drama and poem terms

soliloquy

a long speech by an actor delivered alone onstage. Meant to show a characters feelings or thoughts.

monologue

a long speech by an actor delivered onstage in front of other actors, meant to give information or plot details

dramatic irony

when the audience knows information that certain characters in the play do not

foreshadowing

when the author hints at what will happen later

Tragedy

a specific type of play where a high ranking or noble character, the Tragic Hero, experiences a reversal of fortune or faces some sort of downfall as a result of his tragic flaw

blank verse

lines of text written in unrhymed iambic pentameter (verse written in five foot lines; foot has two syllables: first unstressed and 2nd is stressed

free verse

lines of poetry written with no specific structure

aside

a quick comment directed at the audience or another character

metaphor

implied comparison between two unrelated things using a linking verb

extended metaphor

device that develops a single detailed comparison between two unlike entities over multiple lines, stanzas, or an entire work

personification

giving human qualities to inanimate objects, ideas, or animals

hyperbole

exaggeration for sake of emphasis

apostrophe

addressing someone (dead) or (an idea) not present as if present

symbol

a word or image that signifies something other than the literal

end rhyme

like sounds of words at the end of two or more lines of verse

internal rhyme

like sounds between two or more words in the same line of verse

assonance

repetition of similar vowel sounds in a line of verse

consonance

repetition of similar consonant sounds in a line of verse

refrain

repetition of word phrase line (for emphasis) usually at the end of stanza

pun

play on words that are identical or similar but have diverse meanings

couplet

a pair of rhyming lines, usually same length and meter

denotation

dictionary definition of a word

diction

word choice in a poem

enjambment

poem with no punctuation

imagery

words that appeal to the five senses

speaker

narrator of poem