Shakespeare – Important Terms

Terms / Definition / Example
Prose / Typical, paragraph writing / The dog ran home.
Blank
verse / Unrhymed iambic pentameter. / Pearl Avenue runs past the high-
school lot,
Bends with the trolley tracks, and
stops, cut off
Before it has a chance to go two
blocks,
At Colonel McComsky Plaza. Berth’s
Garage…
(“Ex-Basketball Player,” by John Updike)
Iambic pentameter / A way of writing poetry where every other syllable is stressed to make 5 beats in one line / “To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells”
(“Ode to Autumn,” by John Keats).
daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM
Sonnet / 14 line poem with a regular rhyme scheme (English, Italian, nonce). Traditionally written in iambic pentameter / Sonnet 18, 29, 30, 71, 116, 130…
Rhyming
Couplets / In sonnets it is often the last two lines, where the solution is presented OR Two rhyming lines / I love the spring air in May
So much to do, so much to say
couplets / Two lines of poetry / I love the spring air in May
So much promise in the season
ahead

Literary Terms

/ Definition / Example
Dramatic
irony / When the audience knows more than the character: used chiefly for suspense / When we know who Romeo and Juliet are when they meet each other- they do not know.
Foreshadowing / Clues to future events: creates anticipation / The Prologue; the Prince’s warning
Climax / The most intense moment in the story-the conflict is at its highest point / Juliet decides to take the poison! (some say it is the fight with Mercutio!
Tragedy / When instead of a happy ending or an acceptable resolution, there is a catastrophe at the end that leaves the audience in shock / Othello
Romeo and Juliet…
Oxymoron / Two antonyms put together to create a new compound word or a new phrase / Deafening silence
Hateful ove
Paradox / A statement that seems impossible or untrue but, once put into the context, is true. / “my only love sprung from my only hate!”
“I must love a loathed enemy!”
Pun / A WORD or a phrase that has more than one meaning-meant often as a joke. / I cannot dance, I have a soul of lead!

Play Techniques

/ Definition/Significance / Example
Monologue / A long speech by a single character / Prince has one in Act I
Mercutio’s Queen Mab monologue
Comic
relief / When a dramatic or tense scene is followed immediately by a comical one-this offers relief for the audience (this is also placement of two very different things, which is JUXTAPOSITION, but juxtaposition is NOT limited to comic relief) / Angry scene between Juliet and her dad followed by the clowns
Asides / When a character speaks his/her thoughts on stage while other characters are present (but they cannot hear) / In Act I, the servants have asides aside during the street battle
Romeo has an aside when he is talking as he watches Juliet on the balcony.
Soliloquy / When a character speaks his/her thoughts on stage alone / Romeo has a soliloquy at the ball and at the balcony
Chorus / A group that would introduce characters, new scenes, set the time of day, or interact with the characters / Prologue to Romeo and Juliet and throughout many of Shakespeare’s play.