A Midsummer Night's Dream: Vocab and Literary Terms

fray (n)

a fight or argument, esp. when several people take part

abjure (v)

giving up something

beseech (v)

to urgently beg someone

visage (n)

a person’s face, expression, or outward appearance

base (adj)

low morals, lacks intergrity

nuptials (n)

a formal wedding ceremony/marriage

bosom (n)

the front of the chest/breasts

amorous (adj)

feeling strong romantic desire

dote (v)

to have feelings for someone

dulcet (adj)

pleasant, soft sounds

spurn (v)

to reject or refuse

clamor (n)

loud, persistent noise

chide (v)

to scold

knave (n)

dishonest person

rebuke (v)

to express stern disaproval

amiable (adj)

a friendly, good-natured person

fret (v)

to worry

enmity (n)

mutual hatred

mirth (n)

amusement or joy

audacious (adj)

willingness to be bold and take risks

soliloquy

a long speech in which a character, alone on stage, expresses private thoughts or feelings

aside

a character says something to their self for he purpose of informing the people viewing the work

iambic pentameter

a rhythmical pattern of syllables (check notes)

blank verse

unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

prose

ordinary spoken or written language, without metrical structure

imagery

the author’s use of figurative language and description to paint and image in the readers mind

inversion

a literary device in which the writer purposefully words phrases or sentences in a non-traditional order (check notes)

irony

the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning and/or contradiction by the appearance of the idea

situational irony

unexpected events occur that seem oddly appropriate

dramatic irony

the reader knows something about present or future circumstances that the chapter in the story does not know

verbal irony

a writer makes a statement in which the actual meaning differs from the meaning that the words appear to express

conceit

a extended metaphor that compares two very dissimilar things (check notes)

allusion

a reference to something else (check notes)

malapropism

incorrect words used in place of correct words (check notes)

oxymoron

a literary device that describes words or phrases that when placed together, create paradoxes or contradictions (check notes)

monologue

a long, uninterrupted speech by one character

meter

the structured, rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables within the line of poetry

foot

basic, repeated unit of rhythm/meter