Test Your Knowledge

• Neither a________ nor a _________ be

• All the world’s a __________

William Shakespeare

Widely regarded as the greatest writer in English

Literature

Why Study Shakespeare?

• His plays, written between 1590 and 1613, have been in almost constant production since their creation.

• He deals with universal truths and conflicts in human nature; his plays continue to draw audiences from all walks of life, just as they did in their own day.

• Shakespeare was a word-maker supreme. Not a day goes by that we do not speak and hear, or read and write his legacy.

• He made up more than 1,700 words- 8.5% of his written vocabulary. Reading his works is like reading the birth of language itself. Contemporary Ben Johnson said, “He was not of an age but for all time.”

Test Your knowledge

• With bated ___________

• Break the ___________

Why Study Shakespeare ? Cont.

Consider the following examples of words he first coined:aerial amazement assassinationbaseless bedroom bumpcountless courtship critic impartialdislocate dwindle exposuregenerous gloomy hurry lonelyInvulnerable lapse dishearten laughablemajestic monumental pioussneak useless auspicious frugal

Shakespeare• 1563-1616• Stratford-on-Avon, England• wrote 37 plays• about 154 sonnets• Sonnet- a fourteen line lyric poem

with a single theme• started out as an actor

Stage Celebrity• Actor for Lord Chamberlain’s

Men (London theater co.)• He was the principal playwright

for them• 1599> Lord Ch. Co. built Globe

Theater where most of Sh. Play’s were performed

Test Your Knowledge

• Come full ___________• Too much of a good __________

Shakespeare wrote:

• Comedies• Histories• Tragedies

The Theater• Plays produced for the general

public• Roofless- open air• No artificial lighting• Courtyard surrounded by 3 levels

of galleries

Spectators• Wealthy got benches• “Groundlings” were poorer people

that stood and watched from the courtyard (“pit”)

• All but wealthy were uneducated/illiterate

• Much more interaction than today

Staging Areas• Stage- platform that extended into the

pit• Dressing & storage rooms were in

galleries behind & above stage• second-level gallery (upper stage) was

the famous balcony scene in R & J• Trap door- where ghosts appeared • “Heavens”- angelic beings

Test Your Knowledge

• Eating me out of house and _________

• A foregone ______________

Differences• No scenery• Settings > references in

dialogue• Elaborate costumes• Plenty of props• Fast-paced, colorful>2 hours!

Actors• Only men and boys• Young boys whose voices had not

changed play women’s roles• Would have been considered

indecent for a woman to appear on stage

Elizabethan Words• An,and: If• Anon: Soon• Aye: Yes• But: Except for• E’en: Even• E’er: Ever

Words (cont.)• Haply: Perhaps• Happy: Fortunate• Hence: Away, from her• Hie: Hurry• Marry: Indeed

Words (cont.)

• Whence: Where• Wilt: Will, will you• Withal: In addition to• Would: Wish

Test Your Knowledge

• Laugh yourselves into ___________• Not __________ an inch• He’s full of the _________ of human

kindness

Shakespeare Part Two

• In Drama there are two kinds of writing:Dialogue and Stage Directions

Dialogue

Dialogue tells the story: Characters speaking to one another Soliloquy- long speech expressing private

thoughts, delivered alone onstage Monologue- long speech delivered to another Aside- a private remark to one character or to the

audience (It is understood not to be heard by other characters).

Chorus- single or group of characters who connect scenes or convey collective thoughts

Stage Directions

Stage Directions- help the cast and production staff bring the text to life.

Playwrights include instructions about the setting, costumes, lighting, scenery, and props used onstage.

This text may tell how and when characters should move and deliver lines.

Stage directions are usually printed in italics and set in brackets or parentheses.

