Act one Test Literary Terms

Question 0

Aside

Answer 0

words spoken aside or in an undertone, so as to be inaudible to some person present; words spoken by an actor, which the other performers, on the stage are supposed not to hear.
(i.i. 48-49)
Sampson, (aside to Gregory) Is it the law of our side if I say “Ay”?
Gregory, (aside to Sampson) No.

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

a reference to a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art outside of the text, either directly or by implication (feels like an inside joke)
Ex.
(Act i, scene i, lines 216-217)
Romeo: Well in that hit you miss. She’ll not be hit
With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit..

Question 2

Bawdy innuendo

Answer 2

obscene or lewd suggestions implicit in language.
ex. (i.i, lines 26-27)
SAMPSON: Me they shall feel while I am able to stand, and
‘tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh

Question 3

blank verse

Answer 3

unrhymed iambic pentameter
ex. (i.i, lines 83-87)
Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbor-stainèd steel-
Will they not hear?-What ho! You men, you beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage
With purple fountains issuing from your veins:

Question 4

climax

Answer 4

turning point of a narrative work; its point of highest tension or drama or when the action starts in which the solution is given. (part of triangle of tragedy or plot triangle)

Question 5

conceit

Answer 5

an elaborate comparison—an extended metaphor

Question 6

couplet

Answer 6

two lines–the second line immediately following the first–of the same metrical length that end in a rhyme to form a complete unit

Question 7

foil

Answer 7

a person who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight various features of the main character’s personality: to throw the character of the protagonist into sharper focus

Question 8

foreshadowing

Answer 8

suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a narrative. Foreshadowing often provides hints about what will happen next.

Question 9

iambic pentameter

Answer 9

the metrical pattern Shakespeare employs; five iambs (unstressed, stressed) per line

Question 10

imagery

Answer 10

a series of words that evokes one or more of the senses (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory); also an imagery pattern is a series of “mental pictures” that connect because of a common idea (like light and dark or religious imagery)

Question 11

Irony

Answer 11

the contrast between the apparent situation and the real situation (or if you prefer, the discrepancy between expectation and fulfillment).
the contrast between the apparent situation and the real situation (or if you prefer, the discrepancy between expectation and fulfillment). the contrast between the apparent situation and the real situation (or if you prefer, the discrepancy between expectation and fulfillment). VERBAL: a contrast between what someone says and what he/she means
SITUATIONAL: a contrast between what it seems like will happen and what really does happen
DRAMATIC: a contrast between what a the audience or characters know and what another character doesn’t know

Question 12

Hyperbole

Answer 12

exaggeration or overstatement

Question 13

Metaphor

Answer 13

a comparison of two unlike things stated in such a way as to imply that one object is another one, figuratively speaking

Question 14

Meter

Answer 14

a recognizable, though varying, pattern of stressed syllables alternating with syllables of less stress. Compositions written in meter are said to be in verse. There are many possible patterns of verse. Each unit of stress and unstressed syllables is called a “foot.”

Question 15

monologue

Answer 15

one character speaking alone for an extended period of time

Question 16

Motif

Answer 16

a recurring phrase, image or symbol throughout part or all of a literary work, used for the purpose of thematic association

Question 17

Oxymoron

Answer 17

A figure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis; a contradiction in terms.

Question 18

personification

Answer 18

giving human qualities to non-human things.

Question 19

Pun

Answer 19

The use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more meanings or different associations, or of two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meanings, so as to produce a humorous effect; a play on words.

Question 20

Rhyme scheme

Answer 20

the pattern of rhyme. The traditional way to mark these patterns of rhyme is to assign a letter of the alphabet to each rhyming sound at the end of each line.

Question 21

simile

Answer 21

a comparison of two unlike things implied by using an adverb such as like or as, in contrast with a metaphor which figuratively makes the comparison by stating outright that one thing is another thing

Question 22

Soliliquoy

Answer 22

a monologue spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be alone. The technique frequently reveals a character’s innermost thoughts, including his feelings, state of mind, motives or intentions. The soliloquy often provides necessary but otherwise inaccessible information to the audience. The dramatic convention is that whatever a character says in a soliloquy to the audience must be true, or at least true in the eyes of the character speaking (i.e., the character may tell lies to mislead other characters in the play, but whatever he states in a soliloquy is a true reflection of what the speaker believes or feels)

Question 23

Sonnet

Answer 23

a lyric poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to certain definite patterns

Question 24

Subtext

Answer 24

the underlying or implicit meaning that is communicated indirectly

Question 25

Theme

Answer 25

a central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work; the insight gained by the reader into some nuance of the human personality or general human condition