Drama, Poetry, Literary Terms Romeo & Juliet

Before we begin… How is a play different from a novel? Look through the terms on your paper and talk with your table partner about any that you may know/be familiar with

Aside A speech by a character that is heard by the audience but not by the other characters Examples?

Monologue A long speech by one character directed to at least one other character Examples?

Sililoquy A long speech spoken by a character who (presumably) is along on stage Lets the audience know what the character is thinking Examples?

Prologue A speech at the beginning of an act directed at the audience which comments on the events in the play Examples?

Dialogue Conversation between 2 characters Examples?

Foreshadowing Hints or clues that the writer gives to indicate events and situations that will occur later Examples?

Imagery Descriptive words and phrases that re-create sensory experiences for the reader; writing that appeals to one or more of the senses. Examples?

Metaphor A comparison of two unlike things that does not use like or as; it says that something is something else Examples?

Simile A comparison of two unlike things using like or as Examples?

Personification Giving living qualities to inanimate (non-living) objects Examples?

Foil A character who provides a striking contrast to another character; used to emphasize the traits possessed by both characters Examples?

Blank Verse Unrhymed poetry with regular rhythm spoken by most of the characters in the play

Prose Sentences, not poetry, spoken by servants or common people Why wouldn’t the servants get to speak in poetry?

Rhyming Couplet Two consecutive lines that rhyme; often it is used by an actor to signal the end of a scene.

Archaic Language Words like “thou” and “doth” and “thither” which have disappeared from common use Other examples?

Pun A joke based on several words with several meanings or on words that sound alike but have different meanings. Examples? My grade in Marine Biology is below sea-level. When Mercutio begs Romeo to dance, Romeo refuses. Unlike Mercutio’s shoes with “nimble soles,” Romeo says that he has a “soul of lead.” “Mom, thanks for the soup. It was SOUPer!”

Shakespearean Sonnet #116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom.    If this be error and upon me proved,    I never writ, nor no man ever loved. -Metaphor -Syllables -Personification -Archaic Language -rhyming couplet

Shakespearean Sonnet #130 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red: If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound. I grant I never saw a goddess go: My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare   As any she belied with false compare. -Simile -Syllables -Personification -Archaic Language -rhyming couplet