Romeo and Juliet

Act 1 Literary terms

Aside

• A device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play

Oxymoron

• Definition: A figure of speech which brings together contradictory (opposite) terms.

• Examples: living death, pretty ugly,

sweet sorrow, smart but stupid,

cheerful pessimist

Simile

• Definition: A comparison of two unlike objects using the word like or as.

• Example: “My love is like a red, red rose.”

Metaphor

• Definition: A comparison of two unlike objects without the use of the word like or as.

• Example: “The cat's eyes were jewels, gleaming out of the darkness.”

Personification

• Definition: Giving human attributes and/or feelings to an idea or thing as if it were human.

• Examples: a wicked tongue

a lonely road

a lazy day

Foreshadow

• Definition: The introduction early in a story of verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what is to come later.

Pun• Definition: A play on words which uses

words that sound alike but have different meanings.

• Example: “The dentist joined the army because he liked to drill.” (drill could have two meanings: drilling of the teeth or march drills in the army)

Irony

• Definition: A contrast between appearance and reality.

• Types of Irony:– Verbal– Dramatic– Situational

Verbal Irony

• Definition: A difference between what is literally said and what is actually meant.

• Example: “Well, thanks a lot!” (spoken when someone has not been at all helpful)

Dramatic Irony• Definition: When the reader or audience

knows that the situation is exactly the opposite of what the participants think it is.

• Example: In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the audience knows Iago is the villain, but Othello believes Iago is his most trusted friend

Situational Irony• Definition: When the outcome of

circumstances is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate.

• Example: In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale is found to be a liar and an adulterer, but he is also a reverend.

Alliteration

• Definition: The repetitious use of the same beginning consonant sound in two or more nearby words.

• Example: “The ballot is bigger than the bullet.”

– Abraham Lincoln

Comic Relief

• Definition: A humorous scene or incident that improve tension in an otherwise serious work.

Allusion• Definition: A reference, usually brief, to a

person, place, thing, or event with which the reader is presumably familiar. The allusion lets the reader condense great meaning into only a few words. Allusions often refer to mythology, history, religious and literary texts, etc.

• Example: “He has the patience of Jesus.”

Motif• Definition: A motif is an idea, object, or

theme that is repeated. A motif may also be two contrasting elements in a work, such as good and evil.

• Example: In Jaws, the approach of the shark is always signaled by a strumming of bass strings slowly as the music builds in pitch and speed.

Symbol

• Definition: Any word, object, character, or action used to stand for something else, embodying and evoking a range of additional significance and meaning.

• Example: heart=love; dove=peace; skull=death

Hyperbole• Definition: An exaggeration or overstatement

to make emphasis and heighten the overall effect (comic or serious) of a work.

• Example: “This backpack weighs a ton!”• Example: She called me a million times.