1. Who is William Shakespeare? www.oppidanlibrary.com/shakespeare.htm The Globe Theater www.unplowedground.com/.../travels/travels.html

2. Who is William Shakespeare? Born in 1564 to John and Mary Arden Shakespeare 1582: Married to Anne 1583: Birth of Daughter Susanna 1585: Birth of twins: Judith and Hamnet 1587-1592: Established in London as actor/playwright; first work Comedy of Errors

3. Who is William Shakespeare? 1593: Begins writing sonnets (until 1597-ish) 1594-1596: Some more famous plays Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night’s Dream 1597-1608: Best known plays including the rest of the tragedies 1599: The Globe Theatre built 1609: Publication of the Sonnets April 23, 1616: Shakespeare dies

4. His Works Poetry o The Sonnets o The Rape of Lucrece Plays  Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth  Comedies: Much Ado About Nothing  Histories: Richard III, Henry V

5. The Time Period Elizabethan Era The Renaissance Actors were men only o Men even played female roles! Plays were one of the main source of entertainment

6. Three Classifications of Shakespearean Drama: COMEDY HISTORY TRAGEDY

7. Romeo and Juliet is a… Tragedy

8. TRAGIC HERO Qualities of a Tragic Hero: Possesses high importance or rank Exhibits extraordinary talents Displays a tragic flaw—an error in judgment or defect in character—that leads to downfall Faces downfall with courage and dignity

9. BLANK VERSE Written like poetry But tells a story More free-flowing rules o doesn’t have a rhyme scheme or set number of lines, etc. Iambic Pentameter

10. Lines have a rhythm to them 10 syllables Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables He JESTS at SCARS that NEV er FELT a WOUND But SOFT! what LIGHT through YON der WIN dow BREAKS?

11. SOLILOQUY AND ASIDE Soliloquy - Long speech given by a character while alone on stage to reveal his or her private thoughts or intentions Aside - Character’s quiet remark to the audience or another character that no one else on stage is supposed to hear

12. DRAMATIC IRONY Irony—contrast between appearance and reality Dramatic Irony—the audience or reader knows something the character(s) does not know

13. Foil A character with qualities that are in sharp contrast to another character, thus emphasizing the qualities of each How is Mercutio a foil to Romeo?

14. Journal Entry Write about a time when you've done something wrong and it's affected others around you. What did you do? How did it affect others? What consequences did you face? Did you resolve it?