Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet Vocabulary
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**In order to prepare for the study of Shakespeare, there are some important vocabulary words that you must be familiar with. Explore your literature books, or find a dictionary of literary terms. You will be held accountable for these words and definitions in future discussions and tests. 1. Drama: A
story that is written to be acted for an audience. See pages – 852-854, 897 2. Soliloquy: A
speech by a character who is alone onstage, speaking to himself or herself or
to the audience. Page 854 3. Pun: Play on the multiple meaning of a word or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings. 4. Aside: Words
that are spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another
character but that are not supposed to be overheard by the others onstage.
Pages 854, 901 5. Paradox: Statement
or situation that seems to be a contradiction but reveals a truth. 6. Comic Relief:
Comic scene or event that breaks up a serious play or narrative. Page 901 7. Iambic pentameter:
Line of poetry that contains five
iambs. An iamb is a metrical foot, or
unit of measure, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable. Page 895 8. Blank Verse:
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Page 895 9. Heroic Couplet: two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme is called a couplet. The couplet becomes heroic if the lines are written in iambic pentameter. 10. Chorus: (this word is not directly defined in your text) In Romeo and Juliet, the chorus is played by a single actor who briefly summarizes the plot of the play. See page 734. The chorus acts as the narrator. 11. Tragedy: Play
that depicts serious and important events in which the main character comes
to an unhappy end. Pages 852, 897 |