Questions to answer from your introduction to Shakespeare (Elements of Literature, pp. 596-601). Turn page one in for a grade (13% for each correct answer).
     
    1.  What was the name of Shakespeare’s theater? (p. 596) Why might that be?
     
     
     
    2.  Using the information on page 596 and the cutaway on page 597, circle the diagram below that more accurately looks like Shakespeare’s theater (from above):

     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    3.  According to the introduction, what major difference is there between movies and theater?

     
     
    4.  Who wrote one of the versions of the Romeo and Juliet story before Shakespeare did?
     

    5.  According to the introduction, how does Shakespeare’s version differ in theme from that earlier version?

     

    6.  Your introduction, on p. 598, refers to fate. What else does that introduction say about how things turn out?

     
    7.  Your introduction claims that Romeo is a “less interesting” character (p. 599), especially compared with Juliet. Use this T chart to show what you will be looking for in these characters, according to the introduction:

     

     
     
    Some of this play is in prose (the form of language that you speak and write in, usually); other parts are in poetry, which here uses rhythm but not, usually, rhyme. However, your introduction points out one form of rhyme in this play—couplets. What is a couplet? What does Shakespeare usually use couplets for?
     
    As you read, you will need to use the glossary and notes in the margins, because Shakespeare wrote in Early Modern English, which has changed as it became Modern English. You will see differences in vocabulary and in grammar.
     
    Here is a quick guide to some changes in grammar:
     
    First of all, in the present tense singular, Early Modern English used verb endings that we don’t use and used a pronoun that we don’t use-- thou
     
    Early Mod. Engl.  Modern English
    I go  I go
    Thou goest  You go
    He/She/It goeth  He/She/It goes
     
    We go
    You go
    They go.
     
    The accusative form of “thou” was “thee”; the possessive was “thy.”
     
    Usually, “thou” was singular and familiar, so that you could use it for your friend, and your parent could use it for you. But “you” was either singular and polite (so that you could use it for your parent) or was plural. Try this out:
     
    Shakespeare is telling a story to a friend, and at the climax the friend stops listening. Would Shakespeare say, “I beg thee pay attention,” or “I beg you to pay attention”?
     
    Shakespeare is telling a story to his father, and at the climax his father stops listening. Would Shakespeare say, “I beg thee pay attention,” or “I beg you to pay attention”?
     
    Okay, are you ready to tackle the first scene?
    The play begins with a fight between two groups of servants, one from the house of Capulet and the other from the house of Montague. In the first thirty lines of the play, the servants of the house of Capulet are joking, but then are interrupted by two servants from the opposing house.
    You could skip lines 1-29, starting with the appearance of two servants from the house of Montague. Think about how you could stage this scene: what is the tone of the servants—are they angry, fearful, proud?
     
    “I beseech you, follow straight.”

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