1. Romeo & Juliet Literary Terms

2. Literary Terms Definition Tragedy
Drama that ends in catastrophe—most often death—for the main character and often for several other important characters
Tragic hero
Main character, usually someone nobly born and who may have great influence in his/her society
Comic relief
Humorous scene, incident, or speech that relieves the overall emotional intesity
Allusion
A brief reference, within a work, to something outside the work that the reader or audience is expected to know.
Foil character
Character who is used to showcase other characters
Dramatic conventions
Devices that theater audiences accept as realistic even though they aren’t real-life.
Soliloquy
Speech that a character gives when he/she is alone on stage; let’s the audience know what he/she is thinking

3. Literary Terms Definition Aside
Remark that other’s on stage are not supposed to hear; purpose is to reveal character’s private thoughts; spoke to the audience
Blank verse
Poetry with unrhymed lines
Imabic pentameter
Unstressed syllable-stressed syllable 5 times in a line
Two households both alike in dignitiy
Simile
Comparison using “like” or “as”
Metaphor
Comparison (Juliet is the moon)
Oxymoron
Pun
Joke that comes from a play on words
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.”

4. Literary Terms Definition Dramatic irony
Audience knows more than characters do... (We know that Juliet is alive when Romeo kills himself.)
Foreshadowing
Hints of things to come…
Rhyme Scheme
Pattern of rhyme (look at the end of each line of the poem)
Ababcdcdefefgg (sonnet)