Y8 Tier 2 & 3 Vocabulary: Shakespeare

Question 1

Anti-Semitism

Answer 1

A kind of discrimination towards Jewish people. The problem of antisemitism continues to be a serious one.

Question 2

Intolerance

Answer 2

Not able or not willing to accept different opinions, beliefs, customs, or people; not tolerant: Her parents seem intolerant with respect to people with different customs.

Question 3

Usury

Answer 3

The act or practice of lending money at excessive or illegal interest rates: Although Jim did not want to pay the interest rate attached to the loan shark’s usury, he needed money to pay for his kid’s surgery.

Question 4

Mercy

Answer 4

Kind treatment by someone who has some power over another: The principal showed mercy to the students who broke the window.

Question 5

Injustice

Answer 5

The lack of justice or fairness:
We must fight against injustice.

Question 6

Monologue

Answer 6

A long speech by one actor in a play, although other characters can be present: Shakespeare’s plays are famous for their monologues.

Question 7

Soliloquy

Answer 7

An act of speaking one’s thought aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers: The actor comes to the front of the stage to give his soliloquy.

Question 8

Interpretation

Answer 8

The act or process of explaining or understanding the meaning of something: Her interpretation of the play helped the class to recognise the greatness of the playwright’s imagination.

Question 9

Dramatic Irony

Answer 9

A literary technique where the audience know more about characters or events than the characters.

Question 10

Antithesis

Answer 10

The exact opposite: Their behavior was the antithesis of good manners.