Romeo and Juliet Flashcards
Tragedy
A play that tells the story of a tragic hero (protagonist) whose major flaw causes the story to end with his/her tragic downfall.
Five stages of a tragedy
Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Catastrophe
Catastrophe
5th stage in the dramatic narrative arc (similar to Resolution)
Act
A section of a play that contains a number of scenes e.g. Act 1 - exposition.
Scene
A scene within an Act.
Prologue
Anintroductionthat sets the scene for the story to come.
Chorus
A character in a play that plays the role of narrator
Monologue
A long speech given by a single character in a story TO other characters.
Oxymoron
A pair of words that contradict each other
Metaphor
A figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing IS the other e.g. “love is a battlefield” or “He was wounded by love”.
Hyperbole
An exaggeration used to emphasise a point e.g. “I have been waiting forever.”
Soliloquy
A long speech by a character in a drama that reveals their secret thoughts and feelings. The speech is not to anyone.
Paradox
A statement that seems to contradict itself but is actually quite insightful.
Foreshadowing
A hint at plot developments that don’t actually occur until later in the story which can be obvious or subtle and aims to increase mystery.
Dramatic irony
A device that authors use to highlight the difference between a character’s understanding of a given situation, and that of the audience; basically, the reader/audience knows something that the main character does not.