Drama: Tragedy

Tragic Hero- an outstanding person whose downfall is caused by his own flawed behavior

Tragic Flaw- part of the hero’s character that leads him to make a fatal mistake

Emphasizes human greatness Arouses pity, fear, and awe Ends unhappily with destruction of hero Comic relief- humorous scenes or characters that

relieve tension (gives the audience a break)

Drama: Comedy

• Comedies show ordinary people in conflict with society. • Comedic conflicts arise from misunderstandings,

deceptions, disapproving authority figures, mistaken identities, and they are always resolved happily.

• Emphasizes human weakness• Arouses sympathy, amusement • Romantic comedy- problems among lovers• Comedy of manners- satirizes social customs of society

Do You Speak Shakespeare?

• Now is the _________ of our discontent• Parting is such sweet __________• Dead as a ____________

Understanding Shakespeare

• His writing follows the plot model

Exposition

Climax

Resolution

How to Read Shakespeare

• Reread for clarity- reread passages to understand characters and what is going on.

• Use text aids- stage directions and notes in the margin.

• Paraphrase- read to the end of the sentence and put it in your own words.

• Envision the Drama- Imagine how the scenes would look on stage, how the characters move, and how they would sound.

Blank Verse• Much of Macbeth is written in:

–unrhymed verse–iambic (unstressed, stressed)–pentameter( 5 “feet” to a line)

• ends up to be 10 syllable lines

Prose• Ordinary writing that is not

poetry, drama, or song–Only characters in the lower

social classes speak this way in Shakespeare’s plays

–Why do you suppose that is? (Act II, Scene 3) pg. 332

Test Your Knowledge

• All that glitters is not __________• To _______ own self be true• He lives a ____________ life

Metaphorical Language• Comparison of unlike things-

–Paris standing over the “lifeless body” of Juliet, “Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew…”

–“Thou detestable man…”Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth…” Romeo

Pun

• Shakespeare loved to use them!!!– Humorous use of a word with two meanings >

sometimes missed by the reader because of Elizabethan language and innuendo.

Dramatic Irony

• A contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader/audience knows to be true

Verbal Irony

•Words used to suggest the opposite of what is meant

Situational Irony

• An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience

Is Shakespeare still relevant today?How has his work been used?

• Knock, Knock jokes- first to use them (Macbeth)

• R & J 1594• West Side Story 1961 movie• Grease 1978 movie musical• R & J Leonardo DiCaprio 1996

Is Shakespeare still relevant today?

• Love Story- song by Taylor Swift 2008• Gnomeo & Juliet 2010-11• Letters to Juliet- movie 2010• Episode of Glee

Final quotes- Test Your Knowledge

• What’s done is __________• It was Greek to __________• That will last until the crack of _________• Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou

__________?

Now it’s your turn; Problem solve-generate ideas from categories:

• Shakespeare’s life• His use of words• The Theater• Drama terms 1• Drama terms 2• His plays• How to read Shakespeare• Elizabethan words• Ways we still use Shakespeare • Your choice

Assignment- Create, design, and write;exit: analyze & answer: What can you infer about Shakespeare’s time period?

Creative suggestions:• Flip book, mini booklet, brochure• Puzzle, flash cards, pie chart• Song or “rap” with the material• Movie poster, theme collage, map, or

diagram• Your choice- see me

Shakespeare’s Life

• Map of Britain with Stratford on Avon on it.

• Scenes or facts from his early days

His use of words

• Inventions define and illustrate, or• Create examples of puns, metaphors, or

other• Figurative language• Knock, knock jokes- create more

The Theater

• Actors• Spectators• Props • Costumes• Draw the theater itself

Drama terms 1

• Dialogue, soliloquoy, monologue, aside,• Stage directions, tragic hero, tragic flaw,

comic relief

Drama terms 2

• Verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony

• Prose, blank verse• Plot model and elements

Shakespeare’s plays

• Comedy• Tragedy• History• 37 plays• 154 sonnets- define• Any other interesting info

How to read Shakespeare

• Basic instructions on how to read it– Booklet– Manual– pictures

Elizabethan words

• List & define• make a mini dictionary or pictionary

Your choice

• See me for an idea you may have.