An Introduction to William Shakespeare And his Works

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An Introduction to William ShakespeareAnd his
Works

• Created by Ms. Finerfrock
• 9th Grade English
• Reading Analysis (9.1-9.5 SOL Standards)
• Student directed/interactive project

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OrGetting over your Shakes-fear

• Preliminary questions
• Why is this so difficult?
• 1. Complex and, at times, out-dated language
• 2. Shakespeare explores all elements of humanity
• Love/hate
• Fear/admiration
• Life/death

Does anyone have these things figured out? I know
I dont.
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Who is this guy?
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The Big Problem The LanguageIt might as well
be Chinese!See if you can match this modern
quote to the play it comes from.(Click once to
begin, and again for the answer)

• 1.I will wear my heart on my sleeve
• 2.All that glitters is not gold
• 3.Discretion is the better part of valor
• 4.Double, double, toil and trouble
• 5.Whats in a name?
• 6.It was Greek to me

• 1.Iago, from Othello
• 2.Portia, from The Merchant of Venice
• 3.Falstaff, from Henry IV
• 4.The witches, from Macbeth
• 5.Romeo, Romeo and Juliet
• 6. From Julius Caesar

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Understanding Iambic Pentameter(The writing
technique Shakespeare uses)

• IAMBIC the words go from unstressed syllable to
  stressed syllable
• I.e. daDUM daDUM daDUM!
• Each unit is called a FOOT
• Because he used PENTAMETER, each FOOT is repeated
  5 TIMES per line

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Try Reading These Lines Aloudin IAMBIC
PENTAMETER!
Shall I compare thee to a summers day? Thou art
more lovely and more temperate
To be or not to be that is the
question Whether t is nobler in the mind to
suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of
troubles?
But soft! What light through yonder window
breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
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Weve got the words But whats it all about?
Shakespeare wrote Plays
As well as Sonnets (a type of poem)
Performed at the Globe, Rose, And other
theaters
To whom we arent sure, For the sonnets seem to
address Both FEMALES and MALES!
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The Plays Three Types

• Tragedy A drama or literary work in which the
  main character is brought to ruin or suffers
  extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a
  tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope
  with unfavorable circumstances.

Look Familiar?
Click the Link to see a clip from Romeo And
Juliet romeo1.mov Intense, isnt it?
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The Tragedies

• Early Tragedy (1590s) plays like Titus
  Andronicus
• A play ripe with gore, violence, rape, and
  CANNIBALISM!
• AKA the Quentin Tarantino phase of his writing

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Moving forward
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Whats Your Favorite?

• Are you
• Romantic?
• Romeo and Juliet or Antony and Cleopatra
• A Politician?
• Julius Caesar
• A Fan of Violence?
• Titus Andronicus
• A Backstabber?
• Othello
• A Sad Soul? Insane? Totally Uncertain about
  everything?
• Hamlet

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Now, Something LighterThe comedies!

• Shakespeares comedies follow a typical
  progression

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And whats your favorite comedy?

• Do you like
• -Angry women?
• Taming of the Shrew
• -Fairies?
• A Midsummer Nights Dream
• -Gender swaps?
• The Twelfth Night
• And Much, much more!

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Finally, The HistoriesConcerning the Sordid Past
of England
CONFUSING ENOUGH? DONT WORRY
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Histories Broken Down

• Basically. They all try to take the crown

Leading to murder, revenge, and a really funny
character named Falstaff until hes kicked out
of England by Hal, who decides Henry sounds
better and restores England to greatness by
invading France!
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Okay, but all of this happenedso long ago

• The majority of the plays have been made into
  films at one point or another.

Othello
Taming of The Shrew
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And Kenneth Branagh mademost of them!
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Feeling Overwhelmed?A Few Reminders

• Were in this together
• Ask questions, get answers!

Whats your biggest FEAR about studying
SHAKESPEARE?
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Some Helpful Links....

• The Academy of American Poets (and hes British!)
  122.htm
• Shakespeare Online (see, hes moving into the
  21st Century!) Shakespeare Online.htm
• Absolute Shakespeare AbsoluteShakespeare.htm

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In Conclusion

• Give it a chance no one gets this overnight!
• While the language is old-fashioned, the themes
  and characters remain currentjust look how many
  modern films exist!
• Remember Well take it one play at a time!

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Did You Get Any of That?(A Short Quiz-NOT Graded)

• When was Shakespeare born?
• Name a Tragedy.
• What is Iambic Pentameter?
• True/False Shakespeare also wrote poetry.
• Who is Kenneth Branagh?

• 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon
• Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Richard III, Macbeth,
  RomeoJuliet, AntonyCleopatra, Titus Andronicus,
  among others.
• The style Shakespeare uses, with five feet of
  alternating stressed/unstressed syllables
• True, they were called sonnets
• An Actor/Director/Producer who remade almost all
  of Shakespeares plays into films.

Howd You Do?
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Works Cited (in addition to the links)

• Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of
  William Shakespeare. Sybil Thorndike, ed.
  Cresta House Co. London 1963.

And Thats a Wrap!