Drama/ R&J Terms

Question 0

Aside

Answer 0

words spoke by a character to him/her self or to another character(s). This is not heard by all on stage

Question 1

Oxymoron

Answer 1

a figure of speech that combines contradicting terms (e.g. Jumbo Shrimp)

Question 2

Allusion

Answer 2

a reference to something or someone the audience is expected to be familiar with–i.e. history, mythology, a work of literature, etc.

Question 3

Catharsis

Answer 3

purging/cleansing of emotions through literature

Question 4

foil

Answer 4

a character who–by contrast–illuminates another character

Question 5

Hyperbole

Answer 5

Exaggeration for effect

Question 6

innuendo

Answer 6

comments that have derogatory implications, insinuations, often sexual in nature

Question 7

Causality

Answer 7

A tight woven plot of tragedy. Events build logically. There are direct, foreseeable links between actions and reactions, cause and effects

Question 7

Couplet (heroic couplet)

Answer 7

2 successive lines of rhyming iambic pentameter

Question 8

Dramatic irony

Answer 8

The anxiety experience when reader/audience knows more than the characters– occurs when there is a contradiction between what the character believes and what the audience knows to be true

Question 8

Imagery

Answer 8

Using words to capture sensory experiences–sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and sensations at touch

Question 9

Metaphor

Answer 9

A direct comparison between unlike things in which one is said to be another

Question 9

Personification

Answer 9

Giving human attributes or qualities to nonhuman things

Question 12

prologue

Answer 12

a formal introduction to a work of literature

Question 14

paradox

Answer 14

a seemingly contradictory statement that upon reflection proves true.

Question 15

exposition

Answer 15

establishes setting, characters, and conflict

Question 15

prose vs. Poetry/verse

Answer 15

prose is writing that is not poetry. poetry is writing that features one or more of the following: rhythm, compressed language, figurative language, appeals to emotion and or imagination ,etc.

Question 16

pun

Answer 16

a play on words that have meanings or that sound alike

Question 17

rising action

Answer 17

conflict becomes more complicated

Question 17

meter

Answer 17

a general pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Question 18

iambic pentameter

Answer 18

meter that features 5 ft (iambic units) per line; each iambic (foot) features an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Question 19

blank verse

Answer 19

unrhymed iambic pentameter. “blank” means that there is no rhyme at the end of lines

Question 20

turning point

Answer 20

character does something that seals his/her fate–an action from which there is no turning back

Question 22

rising action

Answer 22

more complications leading to the climax

Question 24

climax/resolution

Answer 24

highest point of conflict is reached; point at which the main conflict is settled–which quickly leads into the play’s conclusion

Question 25

Simile

Answer 25

A direct comparison between unlike things in which one thing is said to be LIKE or AS another

Question 26

Soliloquy

Answer 26

A speech in which a character voices thought aloud for benefit of the audience (other character cannot hear what is said)

Question 27

Sonnet

Answer 27

See handout

Question 28

tragedy

Answer 28

tragic plot typically include the following elements: a character (1) high or noble birth–who is essentially good–has (2) his or her position threatened via a (3) series of casually related events. The character, then, suffers a (4) tragic fall–is brought low–due in large part to his/her own actions, his/her (5) tragic flaw. This outcome (6) evokes pity and fear from the audience (a tragic character must cause his own all determine his destiny or the story wont be tragic)

Question 29

Tragic flaw

Answer 29

The character trait (defect) and or action that causes a character to suffer a tragic fall