Shakespeare Vocab – Flashcards
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An introduction or preface, especially to introduce a play.
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prologue
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a short passage added at the end of a literary work
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epilogue
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A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener.
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soliloquy
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when an actor directly addresses the audience but it is not supposed to be heard by the other actors on the stage.
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aside
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A long speech in a play or story, delivered by a single person
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monologue
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A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.
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foreshadowing
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a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character.
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dramatic foil/character foil
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A technique a writer uses to create pictures in the reader's mind and to appeal to the senses of touch, taste, smell, or hearing.
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imagery
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Any writing that is not poetry
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prose
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A humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood
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comic relief
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a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings
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pun
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A word or words that are inaccurate literally but describe by calling to mind sensations or responses that the thing described evokes. Figurative language may be in the form of metaphors or similes, both of which are non-literal comparisons. Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" is an example.
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figurative language
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A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes
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personification
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A comparison using like or as
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simile
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A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared.
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metaphor
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A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.
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extended metaphor
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A dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction.
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tragedy
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A literary work which ends happily because the hero or heroine is able to overcome obstacles and get what he or she wants.
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comedy
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A type of drama that combines certain elements of both tragedy and comedy.
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romance/tragicomedy
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verbal- (sarcasm) occurs when someone says something that deliberately contradicts what that person actually means situational- occurs when something happens that contradicts our expectations dramatic- occurs when the reader or audience is aware of something that a character does not know
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irony
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unstressed syllable, stressed syllable
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iamb
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5 iambs make up the rhythm
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iambic pentameter
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Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry
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rhyming couplet
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14 lines written iambic pentameter
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sonnet
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contradiction
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oxymoron
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poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
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blank verse
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A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.
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tone
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A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.
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theme
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A story acted out, live or onstage
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play
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Elegant comedies characterized by witty banter and sophisticated dialogue rather than the slapstick physicality and blundering common to low comedy. Well thought out jokes
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high comedy
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a comedy characterized by slapstick and burlesque
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low comedy
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a part of a play defined by elements such as rising action, climax and resolution
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act
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a part of an act defined with the changing of characters.
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scene
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A literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy
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tragic hero
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A weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero.
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tragic flaw
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A single metrical line of poetry, or poetry in general (as opposed to prose).
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verse
