Romeo & Juliet literary terms.

allusion.

a reference to a person, place, or event in another work of literature, history, art, or music.

aside.

inner (truthful) thought or feelings of a character spoken out loud while other characters are on stage.

couplet.

two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.

dramatic irony.

when the audience knows something that the characters do not.

foil.

a character who provides contrast to another character, frequently opposites.

foreshadow.

when hints are given that give readers clues to an outcome. (may be accurate or misleading)

iambic pentameter.

a line of verse made up of 5 pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables. (10 syllables per line)

irony.

general term for literary techniques that show differences between appearance and reality of expectation and result.

monolouge.

a long speech made by one character during a conversation.

oxymoron.

a pair of words with opposite meanings used together.

paradox.

a statement that seems contradictory but that actually may be true. (catch the reader’s attention and surprises them)

pun.

a play on words often for humorous effect.

situational irony.

irony involving situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite of what was intended.

soliloquy.

a long speech where a character speaks aloud to themselves and alone on stage.

sonnet.

a poem of 14 lines that follows a specific pattern and rhyme scheme.

stanza.

lines of connected thoughts in verse, similar to a paragraph in prose.

theme.

the central idea of a work.

tragedy.

a type of drama / play in which a noble protagonist is flawed in some way and is put in a stressful situation that ends in death.

verbal irony.

a contrast between what is said and what is meant, frequently sarcasm.