Week 7: Poetic Language: Couplets, Quatrain, and Rhyme Royal

Week 7: Poetic Language: Couplets, Quatrain, and Rhyme Royal

Quantrain

a verse/stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.

Example: Hamlet Act III Scene 2 page 114

Player Queen

(a) O! confound the rest;

(a) Such love must needs be treason in my breast;

(b) In second husband let me be accurst;

(b) None wed the second but who kill’d the first.


Couplets

two lines of verse, usually in the same meter, two successive rhyming lines in a verse

Example: Act II Scene 2 page 79

Polonius

…That we find out the cause of this effect,

Or rather say, the cause of this defect,…

Example: Act I Scene 4 page 57

Hamlet

…By Heaven! I’ll make a ghost of him that lets me:

I say away! Go on, I’ll follow thee.


Rhyme Royal

Definition of rhyme royal. : a stanza of seven lines in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ababbcc.

Example: In The Rape of Lucrece, Shakespeare used a seven-line stanza with a rhyme scheme of ababbcc.

(a)  Even in this thought through the dark night he stealeth,

(b)  A captive victor that hath lost in gain;

(a)  Bearing away the wound that nothing healeth,

(b)  The scar that will despite of cure remain;

(b)  Leaving his spoil perplex’d in greater pain.

(c)  She bears the load of lust he left behind,

(c)  And he the burden of a guilty mind.

Here are the writing assignments from Week 2-7.  You can still do these and turn them in!



Week 2: What is a stereotype and do we have them today?



Week 3: Is usury morally wrong?



Week 4: Comparing the stories in Num 15:32-36 and John 8:2-11 it appears that God contradicts    Himself.  Does He?  Explain.



Week 5: Which is more important - romantic love or friendship? Why?



Week 6: Write a report on a mythical character.



Week 7: When evil is done to someone, do they become evil? Explain.





Bonus Questions:



Week 2: Why did they build the city of Venice?



Week 3: Why are ships called Argosies?



Week 4: What is the definition of irony?



Week 5: What is the hat called that the Jews wear?



Week 6: Where is Morocco?  Where is Arragon?



Week 7: What are the scriptural teachings on money lending?

Week 6

In class we read Act II Scene 7-9 in The Merchant of Venice.  We learned about iambic pentameter, blank verse, and prose.


Beginning in Act 2, Scene 2, why does Shakespeare change Hamlet’s language from  (iambic pentameter) to prose for much of the rest of the play?

Remember, Blank verse has 10 syllables

Example of blank verse:

HAMLET:

but, WOE is ME, you ARE so SICK of LATE,

so FAR from CHEER and FROM your FORMer STATE,

that I disTRUST you. YET, though I disTRUST,

disCOMfort YOU, my LORD, it NOthing MUST.



Shakespeare's plays: generally speaking, the nobility (like Antonio, Portia, and Bassanio) tend to speak in blank verse, which is a pretty formal way to talk. The commoners, or "everyday Joes" (like Gobbo and Lancelot), tend to speak like we do, in regular old prose.

Example of blank verse (remember, 10 syllables):

(Merchant of Venice Act I Scene 1)

in SOOTH, i KNOW not WHY i AM so SAD

it WEARies ME; you SAY it WEARies YOU



Not everyone in the play speaks in verse. Ordinary folks, as we've said, don't speak in any special rhythm—they just talk. Here's an example where Antonio's servant delivers a message in plain old prose:

Example of Prose:

(Merchant of Venice Act III Scene 1)

Gentlemen, my master Antonio is at his house and

desires to speak with you both.



-I will be handing out a short homework assignment next week in class on iambic pentameter.


Here are the writing assignments from Week 2-6.  You can still do these and turn them in!

Week 2: What is a stereotype and do we have them today?

Week 3: Is usury morally wrong?

Week 4: Comparing the stories in Num 15:32-36 and John 8:2-11 it appears that God contradicts   Himself.  Does He?  Explain.

Week 5: Which is more important - romantic love or friendship? Why?

Week 6: Write a report on a mythical character.


Bonus Questions:

Week 2: Why did they build the city of Venice?

Week 3: Why are ships called Argosies?

Week 4: What is the definition of irony?

Week 5: What is the hat called that the Jews wear?

Week 6: Where is Morocco?  Where is Arragon?

Vocabulary Share:

October 23rd

Octavius (Ian)

Presentation:

October 23rd

Fabian (Dean)

Weapons

&

Desdemona (Emma) 

Who gets an education? What? Why?

Week 4

Week 4

This week we read Act II scenes 1-3 in The Merchant of Venice.

Writing Assignment:

Comparing the stories in Num 15:32-36 and John 8:2-11 it appears that God contradicts Himself. 

Does He?  Explain.

Bonus Question:

What is the definition of irony?

Presentation:

October 9th

Francisco (Hap)

Vocabulary Share:

October 9^th

Alice (Bella)

Presentation:

October 16^th

Octavious (Ian)

Vocabulary Share:

October 16^th

Ursula (Trinity)