1. Understanding Shakespeare’s language

2. Translating Today’s Lingo into Shakespeare’s Language
For this activity, you and a partner will pass notes to one another. You will be writing a SILENT conversation.
We will then translate this into a Shakespearean conversation.
Try to keep this conversation short, about 6 exchanges.
Example
Person 1: What do you want to do after school?
Person 2: I don’t know. Do you want to come over to my house?
Person 1: Okay. Can we play with your X-Box?
Person 2 Sure, what game do you want to play?
Person 1: Halo 3, because you can play by yourself or with other players?
Person 2 Good, I’ve been wanting to play you. I bet I beat you.
Person 1: You talk smack!

3. Got your example?
…let’s move on to translating!

4. Translating the Nouns & Pronouns in Our Silent Conversations
When “you” is used as a singular subject in a sentence, it becomes “thou” – “Thou art a villain.”
When “you” is used as an object in a sentence, it becomes “thee” – “Come, let me clutch thee.”
When you is used as a plural pronoun (you all), it becomes “ye” – “Ye shall know me.”
When “your” is used as a possessive pronoun, it becomes “thy” – “What is thy name?”
EXCEPT when “your” is used as a possessive pronoun before a pronoun that begins with a vowel sound (think “a” versus “an” – “a dog” versus “an airdale”), it becomes “thine” – “To thine own self be true”

5. Translation of Our Example
What do thou want to do after school?
I don’t know. Do thou want to come over to my house?
Okay. Can we play with thy X-Box?
Sure, what game do thou want to play?
Halo 3, because thou can play by thine own self or with other players?
Good, I’ve been wanting to play thee. I bet I beat thee.
Thou talk smack!

6. Give it a Try on Your Conversation
Here’s the key again:
When “you” is used as a singular subject in a sentence, it becomes “thou” – “Thou art a villain.”
When “you” is used as an object in a sentence, it becomes “thee” – “Come, let me clutch thee.”
When you is used as a plural pronoun (you all), it becomes “ye” – “Ye shall know me.”
When “your” is used as a possessive pronoun, it becomes “thy” – “What is thy name?”
EXCEPT when “your” is used as a possessive pronoun before a pronoun that begins with a vowel sound (think “a” versus “an” – “a dog” versus “an airdale”), it becomes “thine” – “To thine own self be true”

7. What about verbs? Usually they simply add an -est or –st to a verb
These endings were often used with the 2nd person pronouns (you, your, yours).
Ex. “Do” changes to “dost”
The verb “are” changes to “art.”
Other verbs sometimes take the ending –th
Ex. “Has” changes to “hath”
Person Case
Singular
Plural
1st
I love
we love
2nd
thou lovest
ye love
3rd
he loveth
they love

8. What about verbs? What dost thou want to do after school?
I don’t know. Dost thou want to come over to my house?
Okay. Can we play with thy X-Box?
Sure, what game dost thou want to play?
Halo 3, because thou canst play by thine own self or with other players?
Good, I’ve been wanting to play thee. I bet I beat thee.
Thou talkest smack!

9. Try your own! Usually they simply add an -est or –st to a verb
These endings were often used with the 2nd person pronouns (you, your, yours).
Ex. “Do” changes to “dost”
The verb “are” changes to “art.”
Other verbs sometimes take the ending –th
Ex. “Has” changes to “hath”
Person Case
Singular
Plural
1st
I love
we love
2nd
thou lovest
ye love
3rd
he loveth
they love

10. Another Complication: Inverted Syntax
Normal Syntax:
Subject Verb Object
I ate the sandwich
Possible Variations:
Ate the sandwich I.
Ate I the sandwich.
The sandwich I ate.
The sandwich ate I.
I the sandwich ate.

