Romeo and Juliet (Act 1) Flashcards
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.
Soliloquy
long speech in which a character who is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud
Monologue
a long, tedious speech by a person during a conversation.
Couplet
two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
Epithet
adjective or descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing.
Foil
a character who is used as a contrast to another character.
Iambic meter
lines of poetry containing iambs.
Iambic pentameter
line of poetry that contains five iambs.
End-stopped lines
when a line of poetry ends with a punctuation mark.
Run-on lines
when their is incomplete syntax at the end of a line, or the meaning of the line runs over.
Metaphor
a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one thing becomes another thing without the use of the words like, as, than, or resembles.
Simile
a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one thing becomes another thing with the use of the words like, as, than, or resembles.
Pun
play on the multiple meanings of a word or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings.
Tragedy
play that depicts serious and important events in which the main character comes to an unhappy end.
Comic relief
comic sense or event that breaks up a serious play or narrative.
Sonnet
fourteen-line lyric poem that is usually written in iambic pentameter and that has one of several rhyme schemes.
Oxymoron
a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory term appear in conjunction.
Chorus (find on first page of play in the side notes OR you can Google “chorus in Romeo & Juliet”
a lyric poem, believed to have been in dithyrambic form, that was sung and danced to, originally as a religious rite, by a company of persons.
Alliteration
repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds usually at the beginnings of words that are close together in a poem.
Onomatopoeia
use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.
Protagonist
main character in fiction or drama.
Antagonist
secondary character that struggles against the protagonist.
Blank Verse
poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Connotation
all the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words, in addition to their literal dictionary definitions, or denotations.
Denotation
“thin”
Allusion
reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture.
Dramatic Irony
occurs when the audience or the reader knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know.
Situational Irony
occurs when there is a contrast between what would seem appropriate and what really happens or when there is a contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really does take place.
Verbal Irony
occurs when a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning.
Tragic Flaw
his or her downfall may be caused by a character flaw, or it may result from forces beyond human control.
Tragic Hero
usually wins some self-knowledge and wisdom, even though he or she suffers defeat, perhaps even death.
