 | Term | Definition |
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aside |
a part of an actor's lines supposedly not heard by others on the stage and intended only for the audience |
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soliloquy |
the act of talking while or as if alone |
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blank verse |
the uhryhmed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic |
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couplet |
a pair that rhyme and are of the same length |
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iambic pentameter |
a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents |
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rhyme |
a poem or a piece of versehaving such correspondence |
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metaphor |
one thing conceived as representing another |
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Simile |
a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike thinkgs are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as |
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imagery |
the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectivelysymbolism |
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symbolism |
the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with symbolic meaning or character |
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tragic hero |
a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flawthat, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy |
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comic relief |
an amusing scene, incident, or speech introduced into serious or tragic elements, as in a play, in order to previde temporary relief from tension |
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antagonist |
the adversary of the hero or protagonist of a drama or other literary work |
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protagonist |
the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work |
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universal appeal |
something that has wide appeal to a large number of poeple |
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irony |
the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning |
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tragedy |
a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society to downfall or destruction |
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climax |
the highest or most intense point in the development or resolution of something |
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catastrophe |
the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close and conclusion |
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equivocation |
an equivocal, ambiguous expression |
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paradox |
a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth |
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alliteration |
the repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables |
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assonance |
the reptition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words |
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theme |
a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or compostion |
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prophesy |
to foretell or predict |
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meter |
the rhythmic element as measured by division into parts of equal time value |
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personification |
a character or representation in a dramatic or literary work- the description of a chraracter in writing |
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consonance |
the use of the repetition of consonants or consonant patterns as a rhyming device |
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foreshadowing |
to present indication or a suggestion of beforehand |
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ambivalence |
the coexistence within an individual or positive and negative feelings toward the same person, object, or action |
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