College english lit. terms

Personification- the act in writing of giving life-like or human qualities to an inanimate or inhuman thing
E.g. "Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,Gorg'd with the dearest morsel of the earth,Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open," Romeo and Juliet
Romeo here is describing juliets's tomb. he calls it a womb of death and says that he will force it's rotten jaws open. obviously, a tomb can't be a womb or have jaws. however the way he usev these darker and severe words gives the scene a very harsh and dark tone. One of personifications main uses is to create tone by giving inanimate object feelings and actions.

Dramatic Irony- when the audience is clued in on something that the characters still have not realized. this can be caused by an aside. Dramatic irony is used to give the audience a different perspecive on the play or story.
E.g. One huge dramatic irony in the history of literature is when Romeo kills himself because he believes that juliet is dead while the audience knows that she is not. this is great dramatic irony because the audience is first given a hint on how the sory was supposed to unfold but then without them expecting it a huge twist, that makes the story unique, is thrown in. The audience do not see it coming. and that makes it even better.