the central character of a play, film, etc., depicted as a noble figure who experiences a tragic downfall.

What is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art?

is the contrast between what the characters believe is going to happen and what really does happen.

What is a repeated group of four lines called?

Romeo: Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first create! O heavy lightness, serious vanity, Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health (Act I, scene 1). How So? The oxymorons show contradictions in love: Romeo “loves” Rosaline but she does not feel the same. What literary device is being used in this passage?

the main idea of a piece of literature. Example: One theme of Romeo and Juliet might be that “haste makes waste.” In other words, hurrying too much often leads to problems

What is a long speech given by a character to another character?

is created when the audience knows something that one or more of the characters in the story do not. This usually creates anticipation in the audience, as they do not know if or when the character is going to discover when they already know.

What is a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike things?

What is a recurring theme or idea in a literary work?

What is the use of words that imitate the sounds they describe?

similar sounds between the ends of two words

What is a tragedy?

a statement that might seem to contradict itself but is nevertheless true; for example, “less is more.” Example: In Act 1, Scene 5, line 152, Juliet expresses a paradox when she speaks of Romeo, saying, “My only love sprung from my only hate.” This seems to be a contradictory statement, because love and hate are opposites. Romeo is Juliet’s love and her hated enemy because she loves him, but he is a Montague and she is a Capulet.

a lengthy speech that one actor gives, that is addressed to other characters on stage and not just the audience. Example: When Juliet first hears of Tybalt’s death, she is understandably upset and doesn’t know what to do, she goes into a lengthy speech saying, “Shall I speak ill of hum that is my husband?” (3.2.97)

What is a literary device that involves the repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in a series of words?

What is a figure of speech that exaggerates for emphasis or effect?

a speech an actor gives when they are alone, as though talking to himself or herself, that often reveal their innermost thoughts or feelings. Example: Romeo starts his famous soliloquy about Juliet with the words, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks”(II.ii.2). He is speaking to himself about Juliet. Juliet starts her famous soliloquy about Romeo, “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

is the contrast or difference between what is said and what is meant.