1. Drama Terms
Romeo & Juliet

2. Act A main division of a drama.
Shakespeare’s plays consist of five acts with each act subdivided into scenes.

3. Scene
A small unit of a play in which there is no shift of locale or time.

4. Chorus
Sets the scene, introducing the play or act, and giving the audience background or other information.
The chorus often appears as the prologue.

5. Prologue
The introduction to a literary work. It often sets the scene and gives background information for the story.

6. Aside
A brief remark made by a character and intended to be heard by the audience but not by other characters.

7. Monologue
A speech in a play that is spoken in the presence of other characters.

8. Soliloquy A speech given by a character alone on the stage.
The purpose of a soliloquy is to let the audience know what the character is thinking and feeling.

9. Tragedy A drama of human conflict which ends in defeat and suffering.
Often the main character has a tragic flaw which leads to his or her destruction.

10. Poetry
A heightened form of language produced through rhythm and sound.

11. Prose
normal, everyday language and writing

12. Iambic Pentameter
Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (iamb)
10 syllables total

13. Blank Verse
Verse written in iambic pentameter without end rhyme

14. Allusion
A reference to a literary or historical person or event to explain a present situation.

15. Pun
A play on words

16. Irony
A contrast between what is and what appears to be.

17. Verbal Irony
Contrast in which a character says one thing and means another.

18. Dramatic Irony
Contrast in which the audience knows what the characters do not.

19. Paradox
A statement which seems to contradict itself, but is at the same time logical.
Example: So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” Macbeth

20. Foil
A character who contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist, and in so doing, makes the personality of the other stand out