...This story of star-crossed lovers is one of William Shakespeare’s tenderest dramas. Shakespeare is sympathetic toward Romeo and Juliet, and in attributing their tragedy to fate, rather than to a flaw in their characters, he raises them to heights near perfection, as well as running the risk of creating pathos, not tragedy. They are both sincere, kind, brave, loyal, virtuous, and desperately in love, and their tragedy is greater because of their innocence. The feud between the lovers’ families represents the fate that Romeo and Juliet are powerless to overcome. The lines capture in poetry the youthful and simple passion that characterizes the play. One of the most popular plays of all time, Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare’s second tragedy (after Titus Andronicus of 1594, a failure). Consequently, the play shows the sometimes artificial lyricism of early comedies such as Love’s Labour’s Lost 1594-1595, . 1598) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (. 1595-1596, . 1600), while its character development predicts the direction of the playwright’s artistic maturity. In Shakespeare’s usual fashion, he based his story on sources that were well known in his day: Masuccio Salernitano’s Novellino (1475), William Painter’s The Palace of Pleasure (1566-1567), and, especially, Arthur Brooke’s poetic The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Shakespeare reduces the time of the action from the months it takes in Brooke’s work to a few compact days. In addition to following the conventional...
Words: 1214 - Pages: 5
...William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” is an exciting play that many have gone to watch before. In fact, it has become so famous that when the technology of capturing moving pictures became commercial, the play has been incorporated into many films throughout the century. Films such as Franco Zeffirelli's “Romeo and Juliet” follow the traditional route of attempting to create a carbon copy of the play, but instead is in film. Many films of the play attempt to stick extremely close to the text written by Shakespeare, through both dialogue and setting. There is one movie, however, that is different from all the other movies, is Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet,” set in a modern 1990s city named Verona. The atmosphere Baz Luhrmann...
Words: 979 - Pages: 4
...All Pun Intended Samantha Garapati Period 4: English Date: 30th May 2010 “Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down”(1.4.28); it doesn’t take the mind of a rocket scientist or a teenage boy to figure out the innuendo behind that quote. That’s precisely Shakespeare’s genius; people can enjoy his plays, whether they have the intellectually tuned minds of inventors or the less stimulated minds of cottars. Puns are one of the tools with which he accomplishes this popularity in all spectrums. Not only does he use puns to add rude humour to scenes with bawdy jokes to enhance the enjoyment of the public, he also uses it to indirectly characterize, adding dimension to characters. Finally, he also uses it to foreshadow approaching events, creating anticipation and tension in audiences. William Shakespeare’s primary use of pun is to add humour to scenes with bawdy jokes, thus providing audiences and readers comic relief and dissolving some of the tension of the previous and following scenes [T]. In the following quote, Shakespeare manages to both create the sexual imagery concerning virgins in readers’ minds and suggest that the best kind of wit is wit that is able to mould itself and accommodate many levels of meaning. Applying this to a larger subject, Shakespeare is suggesting that the best way to live life is to live on every level, base or intellectual. Our perception of life is essentially our personality, and our perspective is limited or broadened by our experiences...
Words: 1665 - Pages: 7
...In our teaching of Shakespearean film adaptation to undergraduates, one of the issues that frequently arises in class discussions is the question of how the visuality of the cinematic medium is constructed in tension against the verbal nature of Shakespeare's dialogue. The tension between the visual and verbal dimensions of filming Shakespeare is created on two levels: firstly, where the poetry of Shakespeare, functioning as word pictures that stimulate and enhance the imagination of the spectator is set against the capacity of film to show rather than tell; and secondly, where the adaptation negotiates with the canonicity of the Shakespearean text through the mode of the popular.[1] One recent example is Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996) in which the play was made to compete radically with what has been called Luhrmann's 'MTV'-inspired editing, pacing and styling. [2] Another is Branagh's Hamlet (1996), where the concentrated effort to retain every single line of the play created its own burden of visualisation.[3] The creative energy of a Shakespearean film adaptation is often sustained by the dynamic of creating a visual track to 'match' the play's dialogue; in other words, by the question of what images can be used to animate or do 'justice' to Shakespeare's text. Where Shakespeare on film had once been expected to retain the traits of 'high' theatre and art, complete with 'authentic' period costumes,[4] recent adaptations have become more adventurous, liberally adopting...
