...Analytic essay of ”Shakespeare – writing essays about…” As times get more modern, it is not a secret that Shakespeare’s written work is getting less read. The language today has gotten so modern and slangy, that people no longer care for lengthy sentences or strenuous words, as we see in his work. We are even beginning to make up our own words like “obvs” or “OMG”, which doesn’t necessarily originate from too lengthy words nor sentences. Are we generally just getting lazier? Or are we still building a language, which still customizes to an entirely new generation? No matter what the reason is, then the act of making up words is not unheard of. Shakespeare himself invented no less than 1700 of our common words by just connecting words who was never before used together, devising words wholly original and changing nouns into verbs and vice versa. The essay “Shakespeare – writing essays about…” is written by Dr. Robert Beddow for a website called The Education Wizard. Dr. Beddow studied English and History of Art at Gonville and Caius College and later became a lecturer at Cambridge University. Dr. Beddow starts off his essay by being a bit amicable and anecdotal, which gives us a feeling that we know him personally. His use of slang and ironic language also makes his essay suitable for the young audience, which is also intended as the receiver. Another sign of this is the media he has chosen to advocate on. It is by no means a coincidence that the new generation Z, which is...
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...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...
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...When Shakespeare was a kid going to grammar school, a school open to boys only by the way! they learned Latin, Greek and rhetoric, persuasion through logical argument. Students read Latin and Greek writers to learn about the history of ancient Greece and "the glory that was Rome” and this material was translated by them into English or French after many hours of work. I'm glad the school curriculum of the 21 st century has evolved and we no longer spend our days doing boring stuff like that! Their old-fashioned, subjects that have little relevance in the modern world of the internet and space travel. The question is: shouldn't we allow our education system to further evolve and file Shakespeare in the same drawer where we've stuck Homer, Plato and Ovid? Given the society of North America in the 21 st century, Shakespeare's relevance is declining with each new technical advance. The purpose of this essay is to prove isn't it time to address this question head on, even at the risk of causing legions of English teachers to collapse in horror? Speaking to the world may be the least of the challenges facing those who want the teaching of Shakespeare. Shakespeare's English is the language as they spoke it 400 years ago. It is as ancient and antiquated and old as the Latin and Greek I spoke about in my introduction. Watch any class of high school students tackle Shakespeare and the first book you'll see on theredesks is a student guide of notes explaining who characters are, the plot...
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...difficult read! Macbeth is definitely a difficult read, but it is also a very good read. There is something about the way it is written that has you raising your eyebrow and widening your eyes, as well as, questioning what was just read. Shakespeare used many elements when writing Macbeth. He was able to express each and every idea vividly using the elements. The three elements that I chose to discuss in this essay are foreshadowing, symbolism, and language. The first element that I would like to discuss is foreshadowing. A lot of foreshadowing took place in Macbeth. Clugston defines foreshadowing as “a technique a writer uses to hint or suggest what the outcome of an important conflict or situation in a narrative will be” (2010). Sometimes when foreshadowing is used in Macbeth it is very unclear of what the outcome will be. When you read a certain part and think one thing, Shakespeare uses foreshadowing and the reader is left asking questions and wondering what will happen, and why. In Act 1 Scene 1, the three witches are talking about Macbeth. They are discussing Macbeth’s future during thunder and lightning. I believe that not only does the witches conversation lead the reader to believe that something will happen, but the thunder and lightning also play an important role in what is to come for Macbeth. In scene 3, the witches appear again. This time they are not alone. Macbeth and Banquo are also there and see the witches. This first time was a very important part of the...
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...Calvin Klein, for instance, recently ran a series of magazine ads featuring a nearly nude Kate Moss in positions that suggest bestiality, masturbation, and violence. If we care at all about the kinds of sexual messages being presented to our children, then ads like this one are simply unacceptable. It is the responsibility of the U.S. government to create a new agency whose role it will be to monitor the use of sexual content in magazine advertisements. 2) Most contemporary literary critics agree that ‘William Shakespeare’ designates an actual person who lived from 1564-1616 in England. Recent evidence, however, suggests that ‘Shakespeare’ was actually a name used by various Renaissance writers who wanted to remain anonymous. If this is the case, then nearly four hundred years of Shakespeare criticism will have to be re-evaluated, if not totally dismissed. The present essay will argue that there are indeed good reasons for believing that ‘William Shakespeare’ never existed, thus requiring a fundamental paradigm shift in our understanding of Shakespeare’s hegemony in Renaissance literature. 3) The familiar debate among philosophers of mind over the identity of brain states and mental states has been given a new twist by Frank Jackson. Jackson argues that there exist certain phenomenal qualia—qualities of experience—that do not ever simply correspond to an existing...
