1. Literary Techniques, Elements of a Drama, and Rhetoric
Background information for Romeo and Juliet

2. Background information for Romeo and Juliet
1. Elements of a Drama
Background information for Romeo and Juliet

3. What is a drama? What do you think of when you hear the word “drama”?
In English class, Drama is a form of literature designed to be performed in front of an audience.
There are two main types of drama:
COMEDY: a humorous work of drama
TRAGEDY: a serious work of drama in which the hero suffers catastrophe or serious misfortune, usually because of his own actions
What type of drama do you think that Romeo and Juliet will be? Why?

4. How are dramas organized?
Dramas are not organized like traditional novels. They do not have chapter numbers or titles, but are organized into Acts and Scenes.
ACT: a division within a play, much like chapters of a novel
SCENE: a division of an act into smaller parts
Dramas are made up of mostly dialogue, with very few descriptive passages. In lieu of heavy descriptions, dramas use stage directions.
DIALOGUE: a conversation between two or more characters
STAGE DIRECTIONS: italicized comments that identify parts of the setting or the use of props or costumes, give further information about a character, or provide background information
In Shakespeare‘s plays, stage directions can also appear in brackets, parenthesis, and/or half-brackets

5. More about dialogue
MONOLOGUE: a long speech spoken by a character to himself, another character, or to the audience

6. More about dialogue
SOLILOQUY: thoughts spoken aloud by a character when he/she is alone, or thinks he/she is alone

7. More about dialogue
ASIDE: lines that are spoken by a character directly to the audience

8. Characters in a Drama
If you were to make a list of the different characters in Cinderella, how would you organize your list into characters that are most important to the ones who are least important?
CAST OF CHARACTERS: a list of characters presented before the action begins

9. Characters in a Drama
CHORUS: a person or group of people who act as a narrator, commentator, or general audience to the action of the play
FOIL: a character who is nearly opposite of another character; the purpose of a foil (or character foil) is to reveal a stark contrast between the two characters, often the protagonist and antagonist
TRAGIC HERO: a protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to his demise

10. II. Literary Techniques
Background information for Romeo and Juliet

11. Literary Techniques
Other important elements of drama, especially Shakespeare‘s dramatic works, are literary techniques used by the author that make the writing more entertaining and enjoyable

12. Literary Techniques
ALLITERATION: repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables (i.e. ―Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers)
BLANK VERSE: non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter. Most of Shakespeare‘s plays are written in this form, which is very close to normal speech rhythms and patterns.
Often Shakespeare will deviate from this form in order to make a point about the character‘s state of mind or for other emphasis, like a change in the mood.
COMIC RELIEF: in a tragedy, a break in the seriousness for a moment of comedy or silliness
DOUBLE ENTENDRE: a word or phrase with more than one meaning, usually when the second meaning is risqué

13. Literary Techniques
DRAMATIC IRONY: when the audience or reader knows something that the characters in the story do not know
EUPHEMISM: a substitution of a more pleasant expression for one whose meaning may come across as rude or offensive
i.e. ―He passed away, rather than ―He died.
OXYMORON: when two opposite terms are used together
i.e. ―O heavy lightness!
PUN: a play on words, especially those that sound alike, but have different meanings
i.e. ―Ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave man

14. Literary Techniques
IAMB: a unit in poetry consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
IAMBIC PENTAMETER: a 10-syllable line divided into 5 iambic feet (one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable). This is the basic rhythm of Shakespeare‘s verse.
PROSE: normal speech rhythm; Shakespeare often wrote certain characters speaking either in all verse or all prose, indicating some personality trait of the character. If the character deviates from its normal form, be aware of a changing state of mind…often prose signals a character slipping into insanity!
RHYMING COUPLET: two rhyming lines at the end of a speech, signaling that a character is leaving the stage or that the scene is ending

15. III. Rhetorical Devices
Background information for Romeo and Juliet

16. Argumentation
Argumentation is the act of convincing or persuading an audience or by proving or refuting a point of view or issue.

17. Argumentation
Argumentation is the act of convincing or persuading an audience or by proving or refuting a point of view or issue.
Argumentation uses inductions and deductions as patterns of development
Induction: moving from observations about particular things to generalizations
Deduction: Moving from generalizations to valid inferences about particulars

18. Argumentation
Argumentation is the act of convincing or persuading an audience or by proving or refuting a point of view or issue.
Argumentation uses inductions and deductions as patterns of development
Induction: moving from observations about particular things to generalizations
Deduction: Moving from generalizations to valid inferences about particulars