Words: 649 - Pages: 3
...In West Side Story’s opening scene ‘The Prologue’ we are introduced to two rival gangs The Jets and The Sharks. We see the Jets for the first time as they move swiftly and calmly through their neighbourhood performing smooth low level step ball changes and drag walks. Their movements develop, becoming bigger and sharper and when they meet their enemy for the first time they freeze in a low confrontational lunge which is mirrored by the musical accompaniment suddenly changing to silence. New York City’s battling neighbourhoods during the 1950’s became one of Jerome Robbins’ key influences and we see this clearly throughout the opening scene. His choreography visibly depicts the beginnings of a ‘turf battle’ between the rival gangs, establishing not only the emotional climate for the play that follows but also provides a warning of some of the impending action. As the lengthy ‘Prologue’ scene develops, the extent of the gang’s hatred for each other becomes much more evident through the choreography and use of physical setting. Towards the end of the scene we see Baby John, a member of the Jets, writing on a wall ‘The Sharks stink’, when suddenly he is surrounded by four members of the Sharks. He is then chased across the basketball court being pushed to the ground and kicked by his rivals. This represents the influences of gang violence and allows the audience to immediately see the dramatic feud between the gangs. Immigration was another of Robbins’s key influences as it was...
Words: 950 - Pages: 4
...ROMEO & JULIET Prologue (ACT 1) As a prologue to the play, the Chorus enters. In a fourteen-line sonnet, the Chorus describes two noble households (called “houses”) in the city of Verona. The houses hold an “ancient grudge” (Prologue.2) against each other that remains a source of violent and bloody conflict. The Chorus states that from these two houses, two “star-crossed” (Prologue.6) lovers will appear. These lovers will mend the quarrel between their families by dying. The story of these two lovers, and of the terrible strife between their families, will be the topic of this play. ANALYSIS This opening speech by the Chorus serves as an introduction to Romeo and Juliet. We are provided with information about where the play takes place, and given some background information about its principal characters. The obvious function of the Prologue as introduction to the Verona of Romeo and Juliet can obscure its deeper, more important function. The Prologue does not merely set the scene of Romeo and Juliet, it tells the audience exactly what is going to happen in the play. The Prologue refers to an ill-fated couple with its use of the word “star-crossed,” which means, literally, against the stars. Stars were thought to control people’s destinies. But the Prologue itself creates this sense of fate by providing the audience with the knowledge that Romeo and Juliet will die even before the play has begun. The audience therefore watches the play with the expectation that it must...
Words: 15625 - Pages: 63
...like: “Kindly kittens knitting mittens keep kazooing in the king's kitchen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Alice’s aunt ate apples and acorns around August. Becky’s beagle barked and bayed, becoming bothersome for Billy. Carries cat clawed her couch, creating chaos. Dan’s dog dove deep in the dam, drinking dirty water as he dove. Eric’s eagle eats eggs, enjoying each episode of eating. Examples of Alliteration Allusion “I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.” This refers to the story of Pinocchio, where his nose grew whenever he told a lie. It is from The Adventures of Pinocchio, written by Carlo Collodi. “When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn’t necessary.” Scrooge was an extremely stingy character from Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol. “I thought the software would be useful, but it was a Trojan Horse.” This refers to the horse that the Greeks built that contained all the soldiers. It was given as a gift to the enemy during the Trojan War and, once inside the enemy's walls, the soldiers broke out. By using trickery, the Greeks won the war. “He was a real Romeo with the ladies.” Romeo was a character in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, and was very romantic in expressing his love for Juliet. “Chocolate was her Achilles’ heel.” This means that her weakness was her love of chocolate. Achilles is a character in Greek mythology who was invincible. His mother dipped him in magical water when he was a baby, and she held him...
Words: 3244 - Pages: 13
...Some definitions of literary devices, techniques and style from searching via http://www.ferretsoft.com/ LITERARY DEVICES http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/lit.htm Literary devices refers to any specific aspect of literature, or a particular work, which we can recognize, identify, interpret and/or analyze. Both literary elements and literary techniques can rightly be called literary devices. Literary elements refers to aspects or characteristics of a whole text. They are not “used,” per se, by authors; we derive what they are from reading the text. Most literary elements can be derived from any and all texts; for example, every story has a theme, every story has a setting, every story has a conflict, every story is written from a particular point-of-view, etc. In order to be discussed legitimately, literary elements must be specifically identified for that text. Literary techniques refers to any specific, deliberate constructions of language which an author uses to convey meaning. An author’s use of a literary technique usually occurs with a single word or phrase, or a particular group of words or phrases, at one single point in a text. Unlike literary elements, literary techniques are not necessarily present in every text. Literary terms refers to the words themselves with which we identify and describe literary elements and techniques. They are not found in literature and they are not “used” by authors. Allegory:...
Words: 4700 - Pages: 19
...© 2010 Steve Campsall Here's how to write your best essay ever... Whatever the essay you have been asked to write, the key to making it as effective as it can be is to write it as a wellstructured and well-supported argument. You will find that an ‘argument’ essay is easier to plan, more fulfilling to write and for your teacher (or the examiner)... a pleasure to mark (and that’s no bad thing!!). It’s important to get one thing out of the way at the outset: an essay question has no ‘right’ answer. You can breathe easy on that one. It’s just not like that. This is English and we leave those kinds of ‘right answers’ to the mathematicians and scientists. An English essay is not an ‘answer’ in that way at all, rather, it’s an informed opinion; but, like all opinions, it’ll require explanation, argument and support. It requires you to argue your case. What’s the first thing you do when you set about starting an essay? Many people start by searching through the text on which their essay is based in the hope of finding suitable quotations to help ‘answer’ the essay question. Well, there’s no getting away from this basic process, but there are ways to make it altogether more efficient, useful and most importantly, more likely to earn a higher grade. More on this later. The Argument Essay The secret of a good essay? Write it as an argument for what you believe! What is there to argue about? Plenty! You’ll be arguing to support your point of view on the essay question - one that you’ve...
Words: 5570 - Pages: 23
...ARTS TEACHERS’ GUIDE Grade 9 ARTS Teacher’s Guide Unit I WESTERN CLASSICAL ART TRADITIONS GRADE 9 Unit 1 ARTS TEACHERS’ GUIDE GRADE 9 Unit 1 WESTERN CLASSICAL ART TRADITIONS LEARNING AREA STANDARD The learner demonstrates an understanding of basic concepts and processes in music and art through appreciation, analysis and performance for his/her self-development, celebration of his/her Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and expansion of his/her world vision. key - stage STANDARD The learner demonstrates understanding of salient features of music and arts of the Philippines and the world, through appreciation, analysis, and performance, for self-development, the celebration of Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and the expansion of one’s world vision. grade level STANDARD The learner demonstrates understanding of salient features of Western music and the arts from different historical periods, through appreciation, analysis, and performance for self-development, the celebration of Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and the expansion of one’s world vision. CONTENT STANDARDs The Learner: demonstrates understanding of art elements and processes by synthesizing and applying prior knowledge and skills demonstrates understanding that the arts are integral to the development of organizations, spiritual belief, historical events, scientific discoveries, natural disasters/ occurrences and other external phenomenon ...
Words: 32535 - Pages: 131
...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
Words: 239932 - Pages: 960
...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH LINDA NEAL UNDERWOOD S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare developed many stories into excellent dramatizations for the Elizabethan stage. Shakespeare knew how to entertain and involve an audience with fast-paced plots, creative imagery, and multi-faceted characters. Macbeth is an action-packed, psychological thriller that has not lost its impact in nearly four hundred years. The politically ambitious character of Macbeth is as timely today as he was to Shakespeare's audience. Mary McCarthy says in her essay about Macbeth, "It is a troubling thought that Macbeth, of all Shakespeare's characters, should seem the most 'modern,' the only one you could transpose into contemporary battle dress or a sport shirt and slacks." (Signet Classic Macbeth) Audiences today quickly become interested in the plot of a blindly ambitious general with a strong-willed wife who must try to cope with the guilt engendered by their murder of an innocent king in order to further their power. The elements of superstition, ghosts, and witchcraft, though more readily a part of everyday life for the Renaissance audience, remain intriguing to modern teenagers. The action-packed...
