Poetry, Literary, and Drama

Terms & Techniques

soliloquy
speech given by character alone on stage to let audience know
about their feelings

foil
a character that serves as a contrast to another character to
emphasize their qualities

comic relief
humorous scene or speech in a serious drama to provide
emotional relief

aside
brief remark made by a character to the audience, not to be
heard by other characters

scene
small unit of a play with no change in location or time

act
main division of drama

couplet
pair of lines that rhyme, share meter and form a complete
thought

enjambment
continuation of a complete idea from one line to the next
without a pause

alliteration
repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words

assonance
repetitions of similar vowel sounds that are followed by
different consonant sounds

onomatopoeia
use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning

pun
play on the multiple meanings of a word

imagery
language that appeals to the senses

figurative language
language enriched by word images, comparisons and figures
of speech

denotation
literal definition of a word

connotation
associations and emotions a word suggests

simile
direct comparison using like or as

metaphor
figurative comparison made between to unlike things,
symbolism

personification
giving human qualities to animals or inanimate objects

hyperbole
using exaggerated language for emphasis

oxymoron
a phrase using contradictory terms for the sake of emphasis

allusion
a reference to a statement, person, place or event from
literature, history, religion, myth, culture etc.