Dramatic Literature Notes

Who was William Shakespeare?

  • William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays:

______, ______, and ______.

  • He composed about 154 ______and a few poems.
  • He started his career as an ______.

What happened in Shakespeare’s early life?

  • William Shakespeare was born around ______.
  • He went to grammar school where he studied ______, ______, and ______(the use of language).
  • He married ______and had three children, ______, ______, and ______.

What happened in Shakespeare’s later life?

  • 1594 - became shareholder in a company of actors called ______.
  • 1599 - Lord Chamberlain’s Co. built the ______where most ofShakespeare’s plays were performed.
  • 1599 - Actor for Lord Chamberlain’s Men and principal playwright for them
  • 1603 – James I became king of England; acting company renamed ______.
  • 1610 – Shakespeare retired to ______.
  • 1616 – died at the age of ______.

Why is Shakespeare still famous?

  • His plays portray recognizable people in situations we ______in our lives: love, marriage, death, mourning, guilt, the need to make difficult choices, separation, reunion and reconciliation
  • His plays teach lessons with great humanity, tolerance, and wisdom.
  • His plays are constantly fresh and can be adapted to the ______and ______they are performed.
  • The language is expressive and powerful.
  • They help us to understand what it is to be human, and to ______.

What is important about the language Shakespeare used?

  • Shakespeare used over ______words in his works.
  • The average writer uses ______.
  • The English Dictionary of his time only had ______words.
  • He’s credited with creating ______words in the English Oxford Dictionary.
  • He was by far the most important ______influence on the development of the modern English language.
  • He invented lots of words that we use in our daily speech.

What are some words invented by Shakespeare?

accommodation
amazement
assassination
baseless
bloody
bump
castigate
changeful
control (noun)
countless
courtship
critic / eventful
exposure
frugal
generous
gloomy
hurry
impartial
indistinguishable
invulnerable
laughable
lonely
majestic / misplaced
monumental
obscene
pious
premeditated
radiance
reliance
road
sportive
submerge
suspicious

What are the elements of dramatic literature?

  • Dramatic literature has a 5 part structure that matches the 5 acts in a play.
  • Exposition(introduction)
  • Establishes ______, setting, main characters, ______
  • Fills in events previous to play
  • Rising action
  • Series of ______for the protagonist (main character)
  • Flows from the main conflict
  • Crisis or Climax
  • Turning point in story
  • Moment of ______for protagonist
  • Forces of conflict come together
  • Falling action
  • Results of protagonist’s decision
  • Maintains ______
  • Resolution or Denouement
  • Conclusion of play
  • Unraveling of ______
  • May include characters’ ______

What are some dramatic techniques?

  • Pun: play on words involving
  • Word with more than one ______
  • Words with similar sounds
  • Soliloquy
  • Speech of moderate to long length
  • Spoken by one actor ______on stage (or not heard by other actors)
  • Aside
  • Direct address by actor to ______
  • Not supposed to be overheard by other characters

What was the Globe Theater?

  • 3 stories: Levels 1 and 2 used for seating/acting
  • Backstage: dressing and storage areas
  • Upper Stage: (Level 3) could represent balcony, walls of a castle, bridge of a ship
  • Resembled courtyard of an inn
  • The state was a large platform without a curtain or a stage setting
  • 2 ornate (fancy) pillars supported canopy
  • Stage roof (underpart of canopy)
  • called “the heavens”
  • elaborately painted to depict the sun, moon, stars, planets
  • Trap doors: entrances and exits of ghosts; area under stage called Hell
  • 2 large doors at back: actors made entrances and exits in front of audience
  • Inner stage: a recess with balcony area above
  • Floor: ash mixed with hazelnut shells from snacks audience ate during performance
  • Effect on performance: plays held in afternoon
  • No roof
  • No artificial lighting
  • No scenery

Who acted in Shakespeare’s plays?

  • During Shakespeare’s time, actors formed groups called______.
  • These groups developed from the medieval trade guilds.
  • Members of these groups were:
  • Only boys and men
  • Young boys performed ______roles

Who was in the audience?

  • 2000-3000 people from all walks of life
  • Well-to-do spectators sat in covered galleries around stage
  • Most stood in yard around platform stage – “groundlings”

Closing Activity (3-2-1)

Write 3 things you learned about William Shakespeare.

Write 2 new vocabulary words/definitions.

Write 1 question you have.