Iamb A unit of 2 syllables, 1 unstressed (da), and 1 stressed. Create your own Iamb.
Iambic Pentameter Iambic Pentameter: The meter (rhythm) Shakespeare commonly uses in his plays. Lines are written with 10 syllables each, 5 unstressed (da) and 5 stressed (dum). Made up of 5 iambs total. Sounds like this: da, dum, da, dum, da, dum, da, dum, da, dum. Ending words rhyme (aa, b Find Iambic Pentameter on p. 23.
Blank Verse When lines are written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables) but their ending words don’t rhyme. Create two lines (10 syllables each) of blank verse.
Prose When the characters speak without rhyme and without rhythm. Like you or I would speak normally everyday. Locate a passage of prose in the play. Tip: it won’t look like a poem, but like a paragraph.
Shakespearean Sonnet 14 lines of iambic pentameter with the following rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Used to express especially poetic, beautiful ideas. Locate the 14 lines of a sonnet on p. 57-58.
Couplet The final two rhyming lines of a sonnet. Usually the most important because they capture the entire sonnet’s message. Locate the couplet in the sonnet on p.65
Pun A form of wordplay that occurs when two words pronounced and spelled similarly contain different meanings. Locate and explain the pun using “lie” on p. 45.
Metaphors and Similes Metaphor: Comparing two objects/ideas by saying one IS the other. Simile: Comparing two objects/ideas by saying one is LIKE, AS, or SEEMS to be the other Locate a metaphor OR simile in Act II, Scene 2 (balcony scene)