WRITER’S NOTEBOOK Turn to a new page in the writing section and title this entry Intro to A Midsummer Night’s Dream Or Intro to MND

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SHAKESPEARE? Answer the following questions in your notebook. 1.In what time period was Shakespeare writing? 2. What plays have you read or seen performed? 3. Why do you think he is one of the most renown English writers of all time? 4. How are you feeling right now as we begin to read Shakespeare? Excited? Nervous? Why?

Glip and Toogle plecked the corridor. Bobo gallad with them. “Hoybur” reckled Toogle. “Na! Na!” shrilled Bobo. He left them urg. GLIP, TOOGLE, AND BOBO Questions: 1.Who plecked down the corridor? 2.Who joined them? 3.Who spoke first? 4.How did Bobo feel? 5.How do you know?!

A NEW LANGUAGE  Reading Shakespeare’s Elizabethan English might feel like you have to learn a new language…  You might be surprised in how much you can already know.  Let’s translate a few Shakespearian quotes.

Thy vile canker- blossom’d countenance curdles milk and sours beer. Your face is so ugly that it curdles milk and makes beer go sour.

By my trowth, thou dost make the millstone seem as a feather what widst thy lard-bloated footfall. Holy moly, you’re so fat that you make a millstone seem light as a feather, and when you walk, you make the earth shake.

For real, you have a big mouth. In sooth, thy dank cavernous tooth-hole consumes all truth and reason.

WHY ALL THE INSULTS? CONFLICTS! Characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream will say (and do) some pretty outrageous things to one another. WHY? Because of conflict! What causes conflicts? Why do people have conflicts with one another?

TURN TO A NEW PAGE IN YOUR WRITER’S NOTEBOOK  As an 8 th grader, how do your emotions drive your actions? In other words, how do your feelings impact the choices you make and the things you do?  How do you think adults’ emotions drive their actions?

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM by: William Shakespeare

 Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England in 1564  He most likely attended the grammar school in Stratford and studied: Latin, mathematics, natural sciences, rhetoric, and literature SHAKESPEARE’S CHILDHOOD

 In 1587, he married Anne Hathaway. They had three children.  No one knows why he left Stratford for London.  In 1592, the first reference to Shakespeare as an actor and playwright is made.  His first 8 published plays do not have his name on them.  18 plays were published during his lifetime SHAKESPEARE’S CAREER

 He wrote 37 Plays: The Comedy of Errors Love’s Labor Lost Henry VI Richard III Titus Andronicus The Taming of the Shrew Romeo and Juliet A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Merchant of Venice Much Ado About Nothing Julius Caesar As You Like It Twelfth Night Hamlet All’s Well That End’s Well Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Cleopatra …to name a few….  He wrote 4 collections of poetry: Venus and Adonis The Rape of Lucrece Sonnets The Phoenix and the Turtle SHAKESPEARE’S WORK

 He was a part of an acting company called the Chamberlain’s Men, later called the King’s Men  This company primarily acted at the Globe Theatre  He died April 25, 1616 SHAKESPEARE’S CAREER

MORE THAN JUST A GOOD PLAYWRIGHT…  Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words that we use today including Assassination Belongings Cold-blooded Dishearten Elbow Eventful Fashionable Gloomy Gossip Lonely Manager Swagger Uncomfortable Unreal

 Elizabeth I was in power during Shakespeare’s time. ( )  Bubonic Plague persists ( ) 1/3 of European population died  Most theaters reopened in 1594  Elizabeth’s stability and her love of humanities led to a transformation of English literature, especially plays and poetry. ELIZABETHAN ERA

 Written: 1595  Setting: Athens- Court of Theseus The woods- Fairy Realm of Oberon  When: Midsummer’s Night June 24 th - the summer solstice a night that suggested merrymaking, enchantment, and witchcraft “midsummer madness”- state of mind marked by the craziness associated with the summer heat A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

 4 Interwoven Plots: 1.Duke Theseus and Hippolyta are getting married! 2.Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius are caught in a weird and twisted love mess! 3.Oberon and Titania (fairies) are fighting and Oberon’s jester, Puck, is causing trouble! 4.A company of artisans is preparing to put on a play for Theseus’s wedding day A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

THESEUS AND HIPPOLYTA

HERMIA, LYSANDER, HELENA, AND DEMETRIUS

OBERON AND TITANIA

PUCK

TITANIA AND BOTTOM

WRITER’S NOTEBOOK  Why do parents and children disagree/argue? How do these issues get resolved? Who usually gives in? Who should give in?