Objective: After students read about the unique language of Shakespeare's plays and identify some of the barriers for understanding the language, they will select a partner and practice speaking some of Shakespeare's unique words through the use of insults common to Shakespeare's characters. Procedures:
Read the material below to learn about Shakespeare's unique use of language.
Collaborate with a classmate to practice using common Shakespeare insults.
For many people reading Shakespeare, the biggest obstacle is the language. Inexperienced Shakespeare readers feel they are bombarded by "thees" and "thines" and "thous" and "forsooths." Without first learning the reasons for such bizarre and challenging words, readers can be overwhelmed by Shakespeare's original style of writing.
First, it is important to know that Shakespeare's plays are not written in Old English. They are, in fact, Modern English. Obviously, the English language has changed and grown since Shakespeare's time, but at the time he wrote his plays the language had already shifted from what was known as Old English to the more standard and more recent Modern English.
The common question: "Why did people talk that way in Shakespeare's time?"
The answer: "They actually didn't." So then why all the weird words? Well, there are a few reasons.
During Shakespeare's lifetime, theater was the primary form of entertainment. It was like the television, Netflix, Hulu or movie theater of his time. However, in England and the surrounding area, there were several competing playwrights but only a few playhouses. Authors and playhouses vied for the best plays, hoping for the biggest crowd as well as the most important guests, which often included the wealthy as well as royalty. This meant in order to be successful as a playwright, authors had to offer something audience members had never seen before. As a poet, Shakespeare decided to construct his plays using both poetic meter and poetic language. The poetic language explains the complex and challenging words, some of which Shakespeare coined himself.
The poetic meter is what really makes Shakespeare's works unique. Known as iambic pentameter, this style was reserved for poetry, but Shakespeare took on the challenge of adapting it for his plays. Defining iambic pentameter is simple.
iamb -- a poetic measurement that consists of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed. Dr. Seuss's famous book Green Eggs and Ham is filled with iambs: "I do not like green eggs and ham I do not like them Sam I am." penta -- a root that means consisting of five parts (pentagon, pentacle, etc.) meter -- in this case, the rhythm of a piece of poetry, determined by the number and length of feet in a line. So iambic pentameter is simply a line of poetry that has five iambs, or a total 10 syllables with all odd syllables (1,3,5,7,9) unstressed and all even syllables (2,4,6,8,10) stressed. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she: Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. -- Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2, lines 2-10 As you saw in the video "Why Shakespeare?" this poetic style is compared to a heartbeat (thump THUMP). What is amazing is that most of the time, the meter works naturally, as if it was unintentional and just seems to happen in the natural flow of what is being said. This is because language does have its own natural meter and rhythm and flow. Shakespeare knew this and plays on both poetic and natural ways or speaking.
Shakespeare's language can also be creative and fun, and nothing makes this more obvious than his insults. Below is a Word document containing a Shakespeare Insult Kit. Find a friend or a partner and follow the instructions.
You might also be surprised to learn that Shakespeare coined (invented) over 1700 words! Some of them are still common today. Do these look familiar? After visiting the link, choose at least five of the words and write a sentence using each of them.
ASSESSMENT: Exceeding Expectations The student has collaborated with a classmate to select more than five Shakespeare insults and wrote more than five complete sentences using more than five of Shakespeare's coined terms.
Meeting Expectations The student has collaborated with a classmate to select at least five Shakespeare insults and wrote at least five complete sentences using at least five of Shakespeare's coined terms.
Approaching Expectations The student has collaborated with a classmate but selected fewer than five Shakespeare insults and wrote fewer than five complete sentences using fewer than five of Shakespeare's coined terms.
Far Below Expectations The student did not choose a partner, or has collaborated with a classmate but did not select very many Shakespeare insults and did not write any complete sentences using Shakespeare's coined terms.
To learn more about Shakespeare, his words, his works, and the world in which he lived, check out the book below:
Tongue-tied. Dull as dishwater. Without rhyme or reason. Leapfrog. Excellent. Gloomy. These words and phrases, so much a part of our daily language, were coined by William Shakespeare more than four hundred years ago. In what other ways has Shakespeare shaped and influenced our words and culture? Find out with Michael Rosen’s fascinating exploration of the enduring genius of the greatest playwright in the English language, SHAKESPEARE: HIS WORK AND HIS WORLD. Learn what theatre was like when Shakespeare created and acted in his plays. With dramatic illustrations by Robert Ingpen, the fluid text is sprinkled with Shakespearean quotations to re-create the Bard’s world of kings and queens, fairies and potions, and bloody beheadings. This sweeping account is a biography, a history, and a retelling of some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays—all in one approachable volume. (description taken from Goodreads).