LA Macbeth terms

Allusion

A reference to another literary work or character

Aside

Comments heard by the audience, but not by the other characters on stage. Usually used for an ironic effect

Blank verse

The form of poetry in rhyme lines that sound similar to everyday speech. Written in iambic pentameter

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Comic relief

Lighthearted scenes that relief the overall tension in a tragedy

Foreshadowing

Literary technique used to give clues that usually worn of bad events to come

Foil

A character who acts as the opposite to another character

Oxymoron

A pair of words that contradict one another (jumbo shrimp)

Pun

A “joke” that makes use of two different meanings of a word or of two words that sounded alike

Soliloquy

A speech a character gives when he she is alone on stage. It’s purposes to let the audience know what the character is thinking.

Dramatic irony

The full significance of a characters words or actions are clear to the audience or reader, although unknown to the character

Paradox

Is seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true