11. Why does Shakespeare Invert?
“Dismayed not this our captains ?”
(Macbeth I.ii.37-38).
Alternative: “Did this not dismay . . .”
Rhyme scheme
Place metrical stress where he needed it
Transitional device to bridge two sentences
Shift emphasis of the verb to the end of the sentence (The ball John caught) Ordering

12. More Practice…
Original Sentence: I lost my homework. Rewrite #1: ___I__ ___my__ _homework__ _ _lost__ Rewrite #2: __My__ __homework_ _lost___ __I_____ Rewrite #3: __My__ _homework__ _I_____ _lost___ Rewrite #4: __Lost_ __my___ _homework_ ___I____

13. Practicing Inversion Write down your own sentence
Invert your sentence in four different variations.

14. More Practice… Return these sentences to standard subject–verb-object
Not too difficult is this!
Practice it takes
Learning you will

15. Shakespearean Words
anon—right now, OR “I come right away”……. “Anon, good nurse!  Speak!” 
art—are, OR skill……“Thou art  dead; no physician’s art can save you.” 
dost or doth—does or do……“Dost thou know the time?”
 ere—before……“We must leave ere daybreak.” 
fain—gladly……“I fain would bake Mr. Love cookies if I could get an A.” 
fie—an exclamation of dismay or disgust……“You cheated?  Fie upon it!” OR “Fie!  Are you mad?”
 hark—listen……. “Hark to the owl,” OR “Hark!  The herald angels sing!” 
hence—away…..“Get thee hence, beggar!”  OR “We must hence before the army arrives.”
 hie—hurry……“Hie thee hence, or lose your life!”
 hither—here…..“Come hither, young lad.” 
thither—there……“Look to the east—thither doth the sun arise.” 

16. Shakespearean Words
hath—has……… “He hath killed many a man.” OR “He hath a horse.” 
ho—hey (roughly equivalent). “Lucius, ho!”  [Brutus calling his servant]  
mark—pay attention to…….. “Mark my words.” 
marry—indeed……“He says I should respond quickly; marry, I want to.”
 pray/prithee—a polite way of asking something……“I prithee answer the question.” 
saucy—cheeky; sassy……“Hence, thou saucy boy!” 
 thee—you……“When will I see thee next?” 
thou—you……“Thou art a villain.”
 thy—your……“Thy name is more hateful than thy face.” 
whence—from where…….. “Whence came that news?” OR “Return to whence you came.”
 wherefore—why……“Wherefore dost thou leave?”  OR “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” [As in, “why can’t you be someone else, whom my family doesn’t hate?”]

17. Translating Early Modern English in Modern English
"To thine own self be true; and it must follow, as the night the day, thou can'st not then be false to any man." Hamlet, Act i, Sc.3 if you are true to yourself as sure as day will follow night you will be true to others.

18. Translating Early Modern English in Modern English
"What is best, that best I wish in thee." Troilus & C, Act ii, Sc.2 I wish the best for you

19. Translating Early Modern English in Modern English
"Safe may'st thou wander, safe return again!" Cymbeline, Act iii, Sc.5 May you travel safely and return again

20. Translating Early Modern English in Modern English
"Give me thy hand, 'tis late; farewell, good night." Rom & Jul, Act iii, Sc.3 Give me your hand, it is late. Goodnight.

21. Translating Early Modern English in Modern English
“Have more than though showest; speak less than thou knowest; lend less than thou owest.” King Lear, Act i, Sc.4 Have more than you show; speak less than you know; lend less than you owe.

22. Translating Early Modern English in Modern English
“Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear, thy dial how thy precious minutes waste." Sonnet 77 Your mirror will show you how your beauty is wearing out; your sundial how your precious minutes are wasting away.

23. Translating Early Modern English in Modern English
"This above all: to thine own self be true." Hamlet, Act i, Sc.3 Above all else, be true to yourself.

24. Will’s Words Quiz
words.html

25. Puns
Shakespeare often employed the use of puns in his works, much to the delight of his audiences. Since audiences in Shakespeare's time were seated according to class, Shakespeare made sure that there was something humorous in his plays for everyone.
Pun= a play on words which have the same sound but different meanings.
Modern puns:
When chemists die, they barium.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
 How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
 I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.
We're going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz
 I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.
 When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.
 Broken pencils are pointless.
 I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.
 What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.
 I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.
 All the toilets in New York's police stations have been stolen. The police have nothing to go on.
 I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.
Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!

