The Tempest Vocab 1

iambic pentameter

rhythm that Shakespeare uses in his plays; like a heartbeat w/ one soft beat and one strong beat repeated five times

prose

a conversational way of speaking which doesn't have a set rhythm or structure

verse

always has a set rhythm and structure

rhyming couplets

two lines written in iambic pentameter that end in the same sound or rhyme; often used to sum up the end of a character's speech

antithesis

happens when two opposites are put together (hot & cold, light & dark)

romances (genre)

Shakespearean tragedies that end happily, focus on a father/daughter relationship

The Tempest

a play written by William Shakespeare between 1603-1611

tragicomedy

elements of tragedy find their resolution in the traditional happy ending of comedy

reality and illusion

major themes in The Tempest

music

the play is full of music; it contains more songs than any other other play in the canon

canon

refers to a collection of rules or texts that are considered to be authoritative; Shakespeare & Chaucer are part of the canon of Western literature

soliloquy

an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play

sonnets

rhymed 14-line poems, usually on the theme of love; made popular in Italy by the Renaissance poet, Petrarch, & brought to England in the mid-16th century

alliteration

repeating the same sound at the beginning of words in proximity to one another

personification

giving a non-human thing human characteristics

allusion

a reference to an outside work or cultural source

metaphor

a comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated

English Renaissance

late 15th-early 17th century, period after Medieval period

rhyme scheme

the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse

characteristics of love poems during this time period

male poet writing about a female object of attention or desire; the poet-lover writes to his idealized and (naturally) unattainable mistress (the beloved); many of Shakespeare's sonnets are addressed to young men