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...English 175-‐02: Introduction to Literary Genres Instructor: Aaron Schab aschab@uidaho.edu 209 Brink Hall Department of English University of Idaho Course Meets: Life Sciences South 163 Monday/Wednesday/Friday 9:30 am – 10:20 am January 9, 2013 – May 10, 2013 Course Description In this class, we will learn about the basic conventions and terms used to understand and discuss the three major genres of literature: fiction, poetry, and drama. This class will help you understand the sometimes baffling world of literature, and is intended to provide the general student with basic experience in literary analysis. Additionally, I hope this class will lead you to a lifelong appreciation for (and engagement with) reading literature. Although this class features extensive reading and writing, it is not necessary for you to be a bookworm or a writing superstar to succeed in this class – if you ...
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...characters, and themes. The play’s action is easily understood, the character’s motives are clear, and many of the themes are as current today as they were in Shakespeare’s time. Therefore, it can be read on a variety of levels, allowing all students to enjoy it. Less able readers can experience the swash-buckling action and investigate the themes of parent-child conflict, sexuality, friendship, and suicide. Because of the play’s accessibility to teenagers, able readers can view the play from a more literary perspective, examining the themes of hostility ad its effect on the innocent, the use of deception and its consequences, and the effects of faulty decision making. They can study how the characters function within the drama and how Shakespeare uses language to develop plot, characters, and themes. The most able students can develop skills involved in literary criticism by delving into the play’s comic and tragic elements and its classically tragic themes: the role of fate and fortune, the inevitable nature of tragedy, and the isolation of the tragic hero. This teacher’s guide will be divided into several parts: (1) a brief literary overview, including a synopsis and commentary on the play; (2) suggestions for teaching the play, including activities, discussion questions, and essay topics to be used before, during, and...
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...Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet is among the best ever written, and perhaps the very best. Why do the literary critics say this? In this essay let’s examine the play to see what makes it a prizewinner. Phyllis Abrahms and Alan Brody in “Hamlet and the Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy Formula” give some detail about the reasons for the undying popularity of this play: No play demonstrates the power and glory of Shakespeare’s tragic vision more than Hamlet, which for over 350 years has excited us with its action, its insight, its brilliant language. Hamlet is an unparalleled adventure story, complete with suspense, intrigue, murder – even a battle at sea with pirates. It is a play of intense emotional and physical violence. Yet underlying all of this are some of the most profound explorations of the mysteries of human existence. (43) This play is ranked by many as the very greatest ever written. Cumberland Clark in “The Supernatural in Hamlet” gives the consensus regarding Hamlet that exists among literary critics of today: At least six or seven years pass after the writing of Midsummer Night’s Dream before we find Shakespeare engaged on Hamlet, the second of the great plays with an important Supernatural element, and, in the opinion of many, the greatest tragedy ever penned. (99) There is no more exalted ranking than the above. Richard A. Lanham in the essay “Superposed Plays” maintains that no other English tragedy has generated the literary...
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.... ] Breaking the Book Known as Q Readers, in fact, never confront abstract, idealized texts detached from any materiality. ey hold in their hands or perceive objects and forms whose structures and modalities govern their reading or hearing, and consequently the possible comprehension of the text read or heard. —Roger Chartier O let my books be then the eloquence . . . —“23” Shake-speares Sonnets I COLEMAN HUTCHISON is a PhD candidate in the Department of English at Northwestern University. He is completing a dissertation entitled “Revision, Reunion, and the American Civil War Text.” N THE FIRST SENTENCE OF HER ART OF SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS, Helen Vendler tells a little white lie: “I have reprinted both the 1609 quarto Sonnets and a modernized version of my own” (xiii). e crux of this declaration is “reprinted.” Vendler does indeed print a version of the 1609 quarto—or “Q,” as it is referred to bibliographically; one could even say that she “reprints” the type of the quarto. Vendler does not, however, “reprint” the 1609 quarto Sonnets. Like nearly every modern editor before her, Vendler presents the poems as discrete units on a page, eliding and ignoring the page breaks that so o en—and, I will argue, so meaningfully—interrupt the poems. In “reprinting” these poems, Vendler uses a de cut-and-paste method to rearrange, re-member, and reconstitute the type of the 1609 quarto into uninterrupted material units, into what we would visually recognize as “sonnets.” e...
