Drama Terms

drama

A play or story performed before an audience

couplet

Two lines of verse, one after another, that rhyme with each other

aside

a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage

Sonnet

a poem of fourteen lines usually written in iambic pentameter

iambic pentameter

a kind of rhythmic pattern in poetry where a line contains 10 syllables (5 feet)

with an emphasis on every other syllable (daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM)

Tragedy

a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Pun

a humorous play on words that exploits the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Dialogue

Conversation between two or more characters

comic relief

A humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood

dramatic irony

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't

Soliloquy

A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage

Monologue

a long speech by a character while others are present on stage

Prologue

a separate introductory section of a literary work

stage directions

instructions for actors and stage crew, usually set in italics

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

Setting

The time and place of a story

Imagery

language that appeals to the senses

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds