Theatre - Scheuer
Shakespeare Unit
Lesson Plan: Create and Shape your Own Words. 85 Minutes
Student Worksheet
OBJECTIVE: Students will be able to infer the meaning of unfamiliar or difficult words in order to prepare themselves to analyze, memorize and perform a Shakespearean scene with a partner.
Students will learn the basic ways words are created in order to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s playfulness and inventiveness with language.
PART ONE: 15 Minutes
Terms:
Neologism:
Etymology:
Portmanteau:
Cognate:
Onomatopoeia:
Allusion:
Conversion:
Basic Ways Words are Created, Coined or Introduced into a language:
1.Semantic Loan: Borrowing from different languages...also might entail fusing together words from different languages. (for Shakespeare this entailed mainly the use of Anglo-Saxon and Latin.) Utilize Cognates
Examples:
Cafe, cliche, robot; Classical Music Terms from Italian (concerta, fermata, allegro, opera...) Ballet Terms from French (pirouette, aplomb, arabesque); Chewbacca (from Russian word for dog - собака = 'sobaka') Darth Vader (from dutch word for father, vader) "Dark Father"
Cognates: аэропорт=airport; видео=video; директор=director (Russian) absoluto=absolute; mapa=map; toxico=toxic
2.Portmanteau words
Examples: spork, bromance, breathalyzer, smog, brunch, brainiac
3.Onomatopoeia:
Examples: great source: comic books and graphic novels ("The Walking Dead" has great and gross examples); wramm, shukk, svash, kerchlunk, gakk
4. Allusions: literature, pop culture, historical events, technology.
Examples: edenic, quixotic, unfriend, google, handle (Twitter), hash-tag, taser, Xerox, Frisbee, Orwellian, Kafkaesque, socratic...
5. Conversion: Examples: green (from adjective to verb as in "go green"); medaled (as in received medals in Olympics); showcased; screened; incentivize
PART TWO: 10 Minutes
Clues in figuring out the meanings of word:
1. Contextual clues: is the word a noun, adjective or verb? Put the word in context with the other words in the sentence or thought.
2. How does the word sound; are there many hard, plosive consonants - or hissing "s" sounds? Does the word have short or long vowel sounds? Does the word 'resplendent' sound good? How about 'unctuous'?
3. Do you recognize a part of the word? Prefix, suffix? Mal-, dis-, un-, pre-, -ment, -tion
4. Recognize a reference or allusion?
5. What are other strategies can you use?
Example Exercise:
**How can you figure out the gist of this passage? Look for the contextual clues (like the words pier and embark…)?
Henry V
Act III.
Chorus:
Thus with imagined wing our swift scene flies
In motion of no less celerity
Than that of thought. Suppose that you have seen
The well-appointed King at Hampton pier
Embark his royalty, and his brave fleet
With silken streamers the young Phoebus fanning.
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The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
** Discuss why you can still enjoy this piece without understanding everything...
(If you are having a hard time "getting" this piece - try reading it out loud, be sure
to read it with "feeling" like it's a scary or exciting campfire story.)
PART THREE: 1 Hour
Activity 1: (15 Minutes)
Create 5 of your own words. Write them down on your sheet of paper, with their definitions (you must decide what the word means)?
Guidelines:
* Words have to be a noun, verb or adjective.
*You must Create a word, using one of the basic strategies:
-Using words from another language we don't already use
-Portmanteau words (fusing two or more words together to create a new word… this is not a compound word.)
-Onomatopoeia
-Allusion - (the word is based off of a pop culture, technological, historical or literary reference.)
- Conversion
***Do not share your words or definitions with anyone else***
Activity 2: (15 Minutes)
Students will break up into pairs.
Students will share their words with their partner. Together they will write a small scene in which they use 6 of their invented words (each partner must contribute 3 words.)
Guidelines:
1. They must use 6 words (3 from each partner). They must underline the invented words in the script. They will NOT provide the definitions of the words on their script.
2. Their script must be written out in the following format:
CHARACTER 1: Blah Blah
CHARACTER 2: Blah Blah
CHARACTER 1: Blah Blah
CHARACTER 2: Blah Blah
CHARACTER 1: Blah Blah
(This standardized format will make it easier for another pair to read your script.)
