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Shakespeare - R&J 2021: Shakespeare's Language & Play

Shakespeare's Language & Play

Learning Targets

  • Today I will play with the language of Shakespeare and begin learning about the characters & themes in Romeo and Juliet.
  • So that I can:
    • Learn about Old English, Middle English, and Modern English (Shakespeare’s English!)
    • Reflect on the characters and themes of Romeo & Juliet. 
  • I'll know I'm successful when I can explain why Shakespeare’s language is so tricky to understand and create a character map, illustrating the roles and relationships of characters in R&J. 

Today's Activities: Click each TAB

 

Old English, Middle English, and Modern English

 

Directions: As you learn about Shakespeare's language through the presentation, complete the handout (linked in your teacher's Google Classroom). 

Old English - Beowulf

Hwæt! We Gardena         in geardagum, 
þeodcyninga,         þrym gefrunon, 
hu ða æþelingas         ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing         sceaþena þreatum, 
5monegum mægþum,         meodosetla ofteah, 
egsode eorlas.         Syððan ærest wearð 
feasceaft funden,         he þæs frofre gebad, 
weox under wolcnum,         weorðmyndum þah, 
oðþæt him æghwylc         þara ymbsittendra 
10ofer hronrade         hyran scolde, 
gomban gyldan.         þæt wæs god cyning! 
ðæm eafera wæs         æfter cenned, 
geong in geardum,         þone god sende 
folce to frofre;         fyrenðearfe ongeat 

Middle English: The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote 
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote, 
And bathed every veyne in swich licour 
Of which vertu engendred is the flour; 
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth 
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth 
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne 
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne, 
And smale foweles maken melodye, 
That slepen al the nyght with open ye 
(so priketh hem nature in hir corages); 
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, 
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, 
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; 
And specially from every shires ende 
Of engelond to caunterbury they wende, 
The hooly blisful martir for to seke, 
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. 

 

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Modern English: William Shakespeare's Sonnets & Plays

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

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 dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st 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.

Shakespearean Insults & Social Offenses

Complete the Shakespearean Insults & Social Offenses activities (linked in your teacher's Google Classroom) and discuss with the class. Based on these ideas, what predictions do you have about the language and the plot of Romeo and Juliet? 

Read about the Play and Characters:  

  1. Open the PDF by clicking on the image below.
  2. Read about Romeo and Juliet and discuss the information with your class.  

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Learn about the Characters & Relationships: 

  1. Review the character list linked HERE
  2. Create a character map for the main characters in the play; the assignment and directions are posted in Google Classroom.