ACT 1 VOCAB

Alliteration

The practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound.

Allusion

A reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing.

Apostrophe

A form of personification in which the absent or dead are spoken to as if present and the inanimate, as if animate.

Aside

a short speech directed to the audience, or another character, that is not heard by the other characters on stage.

Assonance

The repetition of accented vowel sounds in a series of words.

Catharsis

Release of emotion (pity and fear) from the audience’s perspective.

Circular reasoning

a fallacy where one begins with the intended ending

Conceit

a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor.

Consonance

The repetition of a consonant sound within a series of words to produce a harmonious effect.

Couplet

A rhymed pair of lines written in any rhythmic pattern.

Dialogue

conversation between two or more people

Dramatic unities

Time – the play has to take place within a 24-hour period; Place – the action of the play is set in one place; and Action – The play contains one hero and one plot.

Elegy

a formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme.

Epilogue

a short addition at the end of a literary work, often dealing with the future of the characters.

Euphemism

The use of a word of phrase that is less expressive or direct but considered less distasteful or offensive than another.

Foil

A character that provides a striking contrast to another character. By using a foil, a writer can call attention to certain traits possessed by a main character or simply enhance a character by contrast.

Hamartia

The tragic flaw that leads to the tragic hero’s downfall.

Homily

a sermon, or a moralistic lecture.

Hubris

Exaggerated pride or self-confidence, many times toward god(s).

Litotes

a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (for example, describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, “It was not a pretty picture.”)

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

Meter

Is the measured, patterned arrangement of syllables according to stress and length in a poem.

Motif

A recurring and dominant subject or idea.

Monologue

A single person speaking alone –with or without an audience.

Ode

A complex lyric poem that develops a serious and dignified theme. Odes appeal to the imagination and intellect, and many commemorate events or praise people or elements of nature.

Onomatopoeia

The use of the words that mimic the sounds they describe.

Paradox

Occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other though the statement may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out to have a coherent meaning that reveals hidden truth.

Prose

All forms of written or spoken expression that are not in verse (a.k.a. poetry).

Pun

A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings. Puns can have serious as well as humorous uses.

Quatrain

A four-line stanza, or group of lines, in poetry written in a variety of meters and rhyme schemes.

Rhetorical Shift (or Turn)

Change or movement in a piece resulting from an epiphany, realization, or insight gained by the speaker, a character, or the reader.

Rhyme

The repetition of sounds in two or more words or phrases that appear close to each other in a poem.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry.

End Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines of poetry.

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of end rhymes.

Rhythm

The varying speed, intensity, elevation, pitch, loudness, and expressiveness of speech, especially poetry.

Soliloquy

A speech, in drama, in which a character speaks his or her thoughts aloud. Generally, the character is on stage alone, not speaking to other characters and perhaps not even consciously addressing an audience.

Sonnet

A lyric poem of 14 lines, commonly written in iambic pentameter. The Shakespearean, or Elizabethan, sonnet consists of three quatrains and a final couplet with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg.

Stanza

A group of two or more lines that form a unit in a poem. A stanza is comparable to a paragraph in prose.

Thesis

A statement of purpose; the argument. In order to be complete, a thesis must (1) answer the given prompt, (2) briefly reveal claims that prove answer, and (3) explain the significance of answer (link to theme or the bigger picture).

Tragic Flaw

An error in judgment on the part of the hero that sets the tragic plot in motion.

iambic pentameter

a type of poetic meter; ten syllable lines, stressed on every second beat

Foot

 the smallest unit of poetic measurement; lines are divided into metrical groups (feet) with one to three syllables in each one

Meter

the rhythm created in poetry by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in the lines

Quatrain

a poem or stanza containing four lines

Shakespearean sonnet

a lyrical poem expressing one idea, containing fourteen lines of iambic pentameter and a set rhyme scheme. Shakespeare divides the 14 lines into three quatrains that conclude with a final couplet

Blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Enjambment

(in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza

Cacophony

Cacophony: a harsh discordant combination of sounds; usually to create tension, confusion, or anxiety. Ironically, it can create a harmonious effect if used correctly

Caesura

: (in Greek and Latin verse) a break between words within a metrical foot; (in modern verse) a pause near the middle of a line; any interruption or break.

Rhetorical Shift (or Turn)

Change or movement in a piece resulting from an epiphany, realization, or insight gained by the speaker, a character, or the reader

Synecdoch

Form of a metaphor, a part of something is used to signify the whole