1. Shakespearian Writing

2. Prose and Verse
Shakespeare wrote plays alternating the use of both verse and prose
Prose is everyday language of communication (conversation, letters, lectures, articles, dialogue, books, texts, etc.)
Verse is a collection of lines that follow a HIGHLY STRUCTURED regular, rhythmic pattern

3. Prose by Shakespeare
FOLLOWS standard sentence and paragraph rules and structures
Follows regular standard English capitalization rules
Uses full lines across the page (equal margins)
Does not rhyme
Does not count syllables

4. Shakespeare used prose to:
1. Express ordinary, observations that have a literal meaning
2. Make “one-liners” which are essential in everyday conversation
3. Present relief from the overuse of verse (requires intellectual effort to read and understand)

5. Use of prose ctd… 4. Suggest madness, senility, or drunkenness
5. Poke fun at characters who lack the wit or intelligence to versify their lines
6. Condone the use and merits of prose as an equal writing medium to verse

6. Verse by Shakespeare The beginning of each line is capitalized
The lines do not utilize a full margin (shorter)
They are written in a specific structured rhythm called iambic pentameter

7. Shakespeare used verse to:
1. Express deep emotion requiring elevated language
2. Make wise, penetrating, reflective, organized observations requiring lofty language
3. Present a lyrical poem in a separate entity
4. Inject irony by use of a particular character

8. Syllables
Syllable: unit of spoken language consisting of an uninterrupted utterance that forms a whole word (cat) or a commonly recognized division of a word (per-fect-ly)

9. How many syllables? chair beg apple lunch computer bizarre hope eat
book
capitulate
alligator
resume
Russell
disdainful
monitor
crate
university
justify
principal
puppy

10. Literary Foot
Foot: basic unit of meter, set # of strong and light stressed syllables
Example: an iamb is one type of foot
Iamb: is a light/strong pattern of two syllables
Example: Detroit
de (light: symbol = u) - TROIT (STRONG: symbol = /) ->
De (u) - TROIT (/)

11. Meter Meter: # of feet in a line of verse
Examples: Pentameter is an example of meter
Pentameter: the prefix penta means five - there are five feet in a line of pentameter

12. Rhythm Rhythm: the combination of foot and meter in a line of verse
Example: Iambic Pentemeter is a type of rhythm
Iambic Pentameter: is one line of verse consisting of five light/strong syllables in a row (10 total)
Example: We(u) hold(/) these(u) truths(/) to(u) be(/) self(u) ev(/)-i(u)-dent(/)
Stress the strong syllables (deTROIT)!

13. Shakespearian Sonnets
Shakespeare wrote over 150 sonnets
They have 14 lines and four parts
3 quatrains (4 lines): present a problem
1 heroic couplet (2 lines) : present a solution

14. Shakespearian Sonnets ctd.
They all use the verse iambic pentameter
They have a distinct rhyme scheme: pattern of the rhymes between the last words of each line
ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG (all matching letters must rhyme)