English Mid-Summers Nights Dream

Drama

form of performance that involves conflicts, emotions, and the portrayal of human experiences through dialogue and action.

Comedy

a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents

Tragedy

branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual.

History

play based on a historical narrative, often set in the medieval or early modern past.

Double Entendre

a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacceptable, or offensive to state directly.

Example:

Juxtaposition

an act or instance of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc.

Example

Comic Relief

the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious or dramatic work, often to relieve tension.

Example: Nick Bottom

Mythological Allusion

refer to people, places, stories, or traditions within mythology

Verbal Irony

a statement in which the speaker's words are incongruous with the speaker's intent.

Example:

Situational Irony

when the outcome is the opposite or completely different from what was expected.

Example:

Dramatic Irony

a literary device by which the audience's or reader's understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters.

Example:

Foreshadowing

a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story.

Example:

Monologue

a prolonged talk or discourse by a single speaker, especially one dominating or monopolizing a conversation.

Example:

Soliloquy

a monologue addressed to oneself and audience, with thoughts spoken out loud without addressing another character.

Example:

Aside

a dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience

Example:

Breaking the 4th Wall

a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience.

Example: Puck’s last line of the play

Prologue

an introductory section of a literary work that provides background information about the story or characters

Epilogue

a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.

Shakespeare

the writer of mid summer nights dream

Elizabethan England

is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history.