Literary Devices and Concepts in Drama and Poetry

Soliloquy

When a character is alone onstage sharing his/her key emotions and insights

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something that the characters in the play don't know

Situational Irony

When an event happens that is the opposite of what is expected or intended, often creating a sense of humor or tragedy

Verbal Irony

When a speaker says one thing but means something else, something different from what they said

Pun

A joke or word that is humorous to emphasize or suggest a different meaning

Iambic pentameter

A type of meter in which a line of poetry had 5 iambic feet, each comprising one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. All Shakespearean sonnets are written in iambic pentameter

Comic relief

A comic moment in the intense plot to release tension, it offers comedy in a time of distress

Foreshadowing

When the narrator of a story gives hints and clues to what is to come in the future of the play

Tragedy

A genre of drama based on human suffering and terrible sorrowful events of the main character

Tragic hero

The central character of the play that experiences a tragic downfall

Comedy

A funny moment in a traumatic one to uplift the mood

Epic

A poem, typically derived from ancient oral tradition, which celebrates in the form of a continuous narrative the achievements of one or two more heroic characters of history or legend

Epithet

A literary device that is used as a descriptive device

Epic simile

Also known as Homeric Similes; they are details, often complex poetic comparison that unfolds over the course of several lines

Greek culture / values (ex: xenia)

Xenia is the ancient Greek code of hospitality

Symbolism

When a symbol is used to represent ideas or qualities of a story

Characterization

Characters are characterized by their actions. For example, Odysseus on the land of the cyclopes, when he is being hubris. He is being characterized as cocky and overconfident

Themes

Some themes in the odyssey include: the importance of perseverance, the consequences of hubris, the value of hospitality and loyalty, the complexity of human nature, the quest for self-discovery, the role of divine intervention and fate, the cycle of life and death, etc.

Conflict(s)

Character vs. character, Character vs. nature, Character vs. self

Epic hero traits (ex: hubris)

Hubris is excessive pride or confidence

Personification

When you give a non-living object human characteristics

Metaphor

A comparison that does not use the words 'like' or 'as'

Extended metaphor

A literary device when a metaphor is developed and sustained over multiple lines, paragraphs, or even the entire length of a work

Simile

A comparison using the words 'like' and 'as'

Alliteration

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Imagery

Visually descriptive language

Sensory imagery

The use of vivid and descriptive language that appeals to the reader's five senses

Rhyme

Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.

Rhyme scheme

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

End rhyme

When the last syllables within a verse rhyme

Concrete poem

A poem in which the visual appearance of the words on the page match the topic of the poem

Lyric poem

A highly musical type of poetry that expresses the emotions of a speaker, often contrasted with narrative poems, which have storytelling as their main purpose

Narrative poem

A poem that tells a story

Haiku

A traditional Japanese three-line poem containing five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third

Free verse

Poetry that does not use regular rhyme, meter, or stanza division. May contain irregular line breaks and sentence fragments and tends to mimic the rhythm of ordinary speech

Theme

A central message or perception about life that is revealed through a literary work

Enjambment

The act of continuing a statement beyond the end of a line

End-stopped line

The opposite of enjambment, it stops at the end line

Onomatopoeia

The use of words or phrases that sound like the things to which they refer (boom, crash, etc.)

Repetition

A writer's intentional reuse of a sound, word, phrase, or sentence, often used to emphasize the importance of an idea or phrase.