SCANSION BECOMING A SHAKESPEAREAN DETECTIVE SHAKESPEARE USES Blank

SCANSION BECOMING A SHAKESPEAREAN DETECTIVE

SHAKESPEARE USES: Blank Verse Metered Verse Prose AND! • • • Iambic Pentameter Shared Lines Antithesis Alliteration Assonance Consonance

WHY VERSE? Verse: Structured and metered word formations, usually by syllable or word count Use of elevated language Expressive Rhythmic Structured Poetry

WHY PROSE? Prose: unstructured free flowing word formations Usually designated for lower classes Cynical commentary Letters Lack of heightened action

IAMBIC PENTAMETER Definition • Iam: a two-syllable measure with the accent on the second syllable • Pentameter: five measures or feet Examples: • But soft/, what light/ through yon/der win/dow breaks/? • Unea/sy lies/ the head/ that wears/ the crown/ • The qua/lity/ of mer/cy is/ not strain’d/

TROCHEE Definition: • A two-syllable measure or foot with the accent on the first syllable. A trochee usually occurs at the beginning of a line or the first foot after a caesurea. Example: • Now is/ the win/ter of/ our dis/content/ • But when/ the blast/ of war/ blows in/ our ears/

SPONDEE AND PYRRHIC Definitions: • Spondee: A two-syllable measure or foot with both syllables accented. • Pyrrhic: A two-syllable measure or foot with both syllables unaccented. Examples: • When through/ proud Lon/don he/ came sigh/ing on/ • Reigns sole/ly in/ the breast/ of ev/ery man/

TRISYLLABIC FOOT Definition: • A foot that occurs before or after a mid stop or at the end of the line with three syllables contained within it. • Midstop: punctuation in the midst of a sentence • Endstop: punctuation at the end of a full statement Examples: • But how/ I caught/ it found/ it or/ came by it • And by/ oppos/ing end them. / To die, / to sleep/

CONTRACTION OR ELISION Definition: • When a word is placed in a phrase so that two unaccented syllables occur side by side, the vowel of the weaker of the two unaccented syllables is cut or elided, thus shortening the word. Examples: • He hath/ more wor/thy in/terest to/ the state/ • O Mar/garet now/ thy hea/vy curse/

EXPANSION Definition: • Lengthening a word by the addition of an extra sound (many contractions we use now were not used in Shakespeare’s time- we must, therefore, expand them. ) Examples: • And death’s/ pale flag/ is not/ advan/ced there/ • But Bru/tus says/ he was/ ambi/tious/ • And Bru/tus is/ an ho/nora/ble man. /

WHAT DOES METER SAY ABOUT A CHARACTER? Plenty. Check it out.

REGULAR HEARTBEAT But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green, And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.

IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT & FEMININE ENDING To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep. No more, and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to; ‘tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep-

ANTITHESIS Definition: • A contrast or opposition between two things Example: Oh me! What fray was here? Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all. Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love. Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate! O anything, or nothing first create! O heavy lightness, serious vanity, Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms, Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still- waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I, that feel no love in this. Dost thou not laugh?

WELL, HERE’S SOME OPTIONSO me! What fray was here? Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all. Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love. Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate! O anything, or nothing first create! O Heavy lightness, serious vanity, Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms, Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I, that feel no love in this. Dost though not laugh?

SHARED LINES AND MISSING BEATS Shared Lines • Two lines of dialogue that share measures • Example: • Romeo: That I might touch that cheek! • Juliet: Ay me! • Romeo: She speaks! Missing Beat • Usually indicates a stage direction • Example: • Romeo: It is my lady, O, it is my love! O that she knew she were! She speaks, yet she says nothing; what of that?

ALLITERATION Definition: • The occurrence of the same sound at the beginning of words in sequence with each other. Example: -From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. -The day to cheer and night’s dank dew to dry -When griping grief the heart doth wound And doleful dumps the mind oppress

ASSONANCE AND CONSONANCE Assonance • Definition • The repetition of a vowel sound within a group of words in sequence with each other. • Example Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme; But you shall shine more bright in these contents Consonance • Definition • The repetition of a consonant sound located anywhere in a word in sequence with others • Example Whether tis nobler to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

SO WHAT? SHAKESPEARE WAS A POET… AND A PLAYWRIGHT! CLUES IMBEDDED IN THE TEXT No characters descriptions No scenery JUST THE WORDS He was a careful craftsman. Use the clues he gives. Discover new meanings!

TRY IT ON YOUR OWN A blank, my lord. She never told her love, But let concealment, like a worm i’ th’ bud, Feed on her damask cheek. She pined in thought, And with a green and yellow melancholy She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? We men may say more, swear more, but indeed Our shows are more than will; for still we prove much in our vows but little in our love. I am all the daughters of my father’s house, And all the brothers, too- and yet I know not. Sir, shall I to this lady?