1. Shakespearean Language
LAP 4
Literary Types

2. Understanding Shakespearean Language

3. Language is always evolving
Languages do not just happen – they are the result of many of hundreds and even thousands of years of development.
The English as we know it is relatively new and is in a constant state of change.
Every day hundreds of new words enter the language and many are dropped.
There are over 300,000 words in the English language.
Shakespeare is credited for adding nearly 2,000 words to the English language. Nearly all of which are still used today.

4. A few words that Shakespeare added
Accommodation
Bedroom
Defeat
Engagement
Juiced
Priceless
Skim milk
Upstairs
Useless
Watchdog

5. Understanding Shakespeare’s Language
Using your device, conduct an effective google search:
words introduced to the English language since 2000
In your notebook, write down at least one word that has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary since the year 2000.
Then, look up the definition of the word to possibly share with the class.

6. Reading Tips
1. Thou, thee and thy – These mean you, you, and your, respectively. These words dropped out of our language a couple centuries ago, but Shakespeare uses them. The verb that is used with “thou” changes as well.

7. Reading Tips
2. Inversion – Sometimes Shakespeare will invert the verb and the subject.
For instance, he might write, “Went I to Incarnate.” instead of “I Went to Incarnate.”

8. Reading Tips
3. Diction – There are three problems with Shakespeare’s word choice.
he uses words that no longer exist in the English we speak.
he uses words that are in our language, but now have a different meaning to us.
he uses words that are in our language, but we simply don’t know what these words mean – you should look them up.

9. Reading Tips
4. Contractions – for purposes of rhythm Shakespeare uses contractions to cut out syllables.
Examples:
o’ = on
th’ = the
i’ = in
‘t – it
ta’en = taken
‘em = them
‘a = he (often)
o’er = over

10. Reading Tips The same, just shortened
Shakespeare uses a lot of contractions, especially to maintain iambic pentameter:
wi’ = with I’ = In o’ = of
t’ = to ‘t = it ‘tis = it is ‘twas = it was
e'en = even (sounds like een) e'er = ever (sounds like air) ne’er = never (sounds like nair)
______________________________________________
Hey, you!
Fear not thees and thous! They both mean you, and they follow a pattern.
thou = you (subject) thee = you (object) ye = you (plural)
thy = your thine = yours

11. Translating Shakespeare’s Language
With a partner, complete the Puzzle of the Day.
Hold onto this Puzzle of the Day to refer to each class.

12. The following slides contain crucial information in understanding Shakespeare’s Language. Be sure to take notes and listen. I assure you that you will understand this once we are finished.

13. Shakespearean Sonnet
Sonnet: 14 line lyric poem with a complicated rhyme scheme and defined structure
Shakespearean Sonnet: uses iambic pentameter and has 3 quatrains (group of 4 lines) and a couplet
1st quatrain introduces the situation
3rd quatrain often shows a shift in thought
Couplet resolves the situation

14. Writing Style and Rhyme Scheme
Parts of Romeo and Juliet are written as a sonnet, a poem of 14 lines written and rhymed in iambic pentameter. Each sonnet ends with a couplet.
In a Shakespearean sonnet the rhyme scheme is
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
A couplet is two consecutive lines that rhyme.
Iambic pentameter refers to the rhythm of each line. It is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
“Bŭt sóft! Whăt líght throŭgh yóndĕr wíndŏw bréaks?”

15. Iambic Pentameter
Iambic pentameter is meter that Shakespeare nearly always used when writing in verse.
Most of his plays were written in iambic pentameter, except for lower-class characters who speak in prose.
Iamb: an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, marked “u/”
Penta: means 5
Meter: the set rhythm of a piece of writing

16. Shakespeare’s Meter Iambic Pentameter has:
Ten syllables in each line
Five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables
Iambic Pentameter: 5 iambs in a row
“u/u/u/u/u/”
Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter

17. Iambic Pentameter
The rhythm in each line sounds like: ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM
unstressed with a u
stressed is marked with an x
Most of Shakespeare’s famous quotations fit into this rhythm. For example:
u x u x u x u x u x
If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play on  
Each pair of syllables is called an iambus. You’ll notice that each iambus is made up of one unstressed and one stressed beat (ba-BUM). This is called an iambic foot.

18. Shake-a-spear Activity
Your task is to break down the Shakespearean sonnet with your partner.
Mark the unstressed and stressed syllables
Identify the rhyme scheme (abab…)