Literary Techniques, Elements of a Drama, and RhetoricBackground information for Romeo

and Juliet

1. Elements of a DramaBackground information for Romeo

and Juliet

What is a drama?• What do you think of when you hear the word “drama”?• In English class, Drama is a form of literature designed to be performed in front of an audience.

• There are two main types of drama:• COMEDY: a humorous work of drama• TRAGEDY: a serious work of drama in which the hero suffers

catastrophe or serious misfortune, usually because of his own actions

• What type of drama do you think that Romeo and Juliet will be? Why?

How are dramas organized?• Dramas are not organized like traditional novels. They do not have

chapter numbers or titles, but are organized into Acts and Scenes.• ACT: a division within a play, much like chapters of a novel• SCENE: a division of an act into smaller parts

• Dramas are made up of mostly dialogue, with very few descriptive passages. In lieu of heavy descriptions, dramas use stage directions. • DIALOGUE: a conversation between two or more characters • STAGE DIRECTIONS: italicized comments that identify parts of the setting or

the use of props or costumes, give further information about a character, or provide background information • In Shakespeare‘s plays, stage directions can also appear in brackets, parenthesis,

and/or half-brackets

More about dialogue

• MONOLOGUE: a long speech spoken by a character to himself, another character, or to the audience

More about dialogue

SOLILOQUY: thoughts spoken aloud by a character when he/she is alone, or thinks he/she is alone

More about dialogue

ASIDE: lines that are spoken by a character directly to the audience

Characters in a Drama

If you were to make a list of the different characters in Cinderella, how would you organize your list into characters that are most important to the ones who are least important?

CAST OF CHARACTERS: a list of characters presented before the action begins

Characters in a Drama

• CHORUS: a person or group of people who act as a narrator, commentator, or general audience to the action of the play

• FOIL: a character who is nearly opposite of another character; the purpose of a foil (or character foil) is to reveal a stark contrast between the two characters, often the protagonist and antagonist

• TRAGIC HERO: a protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to his demise

II. Literary TechniquesBackground information for Romeo

and Juliet

Literary Techniques

Other important elements of drama, especially Shakespeare‘s dramatic works, are literary techniques used by the author that make the writing more entertaining and enjoyable

Literary Techniques• ALLITERATION: repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of

words or stressed syllables (i.e. ―Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers)

• BLANK VERSE: non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter. Most of Shakespeare‘s plays are written in this form, which is very close to normal speech rhythms and patterns. • Often Shakespeare will deviate from this form in order to make a point about the

character‘s state of mind or for other emphasis, like a change in the mood. • COMIC RELIEF: in a tragedy, a break in the seriousness for a moment

of comedy or silliness • DOUBLE ENTENDRE: a word or phrase with more than one meaning,

usually when the second meaning is risqué

Literary Techniques• DRAMATIC IRONY: when the audience or reader knows

something that the characters in the story do not know • EUPHEMISM: a substitution of a more pleasant expression for

one whose meaning may come across as rude or offensive • i.e. ―He passed away, rather than ―He died.

• OXYMORON: when two opposite terms are used together • i.e. ―O heavy lightness!

• PUN: a play on words, especially those that sound alike, but have different meanings• i.e. ―Ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave man

Literary Techniques• IAMB: a unit in poetry consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a

stressed syllable

• IAMBIC PENTAMETER: a 10-syllable line divided into 5 iambic feet (one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable). This is the basic rhythm of Shakespeare‘s verse.

• PROSE: normal speech rhythm; Shakespeare often wrote certain characters speaking either in all verse or all prose, indicating some personality trait of the character. If the character deviates from its normal form, be aware of a changing state of mind…often prose signals a character slipping into insanity!

• RHYMING COUPLET: two rhyming lines at the end of a speech, signaling that a character is leaving the stage or that the scene is ending

III. Rhetorical DevicesBackground information for Romeo

and Juliet

Argumentation

• Argumentation is the act of convincing or persuading an audience or by proving or refuting a point of view or issue.

Argumentation

• Argumentation is the act of convincing or persuading an audience or by proving or refuting a point of view or issue.

• Argumentation uses inductions and deductions as patterns of development• Induction: moving from observations about particular things to generalizations

• Deduction: Moving from generalizations to valid inferences about particulars

Argumentation

• Argumentation is the act of convincing or persuading an audience or by proving or refuting a point of view or issue.

• Argumentation uses inductions and deductions as patterns of development• Induction: moving from observations about particular things to generalizations

• Deduction: Moving from generalizations to valid inferences about particulars