Literary Elements Shakespeare

A short, private remark by a character to the audience or to another character, but not overheard by others on stage.

Another word for story

A story with two layers of meaning--a surface meaning and a symbolic meaning

Figure of speech that makes a comparison b/t two seemingly unlike things by using a connective

Something that represents itself and something outside of itself (usually an abstract concept)

Same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables that end with different consonant sounds

A feeling of anxious curiosity about what is going to happen next in a story

The first part of a plot (the first line on the Freytag pyramid)

Unable to bear children

A character delivers a speech to other characters who are also on stage

Event or detail that is inappropriate for the time period

The repetition of end consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds (used for slant rhyme)

The repetition of identical consonant or vowel sounds in words that are close together

Type of metaphor in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase

Expression peculiar to a particular language and culture that means something different from the literal word meaning

The use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in the plot

When a character struggles with a decision or choice

The feeling associated with reading a particular story

Reversal of normal word order

Pieces of information that provide the complete picture of what is taking place in a story

Literal dictionary definition of a word

In Julius Caesar, two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Another way to say Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter

Contrast or discrepancy b/t expectation and reality (or b/t what we expect to happen and what actually happens)

Time and place of a story or play

The thoughts and feelings associated with a word

When a character in a story speaks to an object, a dead person, or to someone who is not there

A polite way of something unpleasant by substituting an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend

The building of suspense in a story as it reaches the climax

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

A play on words

Figure of speech that makes a comparison b/t two unlike things without using a connective word

Literary device that makes a reference to a well-known person, place, or historical event

Repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that state a similar idea

Type of metaphor in which a non-animal thing or quality is talked about as if it were an animal

A character, who is alone onstage, delivers a speech, revealing his true feelings

Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning

Occurs when the audience knows something important that a character does not know

The central idea or insight revealed by a work of literature

Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things by using a connective word (like, as, etc.)

A statement or a situation that seems to be a contradiction but that reveals a truth

An exaggeration for emphasis not to be taken literally

Any writing that is not poetry

Writing that appeals to all of our senses