Poetry/Drama Terms

Question 1

Meter

Answer 1

the rhythmic pattern in poetry

Question 2

Ballad

Answer 2

a poem in short stanzas, passed through generations, usually oral, tells a story

Question 3

Ode

Answer 3

lyrical poem to address a particu subject - usually a strong feeling of love for the subject.

Question 4

Sonnet

Answer 4

Poem with 14 lines and a formal rhyme scheme. Made famous by Shakespeare.

Question 5

Haiku

Answer 5

A Japanese poem with 17 syllables, 3 lines with 5, 7, 5 syllables, usually about nature

Question 6

Prologue

Answer 6

an introductory section of a literary work or drama (It’s sort of before the story starts)

Question 7

Epilogue

Answer 7

a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment or conclusion to what has happened (like when the book is over, then they tell you what happened 20 years later)

Question 8

Aside

Answer 8

a remark that is intended to be heard by the audience but not by the characters on stage

Question 9

Monologue

Answer 9

a long speech by one actor

Question 10

Soliloquy

Answer 10

a character speaking his/her thoughts aloud to him/herself in a play

Question 11

rhythm

Answer 11

measured flow of words or phrases in poetry (it’s the beat to which you say the poem)

Question 12

rhyme scheme

Answer 12

an ordered pattern of rhyme in a poem. (aabb ccdd)

Question 13

stanza

Answer 13

group of lines in a poem (like paragraphs in poetry)

Question 14

drama

Answer 14

a play for the theater or tv

Question 15

poem

Answer 15

a piece of writing that is typically rhythmic, metaphorical, and often has meter and rhyme

Question 16

stage directions

Answer 16

instructions in the text of a play that are not spoken when performed (things telling actors where to move, how to stand or sit, what tone to use when saying the line, lighting, etc)

Question 17

Scene

Answer 17

the parts of a play that are performed as one piece - when it changes the curtains close and they change the scene)

Question 18

Act

Answer 18

The main division of a play (frequently in two halves)

Question 19

Dialogue

Answer 19

spoken words between characters

Question 20

Chorus

Answer 20

A group of performers who comment on the main action of the play

Question 21

Narrator

Answer 21

Person who delivers commentary accompanying a play

Question 22

Iambic Pentameter

Answer 22

a line of poetry with 5 metrical feet each containing a short (unstressed) syllable followed by one long (stressed syllable)
(so 10 total syllables)