1. An Intro to Reading Shakespeare
To be, or not to be: that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep…to sleep, perchance to dream, aye, there’s the rub…     
Language and Sequence

2. Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language
Students often find Shakespeare difficult to read for the following reasons:
Unusual sequence of words
I ate the Big Mac.
Ate the Big Mac I.
I the Big Mac ate.
Ate I the Big Mac.
The Big Mac I ate.
The Big Mac ate I. ?

3. Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language
Clauses that delay
On the Channel Nine late show at twelve o’ clock, while eating pistachio ice cream, before turning to homework, Ralph saw Martha.
Separations of Related Parts
While home from school sadly was my cousin Joan walking, little children far away happily singing in the afternoon she heard.

4. Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language
Troublesome omissions – syllables and parts of syllables
I’m goin’ t’ town.
Tha’s good – lemme go wi, ya.
Troublesome omissions – words
If that call’s for me, (say) I’m not home.
(If you) do that to me again, you’re in deep (trouble).

5. Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language
Words not quite our own
Ague, anon, arras, ay, betimes, choler, fain, methinks, moe, withal
Footnotes will help us to define and clarify these
Familiar words with unexpected meanings
Soft = gently still = always
an = if for = because
straight = immediately wherefore = why

6. Practice Consider the following sentence:
Until that moment when I heard the price of it, I had been favoring the green bag over the red.
Rearrange the words of this sentence. In reshaping, be sure to change the positions of some of the yellow words. Do not add or omit any words, and don’t change any word to another.

7. Practice
Try it again:
As the snow fell over the rivers and settled among the trees, two sparrows sitting on an aspen’s limb considered the thickening air.
Rearrange the words of this sentence. In reshaping, be sure to change the positions of some of the yellow words. Do not add or omit any words, and don’t change any word to another.