who is disconnected with the social structure and other characters in the play, often an outsider who observes and comments on the action and voicing their concerns over the Machiavellian, may even acknowledge they’re in a play (politically or dramatically) —> e.g. in play is Hamlet

oxymoron

contrasting words in succession of one another: goodly king, uncle-father, honest soldier

(context) wheel of fortune

elizabethan belief that fate and fortune were believed to control your life, your fate was out of your control hence best not to upset the Chain of Being, fortune is often personified

(context) great chain of being

form of societal hierachy with God at the top, angelic spirits, mankind, animals ect.

metatheatricality

in Hamlet: the play within a play, any references to characters acting

epizeuxis

repetition in quick succession e.g. too too sallied flesh

other helpful terms

assonance- repetition or pattern of similar sounds, esp vowel sounds e.g. to sleep, perchance to dream

consonance- repetition of similar consonance usually @ end of words

caesura

enjambment

rhyming couplet

masculine ending- extra stressed syllable at the end of a line e.g. … and by a sleep to say we end/ The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks”

Feminine ending- extra unstressed syllable at the end of a line e.g. to be or not to be, that is the question

antilabe

shared lines to complete the iambic pentameter