26. Punny guy

27. Compliments/Worksheet
Combine one word from each of the columns below. Add “Thou” to the beginning, and you’ve created a sweet compliment for a friend.
Column A
rare
sweet
fruitful
brave
sugared
flowering
precious
gallant
delicate
celestial
Column B
honey-tongued
well-wishing
fair-faced
best-tempered
tender-hearted
tiger-booted
smooth-faced
thunder-darting
sweet-suggesting
young-eyed
Column C
smilet
toast
cukoo-bud
nose-herb
wafer-cake
pigeon-egg
welsh cheese
song
true-penny
valentine

28. Artless base-court apple-john
bawdy bat-fowling baggage
beslubbering beef-witted barnacle
bootless beetle-headed bladder
churlish boil-brained boar-pig
cockered clapper-clawed bugbear
clouted clay-brained bum-bailey
craven common-kissing canker-blossom
currish crook-pated clack-dish
dankish dismal-dreaming clotpole
dissembling dizzy-eyed coxcomb
droning doghearted codpiece
errant dread-bolted death-token
Fawning earth-vexing dewberry
fobbing elf-skinned flap-dragon
froward fat-kidneyed flax-wench
Frothy fen-sucked flirt-gill
gleeking flap-mouthed foot-licker
goatish fly-bitten fustilarian
gorbellied folly-fallen giglet
impertinent fool-born gudgeon
infectious full-gorged haggard
jarring guts-griping harpy
loggerheaded half-faced hedge-pig
lumpish hasty-witted horn-beast
Mix & Match Insults. Combine one from Column A, one from Column B and one from Column C.

29. mammering hedge-born hugger-mugger
mangled hell-hated joithead
Mewling idle-headed lewdster
paunchy ill-breeding lout
pribbling ill-nurtured maggot-pie
Puking knotty-pated malt-worm
puny milk-livered mammet
qualling motley-minded measle
rank onion-eyed minnow
reeky plume-plucked miscreant
Roguish pottle-deep moldwarp
ruttish pox-marked mumble-news
Saucy reeling-ripe nut-hook
spleeny rough-hewn pigeon-egg
spongy rude-growing pignut
surly rump-fed puttock
tottering shard-borne pumpion
unmuzzled sheep-biting ratsbane
vain spur-galled scut
venomed swag-bellied skainsmate
villainous tardy-gaited strumpet
warped tickle-brained varlot
wayward toad-spotted vassal
weedy unchin-snouted whey-face
Yeasty weather-bitten wagtail
Mix & Match Insults. Combine one from Column A, one from Column B and one from Column C.

30. Pop Sonnets Practice

31. Pop Sonnets #1

32. Pop Sonnets #2

33. Pop Sonnets #3

34. Pop Sonnets #4

35. Pop Sonnets #5

36. Pop Sonnets #6

37. Pop Sonnets #7

38. Pop Sonnets #8

39. Pop Sonnets #9

40. Pop Sonnets #10

41. Pop Sonnets #11

42. Pop Sonnets #12

43. Pop Sonnets #13

44. Pop Sonnets #14

45. Pop Sonnets #15

46. Pop Sonnets #16

47. Pop Sonnets #17

48. Pop Sonnets #18

49. Pop Sonnets #19

50. Pop Sonnets #20

51. Pop Sonnets #21

52. Pop Sonnets #22

53. Pop Sonnets #23

54. Pop Sonnets #24

55. Pop Sonnet Answers Practice: One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
Beyonce “Single Ladies”
Rebecca Black “Friday”
Elton John “Rocket Man”
*Nsync “Bye Bye Bye”
Rihanna “Umbrella”
Sir Mixalot “Baby got Back”
Michael Jackson “Thriller”
Spice Girls “Wannabe”
Britney Spears “Oops, I did it again”
Eminem “Lose yourself”
ABBA “Dancing Queen”
Grease “You’re the One that I Want”
Journey “Don’t Stop Believing”
Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk”
Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Celine Dion “My Heart Will Go On”
Bon Jovi “Living on a Prayer”
Will Smith “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”
Magic! “Rude”
The Village People “YMCA”
Idina Menzel “Let It Go”
Taylor Swift “We are never, ever getting back together”
Icona Pop “I Love It”
Rick Astley “Never Gonna Give You Up”