Words: 8499 - Pages: 34
...Narrative A narrative is a sequence of events that a narrator tells in story form. A narrator is a storyteller of any kind, whether the authorial voice in a novel or a friend telling you about last night’s party. Point of View The point of view is the perspective that a narrative takes toward the events it describes. First-person narration: A narrative in which the narrator tells the story from his/her own point of view and refers to him/herself as “I.” The narrator may be an active participant in the story or just an observer. When the point of view represented is specifically the author’s, and not a fictional narrator’s, the story is autobiographical and may be nonfictional (see Common Literary Forms and Genres below). Third-person narration: The narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” • Omniscient narration: The narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, and motivations of all of the characters. For example, the narrator of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina seems to know everything about all the characters and events in the story. • Limited omniscient narration: The narrator knows the actions, feelings, and motivations of only one or a handful of characters. For example, the narrator of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has full knowledge of only Alice. • Free indirect discourse: The narrator conveys a character’s inner thoughts...
Words: 12257 - Pages: 50
...INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR IN EARLY FILM One Film To Rule Them All In 1915, the blockbuster film, The Birth of a Nation swept the nation. In a pivotal scene, the attractive daughter of a former slave owner, whose cotton business had been ruined by the war, is stalked by a menacing looking black soldier, named Gus. He is shown with his shirt wide open and bare-chested. Flora, the stereotypical southern belle, notices the voyeur and is visibly shaken. Flora tries to hide from Gus, but Gus corners her and tells her that he wants her and that he is not married. Since the end of the Civil War, Flora has noticed several black soldiers in the area in the past few months harassing her family and other upstanding families. Gus forces Flora closer and tries to kiss her. In a panic, Flora slaps him and pushes him away. Flora flees into the woods. The ensuing pursuit shows Gus as a sex-crazed maniacal troll chasing down the seemingly innocent virginal fairy. Gus follows her absorbedly intent on raping her. Flora winds up on a cliff overlooking a series of jagged rocks. She stares at Gus and motions for him to leave her alone. In a silent ultimatum, she gesticulates that if he doesn’t leave then she’ll leap from the cliff to the rocks below. Gus is exposed as a beast, sweating and pulsating lustful desires. He moves closer to Flora to stop her from leaping. Unwilling to give herself to a black man and death being the only alternative, Flora jumps from the...
Words: 5187 - Pages: 21
...Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан Кокшетауский государственный университет им. Ш. Уалиханова An Outline of British Literature (from tradition to post modernism) Кокшетау 2011 УДК 802.0 – 5:20 ББК 81:432.1-923 № 39 Рекомендовано к печати кафедрой английского языка и МП КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, Ученым Советом филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, УМС КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова. Рецензенты: Баяндина С.Ж. доктор филологических наук, профессор, декан филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова Батаева Ф.А. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры «Переводческое дело» Кокшетауского университета им. А. Мырзахметова Кожанова К.Т. преподаватель английского языка кафедры гуманитарного цикла ИПК и ПРО Акмолинской области An Outline of British Literature from tradition to post modernism (on specialties 050119 – “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages”, 050205 – “Foreign Philology” and 050207 – “Translation”): Учебное пособие / Сост. Немченко Н.Ф. – Кокшетау: Типография КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, 2010 – 170 с. ISBN 9965-19-350-9 Пособие представляет собой краткие очерки, характеризующие английскую литературу Великобритании, ее основные направления и тенденции. Все известные направления в литературе иллюстрированы примерами жизни и творчества авторов, вошедших в мировую литературу благодаря...
Words: 82733 - Pages: 331
