1. Reading a Shakespearean play

2. Visualize the action as you read Try to get a picture in your mind of what is happening in the scene. Imagine what each character looks like, and what s/he is doing. Use clues from the dialogue to help you figure out what the action is.

3. Shakespeare’s Language Banter/plays on words/puns—dialogue with a double meaning Often the banter has a bawdy (sexual) tone Characters can deliberately misunderstand each other Invective—vivid expression of anger Scenes which take place offstage— description of offstage action

4. Types of Language Prose is generally spoken by servants or other low-born characters. Poetry is generally spoken by nobles or people of status. Dialogue usually written in blank verse, unrhymed iambic pentameter (5 beats per line, pattern is unstressed/stressed syllables). Sometimes—rhymed verse or couplets (2 lines that rhyme together).