1. Sonnet 14 line poetic form
Usually tells a story of love and argues a point or solves a problem.
3 quatrains (groups of 4)
1 rhyming couplet (a group of 2 lines)
Rhyme Scheme
Abab cdcd efef gg
Meter (rhythm of the line)
Iambic pentameter
The first syllable is unstressed
The second syllable is stressed
“My lips two blushing pilgrims ready stand” –William Shakespeare

2. Rhyming Couplet Two consecutive lines that rhyme
The lines must be in iambic pentameter
Rhyming couplets are always found at the end of sonnets.
Rhyming couplets are also often found at the end of scenes in Shakespeare’s plays. Why do you think Shakespeare chose to do this?

3. Tragedy
Events turn out disastrously for the main characters (often death)
Events are put into motion by a decision that is often an error in judgment
Innocent bystanders are killed
Characters alive at the end learn a lesson.

4. Pun A joke that comes from a play on words Often from a homonym
What did the fish say when he hit the wall?

5. Foil A character who provides a striking contrast to another character
Benvolio (kind, benevolent) to __________
Juliet (prim, proper) to _____________

6. Oxymor0n
Special kind of concise paradox that brings together two contradictory terms
Jumbo shrimp
Fine mess
Bright smoke
Feather of lead

7. Aside
A short speech directed to the audience, or another character, that is not heard by the other characters on stage.

8. Soliloquy
A speech where the character speaks his/her thoughts out loud
Usually the actor is alone on stage

9. Paradox
A seemingly contradictory or absurd statement that may nonetheless suggest an important truth.
"I must be cruel to be kind". Shakespeare in Hamlet

10. Personification Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects
The sun danced across the sky.

11. Allusion
An indirect reference to a famous person, place, event or literary event.
Most common allusions
Mythology
The Bible
Shakespeare

12. simile Comparing 2 unlike objects using “like” or “as”
She was as beautiful as the first buds flowering after a long winter.

13. Metaphor Comparing 2 unlike objects. Can be more than 1 line.
"A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas—a place where history comes to life." — Norman Cousins

14. Dramatic irony
The audience or reader knows more than the characters know.
In Romeo and Juliet we will know several things that the characters in the play don’t know. Watch for this.