1. English III – October 24, 2017 Do Now: Pick up a handout
Prepare to take notes on the handout
Agenda:
Intro to Hamlet by William Shakespeare

2. The Oxford English Dictionary credits Shakespeare with introducing nearly 3,000 words into the English language.

3. Scholars estimate Shakespeare’s vocabulary at between 25,000 and 29,000 words, nearly twice that of the average college student.
The normal working vocabulary of an average speaker of English is around 5,000 words.

4. Just a few phrases that didn’t exist before Shakespeare:
It’s Greek to me
High time
Vanished into thin air
The long and short of it
Budge an inch
The game is up
Green-eyed jealousy
The truth will out
Played fast and loose
Lie low
Tongue tied
Your own flesh and blood
Hoodwinked
Crack of doom
In a pickle
Foul play
Knitted your brows
Teeth set on edge
Fair play
In one fell swoop
Slept not a wink
Without rhyme or reason
Too much of a good thing
You quote Shakespeare all the time!
Seen better days

5. The Language
Both written and spoken language use rhythm - a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables:
Hello, my name is Jennifer.
Hel/lo, /my /name /is /Jen/ni/fer.
/ / / /
In everyday speech, the rhythm is informal (has no set structure).

6. A formal pattern of rhythm is called meter.
Blank verse:
Blank verse is unrhymed but uses a formal pattern of rhythm or meter. In the English language, blank verse is iambic pentameter.

7. Iambic pentameter
Pentameter (penta = 5, think pentagon) means there are five poetic feet.
In iambic pentameter each of these five feet is composed of two syllables: the first unstressed; the second stressed (10 syllables total).
The following is a line from one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Count the syllables…which are stressed and which are unstressed?

8. Answer:
/ / / / /
Shall /I/ com/pare / thee / to / a / sum/mer’s/ day?
Note there are 10 syllables, in an unstressed, stressed pattern.

9. Practice:
The following are the first two lines of Romeo and Juliet.
Are they in Iambic Pentameter?
Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
Two/ house/holds, /both /a/like/ in/ dig/ni/ty, In/ fair/ Ver/o/na,/ where/ we/ lay /our/scene,
Yes!

10. Why do we care?
We care, because it impacts how you read the play. New readers have a tendency to pause at the end of a line, whether there is reason to or not! You must read Shakespeare just like you would read anything else and most importantly… PAY ATTENTION TO PUNCTUATION!

11. This is an excerpt from Romeo and Juliet: How many SENTENCES is it?
BENVOLIO:
I do but keep the peace: put up thy sword, Or manage it to part these men with me.
It is ONE sentence!
So why is it on two lines?
Because it is written in iambic pentameter – if he’d continued the line, there would be too many syllables.
I / do/ but /keep /the /peace: /put/ up/ thy /sword, Or/ man/age /it /to/ part /these /men /with /me.

12. Why does this line start way over here?
Shared lines:
This is another example from Romeo and Juliet….
FRIAR LAURENCE: Go with me to the vault. BALTHASAR: I dare not, sir
My master knows not but I am gone hence;
And fearfully did menace me with death, If I did stay to look on his intents.
Again, because it is Iambic pentameter. The two characters are sharing the ten syllables.
Why does this line start way over here?

13. Is the whole thing written in Iambic pentameter??
No.
Shakespeare writes either in blank verse (iambic pentameter), in rhymed verse, or in prose.
Verse – another word for poetry.
Prose – regular writing

14. Examples:
Prose is regular writing. Often you will see servants talking in prose. This is to distinguish the “upper class” characters who speak in verse (fancy) and the regular Joe who speaks in prose (plain speech).
Rhymed Verse BENVOLIO: See, where he comes: so please you, step aside; I'll know his grievance, or be much denied. Prose LADY CAPULET Evermore weeping for your cousin's death? What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears? An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live; Therefore, have done: some grief shows much of love; But much of grief shows still some want of wit.

15. Common contractions found in Shakespeare.
Other Words
Art = are
Ere = before
Hence= here
Thee, thou, thy = you
Thine = your
Wert = were
Wherefore = why
But = except
Choler = anger
'tis = it is
ope = open
o'er = over
gi' = give
ne'er = never
i' = in
e'er = ever
oft = often
a' = he
e'en = even

16. Other important information:
Aside: Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, or to another character, but not "heard" by the other characters on stage.
Monologue: A long speech by a single character without another character's response. The character however, is speaking to someone else or even a group of people.
Soliloquy: A speech meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage (as opposed to a monologue which addresses other characters). In a soliloquy only the audience can hear the private thoughts of the characters.
Foil: A secondary character whose situation often parallels that of the main character. The “foil’s” behavior or personality contrasts with that of the main character
Batman and The Joker – both are smart and have power (parallel), but the evilness of the Joker contrasts with and highlights the goodness of Batman.

17. Terms Continued…
Comic Relief: Comic relief serves a specific purpose: it gives the audience a moment of “relief ” with a light-hearted scene, after several intensely dramatic moments. Typically these scenes parallel the tragic action that they interrupt. Comic relief is lacking in Greek tragedy, but occurs regularly in Shakespeare's tragedies.
Prologue: The word means “before speech.” The audience is meant to receive hints about what they will be watching in this play. Think of it as a movie trailer.
Subplot: A secondary, subordinate, or parallel plot that coexists with the main plot.

18. “Family Tree” of Characters
Elsinore
The castle in Demark where all this takes place.