1. Literary terms and reading skills
Romeo and Juliet: Act 1
Literary terms and reading skills

2. Dialogue A conversation between characters
In drama, follows the name of the speaker; no quotation marks
Reveals the personalities, attitudes, plans, and relationships of characters; no narrator
Advances the action of the play
More like real life

3. Dialogue—example
DAVID: My sister is captain of her tennis team. Maybe she could teach you.
SALLY: That would be awesome! Do you think she really would?

4. Dialogue—practice JEN: Uncle, do you know why Rob seems so sad?
MARK: I don’t know the reason, and I can’t persuade him to tell me.
JEN: But have you really questioned him at all?
MARK: Yes, I have, and so have some of his other friends.

5. Stage Directions
Notes in the text of a play that describe how the work should be performed or staged
Descriptions for scenes, lighting, sound effects, appearance of actors, movements or body language of actors
Usually printed in italics and/or a different font and enclosed in parentheses

6. Stage Directions—example
Scene 1—The school cafeteria. It is lunchtime. The doors burst open.
(Enter Peter and Lisa. They walk quickly to the far table.)

7. Stage Directions—practice
Writing a play about a high school student. In the opening scene, it is early morning in the kitchen. Write stage directions to set the scene and tell how the character looks and moves…

8. Summarizing
Briefly stating in your own words the main points in a piece of writing
Helps the reader check comprehension and understanding
Much shorter in length than the original—includes only the main idea and most important details
With fiction, summary is a retelling using only most important information
Textbooks provide TEXT AIDS to assist readers

9. Summarizing—example
Original: The freshman class at Jacksonville High School held a fundraiser last Saturday, January 2. The fundraiser was held in the Jacksonville High School gym. The weather was nice and sunny, and the event was a sell out with ticket sales and donations totaling $495. The money will go toward the annual freshman picnic which will be held on May 19. The most exciting part of the evening was a performance by the band Spring Break. This talented foursome consists of Ray Smith on rhythm guitar and vocals, Ben Brady on lead guitar, Kira West on bass and vocals, and Terrance Thomas on drums.
Summary: Saturday’s fundraiser at Jacksonville High School raised $495 for the annual freshman picnic. A performance by the band Spring Break was a highlight of the sold-out benefit.

10. Summarizing—practice
Sarah likes to imagine that she lives in ancient Greece. She can picture the marketplaces and the seaside, the hills and the vineyards, and most of all, the amphitheater. Rings of seats rise up around the stage, and above, stars shine in the night sky. She imagines the actors performing tragedies on the stage. She imagines the wonderful masks they wear and the sound of their voices, carrying all the way to the theater’s topmost rows.

11. Summarizing—practice
Our bodies are adapted to Earth’s gravity. Our muscles are strong in order to overcome gravity as we walk and run. Our inner ears use gravity to keep us upright. And because gravity wants to pull all our blood down into our legs, our hearts are designed to pump hard to get blood back up to our brains.
In space, the much weaker gravity makes the human body change in many unexpected ways. In microgravity, your blood is rerouted, flowing from the legs, which become thin and sticklike, to the head, which swells up. The extra liquid in your head makes you feel like you’re hanging upside down or have a stuffed-up nose.
—from “Life Without Gravity” by Robert Zimmerman

12. Literary terms and reading skills
Romeo and Juliet: Act 2
Literary terms and reading skills

13. Blank Verse Unrhymed iambic pentameter
Used to indicate rank of a character
Verse—important, aristocratic characters; high rank
Prose—minor or comic characters; low rank

14. Blank Verse—example A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse
U / U / U / U / U /
A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse
U / U / U / U / U /
BENVOLIO: I aimed so near when I supposed you loved.
Character rank: Benvolio is an important character of high rank.
SERVANT: Find them out whose names are written here?
NURSE: Come Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen
Character rank: The servant and Nurse are of low rank and sometimes humorous.

15. Blank Verse—practice 1. November is a time of feasts and thanks.
2. A stark winter sunset made the snowy hillsides pink.
3. To fan the moonbeams of his sleeping eyes.
4. We sat together at one summer’s end.
5. Come, we’ll in here, tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner.

16. Literary terms and reading skills
Romeo and Juliet: Act 3
Literary terms and reading skills

17. Dramatic Speeches—Soliloquy
A lengthy speech
Character is alone on stage
Expressing true thoughts and feelings
Unheard by other characters

18. Soliloquy—example Act II, scene iii
Friar: The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night, Check’ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light; … O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities; … Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, And vice sometime by action dignified.

19. Dramatic Speeches—Monologue
A lengthy speech by one character to others
Other characters are present on stage

20. Monologue—example Act I, scene I
Prince: Rebellious subjects, enemies of peace, Profaners of this neighbor-stained steel— Will they not hear? … If ever you disturb these streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace. … Once more, on pain of death, all men depart.

21. Dramatic Speeches—Aside
A brief remark
Unheard by other characters on stage—may be directed toward a character
Revealing true thoughts and feelings
Usually indicated in the stage directions

22. Aside—example Act I, scene I
Sampson (aside to Gregory): Is the law of our side if I say ay?
Gregory (aside to Sampson): No.

