King Lear Shakespeare Language Terms

Question 1

Abstract nouns

Answer 1

nouns which refer to intangible things, like feelings, ideals, concepts and qualities.

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

Question 3

Apostrophe

Answer 3

When a character suddenly speaks directly to someone or something, which may or may not be present: “Thou, Nature, art my goddess”

Question 4

Antithesis

Answer 4

The juxtaposition of contrasting words, phrases or ideas in a balanced statement: “so young and so untender”.

Question 5

Allusion

Answer 5

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference to another text, myth or source.

Question 6

Bawdy

Answer 6

Dealing with sexual matters in a comical way; humorously indecent.

Question 7

Blank verse

Answer 7

Blank verse consists of unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter.

Question 8

Bombast

Answer 8

Boastful or ranting language. E.g. Lear’s rant at the storm “Blow, winds, crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!

Question 9

Catechism

Answer 9

A series of fixed questions, answers, or precepts used for instruction. A series of rhetorical questions from the master and answers from the student that drilled the student

Question 10

Caesura

Answer 10

any break, pause or interruption. “That all the world shall – I will so such things”.

Question 11

Couplet

Answer 11

Paired lines of rhymed verse. Rhyme is the ‘marriage’ of two words or concepts and encourages the audience to consider the union between concepts.

Question 12

Dramatic Irony

Answer 12

A situation in a play where the audience and/or the characters know something that one or more of the characters don’t know.

Question 13

Doggerel

Answer 13

Poetry that is irregular in rhythm and in rhyme, often deliberately for burlesque or comic effect.

Question 14

Epithet

Answer 14

An adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.

Question 15

Epizeuxis

Answer 15

The repetition of words in succession within the same sentence e.g “Thou’lt come no more,/ Never, never, never, never, never!”

Question 16

Fatalism

Answer 16

The belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable.

Question 17

Foreshadowing

Answer 17

A warning or indication of a future event in the drama.

Question 18

Grice’s Maxims

Answer 18

Cordelia flouts the maxim of quantity when she refuses to answer her father. By contrast her sisters make use of positive politeness to excessively attend to his positive face needs.

Question 19

Hendiadys

Answer 19

The expression of a single idea by two words connected with ‘and’ (e.g. nice and warm) when one could be used to modify the other (as in nicely warm).

Question 20

Hyperbole

Answer 20

Deliberate exaggerated statements to create emphasis or for dramatic effect.

Question 21

Invocation

Answer 21

Characters appealing to the heavens or the Gods: “Blow crack your cheeks”, “the nature art my Goddess”

Question 22

Iambic Pentameter

Answer 22

an ‘iamb’ is an unaccented syllable followed by an unaccented one. Penta means 5 and metre refers to a regular rhythmic pattern. ‘since NOW we WILL diVEST us BOTH of RULE’

Question 23

Imagery

Answer 23

Visually descriptive or figurative language.

Question 24

Imperative

Answer 24

Giving an authoritative command.

Question 25

Juxtaposition

Answer 25

Two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

Question 26

Language of law and punishment

Answer 26

Perhaps, there is a constant need to justify one's actions, as the idea of justice seems warped in Lear's kingdom

Question 27

Listing

Answer 27

A list or catalogue of many ideas, names, terms.

Question 28

Metaphor

Answer 28

a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance.

Question 29

Microcosm

Answer 29

A community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristics of something much larger.

Question 30

Motif

Answer 30

A recurrent image or theme. Motif of sight.

Question 31

Nadir

Answer 31

The lowest point: the nadir of their fortunes – ‘I am a man more sinned against than sinning’

Question 32

Onomatopoeia

Answer 32

Using words that are chosen because they mimic the sound of what is being described.

Question 33

Oxymoron

Answer 33

A figure of speech in which the writer combines two ideas which are opposites.

Question 34

Personification

Answer 34

The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Question 35

Plosives

Answer 35

A plosive speech sound, often used to convey emotions such as anger or for dramatic emphasis.

Question 36

Prose

Answer 36

Dialogue in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.

Question 37

Proverb

Answer 37

short, well-known pithy saying, stating a general truth or piece of advice.

Question 38

Quips

Answer 38

A witty remark.

Question 39

Register

Answer 39

The level of formality or informality of the dialogue.

Question 40

Rhetoric

Answer 40

he art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.

Question 41

Repetition

Answer 41

A literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer.

Question 42

Simile

Answer 42

A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind

Question 43

Soliloquy

Answer 43

An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.

Question 44

Superlatives

Answer 44

The form of an adjective or adverb that shows which thing has that quality above or below the level of the others.

Question 45

Symbolism

Answer 45

: The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Question 46

Tricolon

Answer 46

A series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses. The repetition of three words or ideas in a row.

Question 47

Trochaic pentameter

Answer 47

A line of trochees (stressed / unstressed syllables).