Important Dramatic and Poetic Terms

Dramatic Terminology

Tragedy: a dramatic, emotional story about a somewhat normal person who makes a huge mistake that has terrible, tragic, or fatal consequences based on a character flaw (e.g. anger, jealousy, greed, pride, arrogance, love/passion, fear, insecurity, etc.).

Play Divisions: play is broken up into acts; acts are broken up into scenes.

Monologue: a speech directed at everyone onstage.

Soliloquy: a speech that is usually said alone on stage; usually expressing private thoughts of person speeching.

Aside: “thinking aloud”; something said to one’s self onstage; other characters don’t hear it.

Poetic Terminology

Meter: Natural rhythmic pattern in poetic language; involves stressed and unstressed syllables; creates good timing.

Iambic Meter: 2 grouped syllables; 1st syllable is unstressed; 2nd syllable is stressed. daDA/ daDA/ daDA/ daDA/ daDA.

Ex. i CAN’T / be LIEVE/ he DIED / with OUT / a FIGHT Couplets: Two consecutive lines that rhyme (e.g. aa bb cc).

Blank Verse: Unrhymed meter; unrhymed iambic pentameter specifically; a poem that don’t rhyme none.

Sonnet: A 14-line poem using iambic pentameter and the following rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg.

Poetic Terms continued…

Alliteration: the repetition of the same beginning consonants (e.g. Cathy caught her cute kitty-kat, Katniss)

Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds, usually in the middle of words (e.g. loud sounds; mad as a hatter; pound the ground)

Consonance: the repetition of the same ending consonants (e.g. Mike likes his new bike; he had a need for speed)