Shakespearian Literary Terms
Order by
31 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 alliteration | the repetition of a leading vowel or consonant sound in a phrase |
| allusion | an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text |
| apostrophe | address to an absent or imaginary person or thing |
| aside | a literary device in that an actor speaks to the audience; he/she is not heard by the other characters who are on stage with him or her |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| comic relief | a humorous or farcical interlude in a serious literary work or drama, especially a tragedy, intended to relieve the dramatic tension or heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast |
| conceit | a fanciful poetic image, especially an elaborate or exaggerated comparison (metaphor) that gets developed beyond the initial mention of it. |
| dramatic irony | when the audience knows something about what is happening that the characters do not |
| dynamic character | character who changes, grows or develops during the literary work |
| external conflict | character in conflict with other characters or society |
| flat character | character who shows only one side or one characteristic of his or her personality |
| foil | a character who interacts with another character with very different qualities for the purpose of emphasizing those differences. This is a juxtaposition of unlike characters. |
| foreshadow | to present an indication or a suggestion of what will happen later on |
| hyperbole | exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect |
| iambic pentameter | poetic rhythm co nsisting of 10 beats in a pattern of unstressed, then stressed syllables. |
| internal conflict | character in conflict with self |
| irony | Incongruity (difference) between what might be expected and what actually occurs |
| juxtaposition | putting two unlike things close together to emphasize the differences between them |
| metaphor | a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another - a comparison of two unlike things |
| metonymy | substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself |
| monologue | in a drama, a long speech made by one person, often monopolizing a conversation. |
| mood | the feeling or atmosphere of a literary work |
| oxymoron | incongruous or contradictory terms are combined |
| paradox | a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true |
| personification | inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form |
| pun | a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect |
| rhyming couplet | two consecutive lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme |
| round character | character who shows multiple characteristics of his or her personality |
| simile | two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as |
| soliloquy | a speech of a character in a play while the speaker is alone, to show the audience what the character is thinking. |
| static character | character who does not change or develop during the literary work |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.