23. Dramatic Speeches—practice
1. Ty’s father asks him how the fight between Ty’s hockey team and their opponents started at the game last night. Ty give an angry and emotional speech, telling in detail how name-calling on both sides led to a general free-for-all.

24. Dramatic Speeches—practice
2. In a mystery drama, Eric, alone on stage, tries to deal with a difficult problem. In a speech, he describes hearing his sister and her husband planning a crime. Eric knows he should call the police, but he expresses fear about hurting his family’s good name and seeing his dear sister and brother-in-law go to prison.

25. Dramatic Speeches—practice
3. In a comedy about a family on a camping trip, the father leads the others into a dark forest and loses his way. One of the children looks at the audience and says, “Uh oh, here we go again!”

26. Allusions
References to well-known people, places, or event from history, mythology, other literature, film, etc.

27. Allusions—example Act II, scene ii
Juliet: Bondage is hoarse and may not speak aloud, Else would I tear the cave where Echo*** lies And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine With repetition of “My Romeo!”
***In mythology, the nymph Echo, unable to win the love of Narcissus, wasted away in a cave until nothing was left of her but her voice.

28. Allusions—example Act II, scene iv Benvolio: Why, what is Tybalt?
Mercutio: More than Prince of Cats.***
***Tybalt is the name of the cat in medieval stories of Reynard the Fox.

29. Literary terms and reading skills
Romeo and Juliet: Act 4
Literary terms and reading skills

30. Dramatic Irony
A contradiction between what a character thinks or knows and what a reader knows is true
When the reader knows something that characters in the story don’t know
Reader becomes emotionally involved in the story
Creates suspense as the reader wonders when and how the character(s) will find out

31. Dramatic Irony—example
Act III
Capulet plans Juliet’s marriage to Paris.
He does not know what we know: Juliet is already married to Romeo.

32. Dramatic Irony—practice
The character Katie is searching for her long-lost brother. She asks for help from Sam. The two have a few adventures as they search. They find a box of old papers and photographs. Examining these items, they realize that Sam is Katie’s long-lost brother.

33. Dramatic Irony—practice
John is the king’s favorite son. When John is alone, the audience sees him put on a mask and ride in disguise to another kingdom nearby. There, he steals horses and destroys crops. The next day, people from the nearby kingdom complain to the king. The king tells them that he will find whoever is responsible and put him in jail forever.

34. Dramatic Irony—practice
Sally and Linda are sisters. Troops invade their city, and Sally falls injured on the street. As the audience watches, an old woman opens her door and pulls Sally inside. Later, Linda comes looking for Sally. She stops at the old woman’s house. She is about to knock. Just then, a friend runs up to her and says, “I think we may have found Sally at the hospital!” Linda leaves without knocking on the old woman’s door.

35. Comic Relief
A technique used to interrupt a serious scene by introducing a humorous character or situation

36. Comic Relief—example Act II, scene i
Mercutio: I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie.
Mercutio's references and jokes about Rosaline contrast sharply with Romeo's imagery for love. Romeo describes Juliet as "bright angel" and "dear saint." Romeo and Juliet have just fallen in love and discovered that each is the child of the enemy. The next scene is the ever-romantic scene where they express their love to each other and decide to marry.

37. Puns
Plays on words involving a word with multiple meanings or two words that sound alike but have different meanings

38. Puns—example Act III, scene I
Mercutio: Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered…
Grave—1) a place of burial for a dead body; 2) something that is serious or taken seriously or doing something in a solemn or sedate manner
Peppered—1) to season food before eating; 2) to hit (repeatedly with gunshot)

39. Literary terms and reading skills
Romeo and Juliet: Act 5
Literary terms and reading skills

40. Tragedy
A drama in which the central character of noble stature meets with disaster or great misfortune
Although sad, tragedies can also be uplifting, showing the greatness and nobility of the human spirit when faced with grave challenges.

41. Tragic Hero The main character of a tragedy
His or her downfall is usually the result of one of the following:
Fate/Chance—the idea of a pre-planned, unavoidable destiny
Serious character flaw
Combination of fate and flaw

42. Motive The reason for a character’s thoughts or actions
An important element of a tragic hero’s character
The hero’s motives are basically good but misguided, and as a result, the hero suffers a tragic fate that may seem undeserved.

43. Tragedy—example Prologue to Romeo and Juliet:
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

44. Tragedy—practice
Abby pays to have her printer repaired; however, when she gets it back, it still does not work.

45. Tragedy—practice
Mr. Loman, once a top sales representative, quits his job when a younger man threatens his position. Because his pride has been hurt, Mr. Loman withdraws from his life and finally dies of misery.

46. Tragedy—practice
A king, while crossing a river, ignores his men’s warnings and is swept away and drowned.

47. Tragedy—practice
Maria prepared a special dinner for her parents’ anniversary. While carrying the main course to the dining room, the platter falls to the floor.