Shakespeare Terms

ASIDE

• A short comment by an actor that is meant for the audience to hear, but is not heard by the other characters on the stage.

TRAGEDY

• A form of drama that deals with serious questions about life and often ends unhappily.

• Shakespeare’s plays are divided into four categories: Tragedies, Comedies, Histories, and the Problem Plays.

FOIL

• A minor character who is used by the author to amplify qualities of a main character through comparison or contrast.

• Ex. Ned Flanders to Homer Simpson.

IAMBIC PENTAMETER

• Writing that follows an unstressed stressed foot syllable pattern, with five feet (10 syllables) per line.

• If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play on• Is this / a dag- / -ger I / see be- / fore me?

PUN

• The use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound for humorous effect.

• E.G. I’m so ‘punny’….

WORDPLAY

• Humor that depends on knowing multiple meanings of words (closely related to pun).

• E.G. Civil blood makes civil hands unclean / You have dancing shoes with nimble soles; I have a soul of lead.

DRAMATIC IRONY

• The reader or viewer knows something that a character does not

• E.G. Romeo and Juliet meet not knowing that they are enemies, but WE know!

SITUATIONAL IRONY

• When an outcome is different than what is expected.

• E.G. Damien’s stress-relief candles were the cause of his apartment burning down.

VERBAL IRONY

• When what is said is not what is meant (related to sarcasm, but could be more subtle).

• E.G. Saying “Great!” when something bad happened.

Oxymoron• Oxymoron - two contradictory terms are placed side

by side, usually for an effect of intensity:• Jumbo shrimp• burning ice

Soliloquy/ Monologue

• A long speech delivered by a single actor.

Journal #1

• Do you believe in love at first sight?• Give reasons and examples to

support your belief. • Go home tonight and ask your

parents and/or grandparents how they met/fell in love.