April 21/22

Understanding Shakespeare's Language!

As the class begins, work in pairs and write a silent conversation. One student writes the first line of dialogue and passes the paper to the partner who continues the conversation. So it might be something like this: (Each person needs to record the conversation in their iNotes and skip lines.)

•What do you want to do after school?
·I don't know. Do you want to come to my house?
·OK. Can we play with your PlayStation?
·Sure, what game do you want to play?
·Wait! Actually we should do our homework first, then play a game.

THEE & THOU (Pronouns)
·"I, Martin take thee, Jane, as my lawful wife.”
·"I, Jane, take thee, Martin, as my lawful husband."

2nd Person Familiar Pronouns
Singular Pronouns
Thou - Subject: "Thou art my brother."
Thee - Object: "Come, let me clutch thee."
Thy - Possessive Adjective: "What is thy name?"
Thine - Possessive Noun: "To thine own self be true."

Plural Pronoun
Ye - Subject: "Ye shall know me.“  (Tu form)

Verb Inflection
Elizabethan language, though considered Early Modern English, still retained some verb inflections. 

2ND PERSON FAMILIAR: Adds the ending -est, -'st, or -st               
Example: thou givest, thou sing'st


SOME IRREGULAR VERBS IN 2ND PERSON
Present:  you   are  have  will  can  shall  do
Present:  thou   art  hast  wilt  canst  shalt  dost
Past:  thou   wast  hadst  wouldst  couldst    shouldst   didst

·"Thou liest, malignant thing.“
·"What didst thou see?“
·"Why canst thou not see the difference?“
·Add to your discussion…

Inverted Sentences (Yoda Language)
Typically, standard English sentences follow a subject-verb-object order.
For example, we would say, "Han Solo digs Princess Leia."
"Han Solo" is the subject, "digs" is the verb, and "Princess Leia" is the object.
Princess Leia Han Solo digs.  

Class game activity!! Put Shakespeare's quotes in the correct order!

Add to your discussion…


Troublesome Words
Using Handout 1, "80 Troublesome Words," have students rework their silent conversations once more, this time adding as many of these words as possible.

Odd Words

Finally, repeat the previous exercise using Handout 2, "125 Odd Words." Once again, ask some groups to perform their conversation out loud.

Choose some victims! "An Insulting Conversation," they will read a series of insulting lines, and savor the sound of those words.