Shakespeare Terminology

Question 1

Trumpet call often to battle

Answer 1

Alarum

Question 2

error in chronology; person or event is misplaced in regard to other persons or events

Answer 2

Anachronism

Question 3

Those who oppose the protagonist

Answer 3

Antagonists

Question 4

short speech in the presence of others, heard only by the audience

Answer 4

Aside

Question 5

unrhymed iambic pentameter often used in drama

Answer 5

Blank verse

Question 6

comedic break in serious action when the tension is high

Answer 6

Comic Relief

Question 7

situation in which the audience realizes something that a character does not

Answer 7

Dramatic irony

Question 8

fanfare to announce royalty

Answer 8

Flourish

Question 9

one who illuminates another through contrast

Answer 9

Foil

Question 10

• two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter

Answer 10

Heroic couplet

Question 11

fixed pattern of meter in which the lines contain five unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable

Answer 11

Iambic pentameter

Question 12

just punishment, justice

Answer 12

Nemesis

Question 13

quality in the arts that arouses the viewer’s sympathy

Answer 13

Pathos

Question 14

central character in a literary/dramatic work

Answer 14

Protagonist

Question 15

the use of language and sound to appeal to the audience’s emotions and make the speech more convincing

Answer 15

Rhetorical devices

Question 16

a long speech delivered by an actor alone on stage; the character is thinking out loud

Answer 16

Soliloquy

Question 17

literary work in which the protagonist meets an unhappy or disastrous end

Answer 17

Tragedy

Question 18

aspect of character’s personality which prevents him from averting tragedy

Answer 18

Tragic Flaw

Question 19

quality of enduring significance; Shakespeare’s works are considered universal in their treatment of the human condition

Answer 19

Universality

Question 20

Characteristics of a Tragic Hero

Answer 20

1. Capable of greatness
2. Has a tragic flaw
3. Fate and circumstances work against him.
4. Has a moment of choice but because of his tragic flaw and fate and circumstances working against him, he makes the wrong choice.

Question 21

character says one thing but means something else

Answer 21

Verbal Irony