Literary Terms: Drama 1. Drama ­ literature written for the stage; PLAYS 2. Tragedy ­ ends sadly, often in death. Key ingredient: THE FALL of the hero. 3. tragic flaw: some aspect of the hero that is the cause of the downfall 4. pun: a play on multiple meanings of a word Ex: 1. I work as a baker because I knead dough. 2. When the lumberjack accidentally let his chainsaw slip, he quickly became lacked toes intolerant. 3. (Warning: excessive cheesiness forthcoming) Knock knock! Whose there? Orange! Orange who! Orange you glad I didn’t say banana? 4. Where do peas have their sight tested? In an iPod! 5. alliteration: use of same beginning sound in adjacent words Ex: 1. Dressy daffodils 2. Fabulous freshmen, sarcastic sophomores, gentle juniors, serious seniors 3. she sells seashells by the seashore 6. oxymoron: figurative expression of contradictory terms. Ex: jumbo shrimp…. O brawling love, o loving hate…. 7. allusion: reference to another work of literature, or art, or an historical event, or the Bible. Ex: ● Lord of the Flies is an allusion to a name for Satan. 8. metaphor: direct comparison between two unlike things Ex: ● What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun! ● My lips, two blushing pilgrims… 9. simile: indirect comparison (using “like” or “as”) between two unlike things 10. hyperbole extreme exaggeration Ex: Hot Cheetos are the greatest thing in the whole world! 11. irony (situational): difference between what one expects (based on appearances) and what actually happens 12. dramatic irony: happens when the audience knows something the characters don’t know 13. comic relief: a humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious work 14. foreshadowing: hints, in a story, about dramatic events that will come later 15. aside: In drama, a brief speech (often a one­liner) directed towards the audience that is supposedly not audible to the other characters onstage. 16. monologue: a long speech by a character, but it is intended to be heard by the other character(s). 17. soliloquy: a long speech by a character alone onstage. A soliloquy usually explores one of the play's major themes. ●
Examples: ○ Juliet's "Romeo, o Romeo...... What's in a name?" (explores how social distinctions may conflict with one's true nature) 18. paradox: a statement that appears to be contradictory, but which actually makes sense Sometimes, even when you lose, you win. In order to take a step forward, you have to first be unbalanced. (by Mr. Samuels) Evil hides most effectively behind a beautiful face. ● Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer ●
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19. personification: Giving human qualities to non­human things. ●
Example­ Romeo said that Love gave him the directions to get to Juliet’s house 20. sonnet: a fixed form of poetry, consisting of 14 lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. ● Iambic pentameter….Huh? ● iamb: a “beat” (dah­dum) of lyrics. One soft sound, one stressed sound ● meter: the rhythm of a poem ● penta: five (a pentagram has 5 sides) ● So, a sonnet written in iambic pentameter has 14 lines, with 5 iambs (or da­dums) per line. See the prologue of Act I in Romeo and Juliet for an example.