Romeo and Juliet Drama and Literary Terms

Comprehensive flashcards covering drama, literary, and poetry terms from the Romeo and Juliet lecture notes.

Soliloquy

A long speech by an actor delivered alone onstage. A soliloquy is meant to show a character's thoughts or feelings.

Monologue

A long speech by an actor delivered onstage in front of other actors. A monologue is meant to give information or plot details.

Foil

Characters with opposite character traits. Foils are meant to highlight ideas in the play through the characters' behavior.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows information (about something happening in the play) that certain characters in the play do not.

Foreshadowing

When the author hints at what will happen later.

Tragedy

A specific type of play where a high ranking or noble character, the Tragic Hero, experiences a reversal of fortune or faces some sort of downfall/demise as a result of his/her Tragic Flaw.

Tragic Flaw

A personality trait/characteristic that causes the Tragic Hero to behave or make choices that lead to his/her downfall/demise.

Blank Verse

Lines of text (poetry) written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Iambic pentameter

Verse written in $5$-foot lines (a foot has $2$ syllables: first is unstressed and the $2^{nd}$ is stressed… think of the word "again")

Free Verse

Lines of text (poetry) written with no specific structure

Aside

A quick comment meant for the audience or a few people on stage, not every one; a whisper.

Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces

Internal Conflict

A character struggles with his/her thoughts, feelings, beliefs, needs, or actions

External Conflict

Tension between two or more characters or between a character and an external force (e.g. society, nature, etc.)

Characterization

The development of characters and their personalities within the story revealed through 1) what the character says, 2) what the character does, and 3) what others say about the character (this includes narration).

Setting

The time and place in which the story happens

Theme

The author's message: what he/she is trying to say about the world around him/her or about humankind

Symbolism

When one object represents an idea.

Connotation

The feelings and associations a word carries with it (positive or negative)

Irony

The difference between what is expected and what actually happens

Allusion

A passing reference to something or someone well known

Spring (Pattern)

Represents rebirth and new beginnings

Summer (Pattern)

Represents life in full bloom

Fall (Pattern)

Represents a time of decay

Winter (Pattern)

Represents emptiness and death

Birds (Pattern)

Represents freedom (flight = freedom) or those who aren't free/oppressed (caged birds)

Alliteration

Repetition of the same initial letter in two or more words in a line of verse.

Onomatopoeia

Use of word whose sound imitates its meaning or natural sound

Assonance

Repetition of similar vowel sounds in line of verse.

Consonance

Repetition of similar consonant sounds in line of verse.

Refrain

Repetition of word, phrase, line (for emphasis or meaning) usually at the end of stanza.

Simile

Direct comparison between two unrelated things using like or as.

Metaphor

Implied comparison between two unrelated things using a linking verb

Extended Metaphor

Device that develops a single, detailed comparison between two unlike entities over multiple lines, stanzas, or an entire work

Personification

Giving human qualities to inanimate objects, ideas, or animals.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for sake of emphasis

Apostrophe

Addressing someone (dead) or (an idea), not present, as if present.

Pun

A play on words that are identical or similar but have diverse meanings.

Couplet

A pair of rhyming lines, usually the same length and meter

Denotation

Dictionary definition of a word

Diction

Word choice in a poem

Enjambment

Poem with no punctuation

Imagery

Words that appeal to the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch).

Speaker

The narrator of the poem

End Rhyme

Like sounds of words at the end of two or more lines of verse.

Internal Rhyme

Like sounds between two or more words in the same line of verse (usually at the middle and end of line)