1. Important Dramatic and Poetic Terms

2. Dramatic Terminology Tragedy: a dramatic, emotional story about a somewhat normal person who makes a huge mistake that has terrible, tragic, or fatal consequences based on a character flaw (e.g. anger, jealousy, greed, pride, arrogance, love/passion, fear, insecurity, etc.). Play Divisions: play is broken up into acts; acts are broken up into scenes. Monologue: a speech directed at everyone onstage. Soliloquy: a speech that is usually said alone on stage; usually expressing private thoughts of person speeching. Aside: “thinking aloud”; something said to one’s self onstage; other characters don’t hear it.

3. Poetic Terminology Meter: Natural rhythmic pattern in poetic language; involves stressed and unstressed syllables; creates good timing. Iambic Meter: 2 grouped syllables; 1 st syllable is unstressed; 2 nd syllable is stressed. daDA/ daDA/ daDA/ daDA/ daDA. Ex. i CAN’T / be LIEVE/ he DIED / with OUT / a FIGHT Couplets: Two consecutive lines that rhyme (e.g. aa bb cc). Blank Verse: Unrhymed meter; unrhymed iambic pentameter specifically; a poem that don’t rhyme none. Sonnet: A 14-line poem using iambic pentameter and the following rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg.

4. Poetic Terms continued… Alliteration: the repetition of the same beginning consonants (e.g. Cathy caught her cute kitty-kat, Katniss) Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds, usually in the middle of words (e.g. loud sounds; mad as a hatter; pound the ground) Consonance: the repetition of the same ending consonants (e.g. Mike likes his new bike; he had a need for speed)