Literary Terms
The following terms are used in Shakespeare's writing, to make it more imaginative:
Term:
1) Verse
2) Prose
3) Iamb
4) Trochee
5) Spondee
6) Pyrrhic
7) Iambic Pentameter
8) Couplet
9) Heroic Couplet
10) Quatrain
11) Sonnet
12) Antithesis
13) Tragedy
14) Personification
15) Protagonist
16) Catalyst
17) Parallel
18) Static
19) Dynamic
20) Foil
2) Prose
3) Iamb
4) Trochee
5) Spondee
6) Pyrrhic
7) Iambic Pentameter
8) Couplet
9) Heroic Couplet
10) Quatrain
11) Sonnet
12) Antithesis
13) Tragedy
14) Personification
15) Protagonist
16) Catalyst
17) Parallel
18) Static
19) Dynamic
20) Foil
Definition/Example:
1) Writing with a rhythm. e.g, "I do but keep the peace". (line 59, Act 1, Scene 1)
2) Ordinary way of speaking. e.g, The servant in Act 1, Scene 2, line 38-43
3) One non-stressed and one stressed syllable. e.g, Defeat
4) One stressed and one non-stressed syllable. e.g, Listen
5) Two stressed syllables. e.g, Humbug
6) Two unstressed syllables. e.g, '...and the...'
7) A line consisting of five iambic feet. e.g, "Two households, both alike in dignity" (Prologue, line 1)
8) A two lined form which rhymes.
9) A two line form which rhymes and has the iambic pentameter.
10) A stanza with four lines with a rhyming scheme: ABAB, AABB, AABA
11) Fourteen lines in iambic pentameter with the rhyming scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
12) The opposition of words or phrases against eachother. e.g, oxymorons - Hot ice
13) A Greek type of drama in which you know the ending before the play starts:
First act = Exposition
Second act = Rising Action
Third act = Climax
Fourth act = Falling Action
Fifth act = Denouement
14) This is when an object is given a human trait. For example: The walking tree
15) The main characters in a play or story (e.g. Romeo)
16) A minor character that causes a process or event, without being involved or changed. (e.g. the Nurse)
17) A minor character that has comparable parts, analogous aspects, or readily recognized similarities. (e.g. Mercutio is parallel to Romeo)
18) A static character remains unchanged throughout the whole play or story. (e.g. Tybalt)
19) A dynamic character changes permanently throughout the story or play.
20) A minor character that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another character.
2) Ordinary way of speaking. e.g, The servant in Act 1, Scene 2, line 38-43
3) One non-stressed and one stressed syllable. e.g, Defeat
4) One stressed and one non-stressed syllable. e.g, Listen
5) Two stressed syllables. e.g, Humbug
6) Two unstressed syllables. e.g, '...and the...'
7) A line consisting of five iambic feet. e.g, "Two households, both alike in dignity" (Prologue, line 1)
8) A two lined form which rhymes.
9) A two line form which rhymes and has the iambic pentameter.
10) A stanza with four lines with a rhyming scheme: ABAB, AABB, AABA
11) Fourteen lines in iambic pentameter with the rhyming scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
12) The opposition of words or phrases against eachother. e.g, oxymorons - Hot ice
13) A Greek type of drama in which you know the ending before the play starts:
First act = Exposition
Second act = Rising Action
Third act = Climax
Fourth act = Falling Action
Fifth act = Denouement
14) This is when an object is given a human trait. For example: The walking tree
15) The main characters in a play or story (e.g. Romeo)
16) A minor character that causes a process or event, without being involved or changed. (e.g. the Nurse)
17) A minor character that has comparable parts, analogous aspects, or readily recognized similarities. (e.g. Mercutio is parallel to Romeo)
18) A static character remains unchanged throughout the whole play or story. (e.g. Tybalt)
19) A dynamic character changes permanently throughout the story or play.
20) A minor character that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another character.
Effects of Shakespeare's Usage
Shakespeare uses the literary terms effectively and he was probably the main creator of these terms. Shakespeare follows the structure of a Greek tragedy. His prologue of his play 'Romeo and Juliet' was a sonnet, predicting and already telling the audience what is going to happen. Throughout the whole play Shakespeare uses a lot of foreboding, he can do this because at the beginning of the play (the prologue), he explained what was going to happen. Now the audience understands the foreboding that is being done by mainly Friar Lawrence. One good example of the foreboding happening in this play is in Act 2, Scene 6, Line 9: "These violent delights have violent ends," Friar Lawrence is predicting the end which is going to happen to Romeo and Juliet's marriage. Shakespeare also uses language which is rich in imagery for example: "That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet." (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 43-44) Shakespeare useds imagery to make the lines more interesting, and so that people can imagine what it would be like. He mostly uses antithesis in his writing to show the strong conflict going on between characters and within the characters own mind, Romeo uses a lot of anthitheses in his speech for example in Act 1, Scene 1, Line 171: "Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health". Another main literary term that Shakespeare uses is personification in Act 2, Scene 1, Line 2: "... dull earth, ...." This is done to give the sentence a certain mood and to also give it a dramatic effect since objects can't have any human traits, an earth can't be dull. This makes the story dramatic. Shakespeare uses all the literary terms very effectively creating the play to consist of language which is rich in imagery and interesting to read since there is always more behind the text then what you can first think of. This makes the play interesting, and in the time that it was performed, worth it's money!
