Shakespeare Lit Terms

Question 1

Aside

Answer 1

Quick remark; meant only for audience or another character

Question 2

Monologue

Answer 2

Long talk by one character; meant for others on stage

Question 3

Soliloquy

Answer 3

Thinking out loud; meant only for audience

Question 4

Comic relief

Answer 4

Provides temporary relief from sadness

Question 5

Pun

Answer 5

Using similar sounds and words that mean different things; the audience ate these up; pun duel called a quibble

Question 6

Allusion

Answer 6

Reference to something outside the story (usually classical mythology)

Question 7

Oxymoron

Answer 7

Combination of words that have opposite meanings; show confusion

Question 8

Prose

Answer 8

Normal speaking/not in verse; used by servants and lesser characters

Question 9

Iambic pentameter

Answer 9

Line 10 syllables long (5 stressed, 5 unstressed) mimics pattern of human heartbeat

Question 10

Foil

Answer 10

Characters that show extremely contrasting traits

Question 11

Dramatic irony

Answer 11

Audience knows something that the character(s) don’t know