3. You must use your words in context. You must know the definition of each word.
4. You must create 2 complete copies of the script.
5. You must write legibly so other people can read your script without effort.
6. The script must have about 3 interactions (6 lines.)
7. Scene will not be long, but should have clear beginning, middle and end.
Scene Situations:
You may use one of the following scenarios or make up your own.
- A couple argues about what movie they are going to see tonight.
- A friend accidentally spills something on the other friend during lunch.
- Parent and child argue about whether the child can go to a concert.
- Child begs for new car for their 16th birthday.
- Younger sibling just broke older sibling’s brand new iPod.
Activity 3: (15 Minutes)
Each pair will pass their script on to another pair. Each pair will analyze the new script and determine the definitions of the underlined words by applying the following strategies:
*Finding Contextual Clues
*Identify any part of the word you recognize
*Analyzing the sound of the word
*Analyzing it for any familiar references/allusions.
Each pair will then synthesize their understanding of the words and their acting skills to rehearse the scene. Their objective is to make the unfamiliar words as clear as possible to the audience.
Activity 4: (15 Minutes)
Each pair will perform the scene for the class - making as clear as possible the unfamiliar words to the audience. The class will guess the meanings of the unfamiliar words. The pair that created the new words will reveal the true definitions.
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Script: 25 unassisted Points; Performance: 25 unassisted Points
Theatre - Scheuer
Create Your Own Words
Performance Rubric
25 Points; Unassisted
Student Name…………………………….. Class Period………….
Partner’s Name………………………………………………………………
Performance Rubric
Scale: 1= Poor, 2 = Below Expectations, 3= Meet Expectations,
4 = Above Expectations, 5= Excellent
Performance / Points Awarded / CommentsIs the student’s performance active – are they trying to affect their partner(s)?
Do they “own” the text? Do they understand what they are saying?
Is their performance “stage-worthy,” do they fill the space with their voice?
Do they speak clearly enough?
Do they have high energy throughout the piece?
Total:
Additional Observations
Theatre - Scheuer
Create Your Own Words
Script Rubric
25 Points; Unassisted
Student Names…………………………….. Class Period………….
………………………………………………………………
Script Rubric
Scale: 1= Poor, 2 = Below Expectations, 3= Meet Expectations,
4 = Above Expectations, 5= Excellent
Performance / Points Awarded / CommentsDoes the script contain 6 invented words based off of the 5 basic strategies of creating a neologism?
Did each partner fairly contribute 3 words each?
Are the invented words used in a clear context?
Does the script have a clear beginning, middle and end?
Are there two clear and legible copies of the script?
Total:
Additional Observations:
Theatre - Scheuer
Shakespeare’s Language:
According to William Shakespeare Elizabethan Dictionary ( the average Elizabethan had a vocabulary of 500 words. However, Shakespeare used over 20,000 words throughout the course of his career! This means that most of his audience members were in the same boat as we are – they were hearing many of his words for the first time. In spite of this, Shakespeare’s plays were extremely popular (his theatre received about 2000 patrons a day!) This is because Elizabethans were used to wordplay and greatly enjoyed invention, innovation and experimentation.
However, once again we are not so different; according to The Global Language Monitor ( a new word is added into English every 98 minutes! Although, no one really knows how many words there are in English, GLM claims that English has recently reached its one millionth word on June 10, 2009! It sounds like we also are living in a time of invention, innovation and experimentation. We just need to reclaim the joy and playfulness of unfamiliar and difficult words.
Experts cannot agree on how many words Shakespeare actually created or “coined,” but the standard guess is that he created around 1700 words and 500 of these we still use today. Below you will find a small sampling of his words that you still use today.
accommodation
aerial
amazement
apostrophe
assassination
auspicious
baseless
bloody
bump
castigate
changeful
clangor
control (noun)
countless
courtship
critic
critical
dexterously
dishearten
dislocate
dwindle
eventful
exposure
fitful
frugal
generous
gloomy
gnarled
hurry
impartial
inauspicious
indistinguishable
invulnerable
lapse
laughable
lonely
majestic
misplaced
monumental
multitudinous
obscene
palmy
perusal
pious
premeditated
radiance
reliance
road
sanctimonious
seamy
sportive
submerge
suspicious