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The Language of William Shakespeare Pre-reading Notes

AP English Literature and Language. The Language of William Shakespeare Pre-reading Notes. Shakespeare’s Grammar. 1. 3. 2. Syntax. Usage Shift. Rhetorical Devices. We know what we are, but know not what we may be. - Shakespeare. 1. Syntax.

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The Language of William Shakespeare Pre-reading Notes

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  1. AP English Literature and Language The Language of William Shakespeare Pre-reading Notes

  2. Shakespeare’s Grammar 1 3 2 Syntax Usage Shift. Rhetorical Devices We know what we are, but know not what we may be. - Shakespeare

  3. 1 Syntax The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

  4. Syntax Part 1 The most common simple sentence in modern English follows a familiar pattern: Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (O). To illustrate this, we'll devise a subject (John), a verb (caught), and an object (the ball). Thus, we have an easily understood sentence, "John caught the ball." This is as perfectly an understood sentence in modern English as it was in Shakespeare's day. However, Shakespeare was much more at liberty to switch these three basic components—and did, quite frequently. Shakespeare used a great deal of SOV inversion, which renders the sentence as "John the ball caught." This order is commonly found in Germanic languages (moreso in subordinate clauses), from which English derives much of its syntactical foundation.1

  5. Another reason for Shakespeare's utilization of this order may be more practical. The romance languages of Italian and French introduced rhymed verse; Anglo-Saxon poetry was based on rhythm, metrical stresses, and alliteration within lines rather than rhymed couplets. With the introduction of rhymed poetic forms into English literature (and, since the Norman invasion, an injection of French to boot), there was a subsequent shift in English poetry. To quote John Porter Houston, "Verbs in Old French and Italian make handy rimes, and they make even better ones in English because so many English verbs are monosyllabic. The verse line or couplet containing a subject near the beginning and a verb at the end is a natural development."2 Of course, Shakespeare wrote a great deal of work in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter); when he wasn't rhyming, what was he thinking? Frankly, Elizabethans allowed for a lot more leeway in word order, and Shakespeare not only realized that, he took advantage of it. By utilizing inverted word orders, Shakespeare could effectively place the metrical stress wherever he needed it most—and English is heavily dependent on vocal inflection, which is not so easily translated into writing, to suggest emphasis and meaning. In his usage of order inversion, however, Shakespeare could compensate for this literary shortcoming. Syntax: Part 2

  6. Syntax Part 3 Shakespeare also throws in many examples of OSV construction ("The ball John caught."). Shakespeare seems to use this colloquially in many places as a transitory device, bridging two sentences, to provide continuity. Shakespeare (and many other writers) may also have used this as a device to shift end emphasis to the verb of a clause. Also, another prevalent usage of inversion was the VS order shift ("caught John" instead of "John caught"), which seems primarily a stylistic choice that further belies the Germanic root of modern English. In the end, Houston points to "the effort to make language more memorable by deviation from spoken habits."3 This is the essence of poetry: a heightening of language (even colloquial) above that of prose, a heightening that produces an idealized, imaginative conception of the subject.

  7. 2 Rhetorical Devices “I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed!” ―William Shakespeare

  8. Flashcards you make. Rhetorical Device Expectations:

  9. Rhetorical Devices Page 1

  10. Rhetorical Devices Page 2

  11. Rhetorical Devices Page 3

  12. Rhetorical Devices Page 5

  13. 3 Usage Shift “My bounty is as boundless as the sea,My love as deep; the more I give to thee,The more I have, for both are infinite.” ― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

  14. § One part of speech is often substituted for another; this is most frequent with nouns and verbs. (See also "anthimeria" in the Rhetoric section.) Usage Shifts

  15. § Adjectives don't always mean what they seem to say; active and passive forms are sometimes interchangeable, as are those that signify cause or effect. §Pronouns have irregular inflections; often the nominative case (he, she, who) is used instead of the objective case (him, her, whom).

  16. More Usage Shifts § Verbs don't always agree with their subjects; most frequently a singular verb is used with a plural subject. § Omission of the relative pronoun (e.g., "the woman that I love" becomes "the woman I love") is much more frequent than in modern English, being applied to the nominative case as well as the objective.

  17. But wait…There Are More! § Double-negatives are often used for emphasis of a point.

  18. Usage Shift § "That" often takes the place of "so that," "in that," "why," or "when" in certain clauses.

  19. Thou art done. What’s Your Message?

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