Dramatic Devices and Terms ENG 1D

______a main division of the play. Shakespeare’s plays consist of five of these, with each subdivided into scenes.

______a speech given by a character alone on the stage. The purpose is to let the audience know what the character is thinking and feeling. (ie Viola: Act II, sc.2)

______a serious play that emphasizes the downfall of a central character who, due to his own flaws, sets a series of unfortunate events into play.

______a contradiction between the appearance of something and what it actually. One type is verbal in which a character says one thing and means another. Another is dramatic in which the audience knows what the characters do not.

______humourous scene included in tragedies that are used between the intense scenes to break the tension provides this.

______a figure of speech that states a comparison between two essentially unlike things which are similar in one aspect. They are introduced by “like” or “as”. “But let concealment, like a worm I’ th’ bud,/ Feed on her damask cheek.” (2.4.109-110)

______a contrast of contradictory terms for the sake of emphasis.

______a character who provides a striking contrast to another character

______a figure of speech that implies, or states a comparison between two unlike things with are similar in some way. They do NOT use like or as. “A sentence is but a chervil glove to a good wit” (3.1.10-11)

______a figure of speech in which human qualities are attributed to inanimate objects, animals or ideas. “Love make his heart of flint, that you shall love.” (1.5.266)

______a small unit of a play in which there is a shift of locale or time.

______the humourous use of a word to suggest different meanings, or of words with the same sound with different meanings.

______Unrhymed poetry that has a rhythm, and in Shakespeare, is often written in IAMBIC PENTAMETER

______A type of drama which emphasizes situations rather than characters and has a happy ending, with a light hearted tone and style. Typically, they involve multiple, intertwining plots, and deception among characters.

______a brief remark made by a character and intended to be heard by the audience, but not by other characters.

Word Bank:

PUN SCENE ACT IRONY ASIDE

COMEDY FOIL BLANK VERSE TRAGEDY

SOLILOQUY PERSONIFICATION COMIC RELIEF

METAPHOR OXYMORON SIMILE