A presentation of key academic vocabulary for freshmen students who are preparing to read Romeo and Juliet.

1. Drama
Vocabulary
for Romeo and Juliet

2. drama
– a work of literature meant to portray life or
emotion through action and dialogue

3. tragedy
– a serious work of drama in which the protagonists
suffer catastrophe or serious misfortune, usually
because of their own actions

4. acts and scenes
– the basic organizational structure of a play; acts
are the longer sections made up of individual
scenes

5. cast of characters
– a list of the characters presented at the beginning
of the play

6. stage directions
– instructions for how the play should be
performed, when characters come and go, and
what actions are taken

7. dialogue
– lines spoken between characters

8. monologue
– lines or a speech spoken by a single character,
either alone or with others

9. soliloquy
– a speech given by a character while, or as if,
alone; literally “talking to oneself”
– this lets us see what characters are thinking

10. aside
– lines spoken by a character directly to the
audience
– In tv/movies, an aside is known as a fourth wall
break.

11. foil
– a character who nearly opposite of another
character; used to reveal a stark contrast between
two characters

12. pun
– a play on words that have similar sounds but
more than one possible meaning
– Most “dad jokes” are fathered by puns.

13. euphemism
– a mild or indirect word or expression substituted
for one considered to be too harsh or blunt; used
particularly when referring to something
unpleasant or embarassing

14. double entendre
– a word or phrase open to two interpretations, one
of which is usually risqué or indecent

15. fate
– development of events beyond a person’s control,
regarded as determined by a supernatural power;
destined to happen in a particular way

16. foreshadowing
– hints about what will happen later in the story