Shakespeare’s use of dramatic methods and language
You will need to think about how Shakespeare crafted his play – the dramatic devices, methods and techniques he employed and his use of language.
Below are some examples of the things you could try to identify in your text.
Try to focus on why Shakespeare has employed these methods or used this type of language, remembering to focus on the effect they have in the play and on the reader.
Dramatic methods - useful terms:
- staging
- setting
- characterisation
- aside
- monologues
- soliloquy
- dramatic irony
- juxtaposition
- costume
- sound
- symbols
- motifs
- humour
- contrast
- special effects
- foreshadowing
Shakespeare's use of language – useful terms:
- blank verseLines in a poem that don't rhyme, usually in iambic pentameter - five two-syllable feet per line.
- prose
- imageryThe use of language to create images and pictures in the reader's mind.
- simileA comparison using 'like' or 'as' to create a vivid image. For example, as big as a whale, float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
- personificationA type of imagery in which non-human objects, animals or ideas are given human characteristics.
- alliterationRepetition of a sound at the beginning of consecutive words, such as ‘the big, bold, blue sea.’
- assonanceRepetition of vowel sounds in consecutive or nearby words, such as ‘the sound was loud’.
- metaphorAn imaginative way of describing something by associating it with something else. A metaphor differs from a ‘simile’ as it is not a straight comparison (with the use of the words ‘like’ or ‘as’). A good metaphor creates a vivid picture – for example, ‘my life is a roller coaster’.
- onomatopoeiaThe sounds of words to express or underline their meaning, eg 'crunch', 'pop'.
- word play
- punA play on words, relying on similar sounding words or two meanings of one word.
- slang
- hyperboleOver-the-top exaggeration for effect.
- oxymoronA phrase combining two or more contradictory terms, often used for emphasis - eg. 'deafening silence'.
- anaphoraThe repetition of the same word, or words, at the start of successive lines or phrases.
- biblical references
- classical references
