When a character's speech continues from one line of verse to the next without a grammatical pause, it is called:
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Correct answer: Enjambment
Enjambment, or 'run-on lines,' allows the sense of the sentence to flow past the end of the poetic line. This technique increases in frequency throughout Shakespeare's career, making his later verse sound more like natural, fluid thought.
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More Blank Verse questions
- Which metrical substitution involves reversing the stress of an iamb to a stressed-unstressed pattern, usually at the start of a line?
- What is an 'end-stopped' line in Shakespearean verse?
- Which of the following is a 'shared line' in Shakespearean drama?
- What is the purpose of 'scansion' in the study of Shakespearean verse?
- Shakespeare often concludes a scene written in blank verse with a 'capping' device. What is it?
- How does the use of blank verse in Shakespeare's later plays (e.g., 'The Winter's Tale') differ from his early plays (e.g., 'Richard III')?