literary terms for romeo and juliet by william shakespeare

Literary Terms for

Romeo and Juliet by

William Shakespeare

Sonnet

1. Sonnet- a fourteen (14) line poem ending in a couplet, written in iambic pentameter

Couplet

2. Couplet- two (2) lines of poetry that rhyme and have the same meter

Iambic pentameter-

3. Iambic pentameter- A poetic line of five (5- “penta”) iambic feet (a measurement of poetry).

**An iambic foot consists of one (1) unstressed and one (1) stressed syllable [ u ’ ].

Example: I must / have passed / the crest / a while / ago. = one (1) line in iambic pentameter

Blank verse-

4. Blank verse- unrhymed verse in iambic pentameter (with a rhythm)

Rhyme scheme-

5. Rhyme scheme- the pattern of rhymes in a stanza or a poem. A stanza is a verse paragraph.

Chorus-

6. Chorus- a person or group of people present to introduce and explain the play

Soliloquy-

7. Soliloquy- a long speech in which a character expresses his or her thoughts aloud (ALONE on stage)

Monologue

8. Monologue- a speech in which a character expresses thoughts (IN FRONT of other characters)

Aside

9. An Aside- something that is said by one character and is meant to only be heard by one other character (and the audience), similar to a secret

Dramatic Foil

 10. Dramatic Foil- A character who serves as a contrast for another character (each character is then intensified by the actions or traits of the other character)

Juxtaposition

11. Juxtaposition- the literary act of placing two characters or words or actions side by side in order to heighten or highlight the differences between them

Imagery

12. Imagery- certain words used to bring certain pictures or feelings to mind

Personification

13. Personification- giving life-like or human qualities to inanimate (non-living) objects

Dramatic Irony

 14. Dramatic Irony- irony that occurs when the reader or audience knows something that the characters in the story or play do not yet know or believe to be true

Pun

15. Pun- a play on words, a joke—

““I wondered why the baseball was I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.”getting bigger. Then it hit me.”

““Did you hear about the guy whose Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.”right now.”

Simile

16. Simile- using like or as to make an indirect comparison between two unlike things

Metaphor

17. Metaphor- a direct comparison between two unlike things (WITHOUT using like or as)

Allusion

18. Allusion- a reference to something in another piece of literature or in history

Oxymoron19. Oxymoron- a figure of speech in

which two contradictory words or phrases are combined in a single expression.

Example: “The Little Giant” (Similar to paradox- a contradiction of words or ideas that is actually truthful).

Example: “Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed.” ~Emily Dickinson

Symbol

20. Symbol- something that stands for something else, SYMBOLISM- the use of symbols

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