We will study the following:

Sonnets

Basic terms to remember

Much ado about nothing

by Linda Rubens

INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE

Born April 23, 1564 - Died April 23, 1616

In Shakespeare’s Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s

Day, the writer has perfected a comparison of something he loves to another beautiful or enticing object. For this assignment, students should understand the workings of sonnets, and also draw a similar comparison with something they love .

After reviewing and analysing the original poem, students will compose their own personal sonnet to imitate, yet not copy, Shakespeare’s idea of bliss.

Learning intentions

Your prep before the next lesson is to read through

the sonnets and look for any characteristics that are similar

Eg: Look at sentence length

number of sentences

rhyme scheme…

Flipped classwork

Gathering

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date.Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimmed;And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Shall I compare thee to a summers daySonnet 18 ( Petrarchan)

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun (Sonnet 130) (Shakespearean)

Terms to remember:

Iambic pentameter: Unstressed/ stressed (U_)

Alternate rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg

Octet and sestet

Quatrain

Rhyming couplet

Petrarchan sonnets

Shakespearean sonnetsProcessing

Students should choose to EITHER write a serious

sonnet, comparing their love to something concrete and tangible…as with Summer’s day. OR

Write a sonnet as a parody, concluding with a serious rhyming couplet.

Success criteria

Applying

Act I: Introduction

Act II: Rising action

Act III: Climax

Act IV: Falling action

Act V: Denouement

Structure of Shakespeare’s plays

Benedick and Beatrice are engaged in a "merry war"; they

both talk a mile a minute and proclaim their scorn for love, marriage and each other.

In contrast, Claudio and Hero are sweet young people who are rendered practically speechless by their love for one another.

“Nothing“ is a pun on "noting,“ which is gossip, rumour and eavesdropping.

Dogberry, a Constable is a master of malapropisms

The villain is the bastard Don John.

Don Pedro is the prince.

Much Ado About Nothingis a comedy

View the film version of Much Ado about Nothing.

THEN: It’s time to start reading Act I where we are introduced to all the main characters.

Now…