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Lit terms for Romeo and Juliet

Terms in this set (20)

Tragedy
A work of Literature resulting in a catastrophe, a disaster or great misfortune
Soliloquy
A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage
Monologue
A speech by one character that, unlike a soliloquy, is addressed to another character or characters
Aside
Short speech delivered by a character in a play in order to express his or her true character, it is not to be heard by all characters on stage unless directed to another.
Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear together
Allusion
A reference to a well known person, event, book, myth, place, or work of art.
Imagery
Descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader
Metaphor
A comparison without using like or as
Simile
A comparison using "like" or "as"
Pun
The humorous use of a word to suggest its different meanings
Sonnet
A 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter
Couplet
Pair of rhyming lines, usually of same length and meter
Dramatic Irony
The audience knows something the characters do not
Dramatic Foil
Enhances the qualities of another character by having one character be a start contrast to another character
Personification
Giving human-like qualities to inanimate objects
blank verse
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
connotation
set of ideas associated with a word in addition to its explicit meaning
denotation
dictionary definition of a word
diction
An author's word choice
theme
Central message or insight on a literary work
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