Get excited about SHAKESPEARE!!

1. Get excited about SHAKESPEARE!! Or at least pretend to… ;)

2. Quick fact Shakespeare • Greatest writer in the English language • Plays have been produced more often and in more countries than any other author • Lived during Renaissance • Plays appealed to all classes • Globe Theatre – open, 3 story, no curtains, little scenery; props, sound effects and costumes created setting

3. Shakespeare’s Impact on English Language • He contributed more words, phrases, and expressions than any other • Created assassination, bump, and lonely; dead as a doornail, for goodness sake, and green-eyed monster

4. Vocab to Know • Tragedy – drama than ends in catastrophe (death) for the main character & other important characters (supernatural element – contribute to actions of tragic hero) • Tragic Hero – usually nobly born & may have great influence on his/her society; has fatal flaws (weakness or error in judgement) • Comic relief – humorous scenes that relieve overall emotional intensity

5. Vocab to Know • Allusion – brief reference to something outside the play that the audience is expected to know; ex. A reference from another work of literature like Greek or Roman mythology & the bible ex. “Speak to my gossip Venus on word…” • Foil – characters whose personalities are a sharp contrast to another ex. Lennie & George

6. Vocab to KnowDramatic Conventions Dramatic conventions – devices theater audiences accept as real even though they do not necessarily reflect the real-life behavior: • Soliloquy – speech by a character when he’s alone to let audience know what he’s thinking; reveals secrets; villains explain behavior • Aside – character’s remarks to audience or another character that others on stage aren’t supposed to hear; ex. p. 994

7. Blank Verse • Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter – lines that have 5 unstressed syllables followed by 5 stressed syllables Romeo: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? • Fairly close to regular, natural patterns of speech

8. Good Ole Romeo & JulietOh, wait. They’re not old, they’re dead. • Setting: Verona, Italy, 14th century. (I was there and ate an entire pizza; it was the best pizza I’ve ever had.) • Initiating Event: fight between 2 families • Main Conflict: R & J love each other, but their families hate each other. R=Montague J = Capulet

9. SO? • Romeo loves Rosaline and Juliet is slated to marry Paris. • Romeo hears about the party the Capulets are hosting (to get Paris & Juliet to know each other) and crashes the party. • Romeo & Juliet meet and instantly fall in love; later they realize their families are feuding. This conflict is the catalyst for the play.

10. Word • An – sometimes means if • Ay – yes • Coz – cousin • Doth – does • Thee – you • Thine – your • Thou art – you are • Thou wert – you were • ‘tis – it is

11. Finally… As you read/watch: • Evaluate character’s speech and actions to figure out his attitudes, personality, and motives (look for foils!) • Evaluate tragic hero’s strengths and weakness, esp. tragic flaw • Look for cause & effect relationships