Romeo and Juliet Literary Devices
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31 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 alliteration | use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse |
| allusions | a reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature |
| word inversion | unusual words order; placement of verbs, before nouns,etc. |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| heroic couplets | two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter; usually a moral attached |
| metaphor | comparison not using like or as |
| simile | comparison using like or as |
| conceit | an extremely exaggerated comparison |
| oxymoron | conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence') |
| paradox | a seemingly contradictory statement, idea or event |
| repetition | repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis |
| puns | a play on words |
| irony | difference between appearance and reality |
| dramatic irony | (theater) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play |
| verbal irony | occurs when what is said contradicts what is meant or thought |
| situational irony | an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected |
| foreshadowing | the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot |
| foils | a pair of characters, events, settings, or other literary elements which are set up in artistic contrast to one another in order to highlight their significant differences |
| soliloquy | a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections |
| asides | remarks made to the audience that the rest of the characters onstage don't here |
| apostrophe | address to an absent or imaginary person |
| personification | giving human qualities to animals or objects |
| comic relief | A humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood |
| prologues(chorus) | the introduction or beginning |
| euphemism | a mild, indirect, or vague term substituting for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term |
| motifs | recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes. |
| tragic flaw | the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall |
| tragic hero | a noble character who exhibits a personal weakness, causing his/her downfall, and realizes the flaw. |
| imagery | language that appeals to the senses |
| sonnets | fourteen line poems usually written in iambic pentameter |
| prose | use of everyday language |
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