blank verse: Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter
iambic pentameter:
- Ten syllables in each line
- Five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables
- The rhythm in each line sounds like:
ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM
rhyme scheme: a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem, indicated by using different letters of the alphabet for each new rhyme
Example:
I wandered lonely as a cloud A
That floats on high o’er vales and hills, B
When all at once I saw a crowd, A
A host, of golden daffodils; B
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, C
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. C
soliloquoy: a lengthy speech in which a character – usually alone on stage – expresses his or her thoughts to the audience.
aside: a brief remark by a character revealing thoughts or feelings to the audience, unheard by other characters
monologue: a lengthy speech addressed to other characters on stage, not to the audience
paraphrase: restate in one’s own words
round character: has many personality traits, like a real person
flat character: a one-dimensional character, embodying only a single trait
dramatic foil: a character who highlights the traits of another character through contrast
allusion: a reference to well-known people, places, or events from myths or literature
dramatic irony: a contradiction between what a character thinks or says and what the audience or reader knows to be true
Also know:
- William Shakespeare’s hometown was Stratford-on-Avon.
- Most of William Shakespeare’s plays were performed in the Globe Theater in London.
- William Shakespeare was the principal playwright for Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later renamed The King’s Men.
- William Shakespeare lived from 1564-1616.