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...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 boldly stated...
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...produced thirty seven play. Although Shakespeare has died more than four hundred year ago, he is still very famous around the world today. William Shakespeare was born on April 23rd , 1564. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. The people of England still celebrate his birthday today, it is known as the feast of St. George. He was the third child of eight children. ("William Shakespeare." Wikipedia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At a time John Shakespeare became a mayor of Stratford, which allowed young William...
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...Cause and Effect Essay – Elizabethan Target Audience “Always mystify, torture, mislead, and surprise the audience as much as possible (Roff).” Hamlet is a dramatic production written by William Shakespeare. “The play, set in the Kingdom of Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering the old King Hamlet, Claudius's own brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and marrying Gertrude, the King Hamlet's widow and mother of Prince Hamlet ("Hamlet”).” Shakespeare’s main objective was to impress his Elizabethan audience because entertainment through theater was extremely important to everyone in the era ("Elizabethan Theater"). Shakespeare successfully captivated an Elizabethan audience with this production (“Hamlet”). This essay will explain how an Elizabethan audience was targeted by Hamlet’s final monologue (act 4, lines 32-66). This speech effectively targeted and engaged an Elizabethan audience because its format, mentions of revenge and exciting nature caused the audience to sympathise with Hamlet’s decisions and feelings, and become enthusiastic and involved in the play. The format of this speech is a key factor which explains why the Elizabethan audience is effectively targeted. This speech is written and delivered in the form of a soliloquy. This means that it is an “uninterrupted speech delivered by a single character to the audience but not to other characters” (Jaber Al-Ogaili 48). Soliloquies are a...
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...through history have written about love, this essay will examine how love is presented in 2 poems. In 16 century William Shakespeare wrote Sonnet 130(1564-1616) sonnet 130 is one of Shakespeare’s most famous conventional and traditional love sonnets. He wrote a series of love poems to a woman named Laura. The scholars imagined the poem as "The Dark Lady." This poem is a love poem, the first 12 lines are described about her hair, the colour of her skin being negative, then on the last 2 lines he admire he loves her no matter how she looks. When we talk about “love” poem, the first thing come up from your mind is something like cajolery you'd find in a Valentine's Day card. Old love poems bring to mind flowery language and the kind of unrealistic glop that you could never bring yourself to say with a straight face. However sonnet 130 uses honesty to present the woman he loves, unlike other sonnet uses excessive or insincere praise to present love. Shakespeare presents love by metaphor He starts the poem out with a simile comparing his mistress' eyes to the sun. He then quickly switches over to using the metaphors to compare the rest of his mistress' characteristics, such as her breasts to snow and hair to wires. The rhyme scheme for the poem is “ababcdcdefefgg” The stress pattern in weak, strong, weak, and strong and Shakespeare. Also uses long vowel sounds. In line 4 the poet says "If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. As read in the 21th century it has the implication...
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...contains books. The main theme of this book is censorship, the society in this book is censored by their government. This is why they burn books so know one reads and everything is uniform. The book begins with a character named Montag. He is fireman and has been for 10 years, he never questioned his job till he met a young girl named Clarisse. She asks him this question on page 7 "Are you happy?" This question really effects his and he thinks about it a...
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...reader can deny that the masterpiece written by Shakespeare is truly remarkable. However, there is debate as to whether the play was written to tell a story about a war hero who ascends to the peak of Italian military ranks and fell off due to his insecurities, or for Shakespeare to present an allegory narrating the chaos in seventeenth century England. The assertion made declaring Othello to be an allegory is very compelling. Just like an artist chooses every stroke of their painting, in Othello, Shakespeare’s words are all determined very conscientiously. This could potentially mean he was crafting a perfect narration to provoke the leaders of his time about the imperfections of the society they live in. The underlying themes throughout the book are extremely plausible claims in order to draw a parallel to an allegory. The most profound theme in Othello is how love can present shameful aspects and hereby, make someone act irrationally. Reputation is a compelling reason for why Othello acts aberrantly. He is proud of the reputation and power he had works so diligently for, therefore, he was not going to let it crumble. Lastly, Othello was an African leader in the Italian military, which was particularly irregular in that era. This feeds into his profound insecurities because he is looked at as an outlier. Clearly, Shakespeare was using this to show how racism is distasteful and people during that time need to end bigotry. Shakespeare is very clearly crafting an allegory with Othello...
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