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Romeo and Juliet Unit
Literary Terms

Week 1:
Prologue	An opening speech that introduces a play and gives the audience the play's basic plot.
Pun	The humorous (usually) use of a word or phrase to suggest two or more meanings at the same time.
Week 2:
Soliloquy	A speech delivered by a character alone on stage to allow people to know what he or she is thinking or feeling.
Imagery	A picture drawn with words that creates a picture in the mind of the reader.
Foreshadowing	The use of clues to suggest what might happen later in the plot.
Week 3:
Reversal	The turning point where the forces of the conflict come together and the situation either begins to improve (comedy) or get worse (tragedy).
Dramatic Irony	The words or acts of a character in a play that may carry a meaning unperceived by himself but understood by the audience.  Usually the character's own interests are involved in a way he cannot understand.
Climax	The high point to which the plot consistently builds.

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