PLAYS AND POEMS Literary conventions

LITERARY TERMS Tragedy: A narrative about serious and important actions that end unhappily, usually with the death of the main characters. Tragedy: A narrative about serious and important actions that end unhappily, usually with the death of the main characters. The play is broken up into acts and the acts are broken up into scenes. The play is broken up into acts and the acts are broken up into scenes. Monologue: A long uninterrupted speech given by one character onstage to everyone. Monologue: A long uninterrupted speech given by one character onstage to everyone.

Soliloquy: A long uninterrupted speech given by one character alone on stage, inaudible to other characters Soliloquy: A long uninterrupted speech given by one character alone on stage, inaudible to other characters Aside: A short speech given by one character, traditionally the other characters cannot hear. Aside: A short speech given by one character, traditionally the other characters cannot hear. Pun: A humorous play on words Pun: A humorous play on words

Dramatic Foil: A pair of characters who are opposite in many ways and highlight or exaggerate each other’s differences.

Blank Verse: Unrhymed meter; unrhymed iambic pentameter specifically. Blank Verse: Unrhymed meter; unrhymed iambic pentameter specifically. Iambic Meter: Each unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. Iambic Meter: Each unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. Couplets: Two consecutive lines that rhyme (aa bb cc). Usually followed when a character leaves or a scene ends. Couplets: Two consecutive lines that rhyme (aa bb cc). Usually followed when a character leaves or a scene ends. Sonnet: A fourteen line poem using the following rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg. Sonnet: A fourteen line poem using the following rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?A Thou art more lovely and more temperate:B Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,A And summer's lease hath all too short a date;B Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,C And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;D And every fair from fair sometime declines,C By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;D But thy eternal summer shall not fade,E Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;F Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,E When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:F So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,G So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.G

Internal Rhyme: Words rhyming inside one line. Internal Rhyme: Words rhyming inside one line. Hey Jude, don't make it bad Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better End Line Rhyme: Words rhyming at the end of consecutive lines. End Line Rhyme: Words rhyming at the end of consecutive lines. So won’t you stay with me So won’t you stay with me cuz’ you’re all I need cuz’ you’re all I need this ain’t perfect can’t you see this ain’t perfect can’t you see so won’t you stay with me so won’t you stay with me

Alliteration: the repetition of the same beginning consonants Alliteration: the repetition of the same beginning consonants Dunkin’ Donuts, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Chuckee Cheese’s Assonance: the repetition of the same vowel sounds in the middle of words Assonance: the repetition of the same vowel sounds in the middle of words His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs, But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down, The whole crowd goes so loud

Consonance: the repetition of the same ending consonants Consonance: the repetition of the same ending consonants If you are a dreamer, come in, If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer... If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in! Onomatopoeia: words that are spelled much like how they sound. Onomatopoeia: words that are spelled much like how they sound. Boom, crack, moo, slam, ding, oink Boom, crack, moo, slam, ding, oink

SHAKESPEARE’S 5 PART STORYTELLING PATTERN: Act I: Exposition Establishes setting, characters, conflict, and background Act II: Rising Action A series of complications Act III: Crisis/Turning Point A series of complications Act IV: Falling Action Results of the turning point; characters locked into deeper disaster Act V: Climax/Resolution/Denouement Death of the main characters and then the loose parts of the plot are tied up

UNDERSTANDING ROMEO AND JULIET Romeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s long narrative poem the Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Romeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s long narrative poem the Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). The play has a highly moral tone: disobedience, as well as fate, leads to the deaths of two lovers. The play has a highly moral tone: disobedience, as well as fate, leads to the deaths of two lovers.

MOTIFS (MAIN IDEAS) IN ROMEO AND JULIET Power of Love Power of Love Violence from Passion Violence from Passion The Individual vs. Society The Individual vs. Society The Inevitability of Fate The Inevitability of Fate

MONTAGUE VS. CAPULET Romeo Lord Montague (his dad) Lady Montague (his mom) Mercutio (friend) Benvolio (cousin) Juliet Lord Capulet (her father) Lady Capulet (her mother) Tybalt (cousin) Nurse