1. kinda classy kinda hood
understanding William Shakespeare

2. Life in elizabethan & jacobean england
London expanded greatly as a city.
People moved in from rural areas and from other European countries.
Busy and crowded; lots of commerce, craftsmen
Strict class systems
Not a clean or safe city— “The Thames was a beautiful sewer” and disease and criminals ran rampant.
Grew into substantial port and admired European city.
Southwark: suburb known for its “vice” – theaters, gaming, prostitution, etc.

3. Life in elizabethan & jacobean england
Thames River polluted with raw sewage
Trees used up for fuel
Poverty
No running water
Chamber pots
One set of clothes worn & slept in all year long and rarely washed or changed.
Bathing considered dangerous
Body odor strong
Childhood disease
Children often died before 5 years of age
Small pox
Bubonic Plague

4. Shakespeare’s language
Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”
Old English is the language of Beowulf.
Hawaet! We Gardena in geardagum / Peodcyninga Prym gefrunon / Hu oa aePelingas ellen fremedon!

5. Shakespeare’s language
Shakespeare did NOT write in “Middle English.”
Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the author of The Canterbury Tales
Let’s look at the opening lines from “The General Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales.

6. The general prologue Original Middle English Modern Translation
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote / The droghte of Marche hath perched to the roote / And bathed every veyne in swich licour, / Of which vertue engendered is the flour;
Modern Translation
When fair April with his showers sweet, / Has pierced the drought of March to the root’s feet / And bathed each vein in liquid of such power, / Its strength creates the newly springing flower;

7. Shakespeare’s language
Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English.”
EME is not very different from “Modern English,” except that is had some old holdovers.
For the sake of his poetry, Shakespeare often left out letters, syllables, and whole words. These omissions really aren’t that much different from the way we speak today. We say:
“Been to class yet?”
“No. Heard Lindgren’s givin’ a pop quiz.”
“Wha’sup withat?”

8. Omissions/ contractions examples
‘tis ~ it is
ope ~ open
o’re ~ over
gi’ ~ give
ne’er ~ never
i’ ~ in
e’er ~ ever
oft ~ often
e’en ~ even
thou/thee ~ you
thy/thine ~ your
ye ~ y’alll

9. Shakespeare's language
Shakespeare coined many words and phrases we still use today:
critical
majestic
dwindle
fashionable
embrace (as a noun)
vulnerable
one fell swoop
flesh and blood
vanish into then air
pomp and circumstance
seen better days
a sorry sight
neither rhyme nor reason
full circle
dead as a doornail
for goodness sake
green-eyed monster
foul play
in a pickle
knock knock who’s there

10. Shakespeare’s writing
We speak in prose (language without metrical structure).
Shakespeare wrote in both prose and poetry (verse).
To understand his writing, we need to understand these terms:
Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter
Iambic Pentameter: five beats of alternating unstressed and stressed syllabus; ten syllables per line

11. kinda classy kinda hood
Shakespeare actually did a lot of really cool things with his writing.
To better understand Shakespeare’s writing and how we read and process it, let’s talk about…...
HIP-HOP BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Akala at TEDxAldeburgh

12. kinda classy kinda hood homework
You are going to choose one hip-hop/rap artist and one of Shakespeare’s plays (excluding Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet).
You will create a 10 question quiz. Each question must contain one line from either the hip-hop/rap artist or from Shakespeare. You must include the answer. When quoting from a song, include the “song title” in your answer. Include the title of the play after your last questions.
This can be done in one typed document and it is due on Thursday. Follow MLA formatting for your document. You do not have to submit your homework to turnitin. You can print it out when you come to class on Thursday. Be prepared to read your quiz questions to the class after Thursday’s vocab quiz.
Title your quiz Shakespeare of Hip-Hop.
Each question will begin with –
Is the following line taken from Shakespeare or hip-hop?

13. heeyyy! hoooo! Sonnet raps, yo!
If you would like an automatic 100 for two (that’s right, ladies and gents, I said TWO) vocabulary quizzes, you may choose one of Shakespeare’s sonnets (not “Sonnet 18) and rap it to your class.
Your rap must be set to music. You can create your own beats, or find instrumental beats on YouTube to use.
You have until Wednesday, April 5 to perform your rap to your class.
So get to spittin’ bars, son, u’less ya scured!