LITERARY TERMS AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Ms. Mathews 9 th Grade English
Dec 17, 2015
LITERARY TERMS AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Ms. Mathews
9th Grade English
POETIC TERMS SPECIFIC TO AND IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTANDING SHAKESPEAREAN PLAYS
ALLITERATION
The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words
Example using the h sound:“The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me;”
-Edgar Allan Poe, from “Annabel Lee”
ANAPHORA
The repetition of words at the beginning of neighboring sentences, which gives them additional emphasis
APOSTROPHE
An address to a person or personified object not present
ASSONANCE
The repetition of vowel sounds Example: “About the town the owl could not
be found.” “About” “Town” “Owl” “Found”
BLANK VERSE Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter Each line of blank verse has five pairs of
syllables In most pairs, an unstressed syllable is
followed by a stressed syllable Shakespeare’s plays are ALL written in blank
verse; however, you will notice that portions of Romeo and Juliet are written in the Shakespearean Sonnet format (14 lines, iambic pentameter, specific rhyme scheme)
CONSONANCE
The repetition of consonant sounds in close proximity, as in a sentence or a line
Example: “The archetypal arachnid attacked the critical acrobat’s katydid.”
ENJAMBMENT
A poetic device where syllables, within lines of patterned verse, run over into subsequent lines, making the lines of regular verse “irregular.”
Example: “I will not eat green eggs/ And ham, I will not eat them, Sam I Am.”
EPITHET
A phrase that is commonly used to describe a certain individual or characteristic
Example: To describe someone being “under the weather,” you are saying that the person is sick/ill.
EXTENDED METAPHOR
A figure of speech Compares two essentially unlike things at
some length and in several ways (2+ lines) Does not contain the words like or as
MOTIF
Any recurring element in a story that has a symbolic meaning
OXYMORON
A figure of speech that combines contradicting words
Examples: Bitter sweet Forward retreat Serious joke Deafening silence
PUN
A joke that comes from a play on words. Can make use of a words multiple meanings
or of a word’s rhyme
DRAMATIC TERMS
TRAGEDY
A dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character or characters who are involved in historically or socially significant events.
The events in a tragic plot are set into motion by a decision that is often an error of judgment.
Succeeding events are linked in a cause and effect relationship and lead inevitably to a disastrous conclusions, usually death.
STAGE DIRECTIONS
Instructions in a play which are often printed in italic type at the beginning of a play and at the beginning of acts and scenes.
DIALOGUE
Written conversation between two or more characters
Writers use dialogue to bring the characters to life and give readers insight into the characters’ qualities, personality traits, and reactions to other characters
ASIDE
Dramatic device A character speaks his/her thoughts aloud Words are meant to be heard by the
audience, but not by the other characters
MONOLOGUE
A speech presented by a single character to an audience of any number of people.
SOLILOQUY
A long speech in which a character speaks to no one but themselves, thinking private thoughts aloud
Generally, the character is on stage alone, speaking his/her thoughts aloud for the audience to hear.