Shakespeare Test - General Info - Asselta

Question 1

Reasons why Shakespear is considered the greatest writer in the world

Answer 1

1. He is Universal
2. His works are timeless
3. His image making devices

Question 2

1. Universal

Answer 2

• His literature is studied throughout the world

- 2nd to only Bible in translations of book

Question 3

2. Works are timeless

Answer 3

• He was born in 1564, writings are over 400 years old
• Taught throughout the world by HS teachers more than any other writer
• Things he writes about don’t change (people, love)

Question 4

3. His image making techniques

Answer 4

Shakespeare creates great images for the audience and reader through his words

Question 5

The 4 Shakespearean Conventions

Answer 5

1. Soliloquy
2. Aside
3. Structural climax
4. Disease imagery

Question 6

1. Soliloquy

Answer 6

Lengthy speech where the character reveals their inner thoughts, moral character, and reactions

Question 7

2. Aside

Answer 7

Character speaks to audience but no other people on the stage hear it

Question 8

3. Structural Complex

Answer 8

Act 3 of his tragedy’s, protagonist is at high point of his fortune, right before he plummets down

Question 9

4. Disease Imagery

Answer 9

• Image making devices that deal with disease

- Bubonic plague was going around at the time

Question 10

Shakespeare Writings

Answer 10

• Wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narratives, and 124 songs
• His last play was the tempest (“storm”)
• main character who is a magician gives up his magical powers, metaphor for his will to give up writing

Question 11

All plays in 3 categories/divisions

Answer 11

1. Comedies
2. Histories
3. Tragedies

Question 12

Each play demonstrates 3 plots

Answer 12

1. Comedy = Love
2. History = Political
3. Tragedy = Societal
   - Even though all three themes are in each of his plays, the predominate one determines the category

Question 13

The Globe “The Wooden O”

Answer 13

• Shakespeare was an architect, the globes design is still used today
• Three levels and 8 sides, 3 of which are for performing, 5 for audience

Question 14

Level One

Answer 14

• Bottom level is main acting level

- Called APRON

Question 15

Level Two

Answer 15

• Used for far away places

- Balcony

Question 16

Level Three

Answer 16

• Orchestra in one section, other used for distant lands

- Another country

Question 17

Shakespeare writing habits

Answer 17

1. His questions are without the use of the word do or did
   - what says romeo = what did you say
2. His past tense would be considered ungrammatical
   - we say wrote, he says writ
3. He uses words were not used to seeing
   - fu*k= fie, thine =your, wax= to grow
4. Two negatives are acceptable
   - canst not
5. Eliminates parts of word
   - havior

Question 18

The center of the Apron

Answer 18

Trap door opens and closes, things come out

Question 19

The top of the Globe

Answer 19

There is a flag, one of three colors

• Told which play would be shown
  1. Black - Tragedy
  2. White - Comedy
  3. Green - History

Question 20

Upstage

Answer 20

Red curtain -“Arras”- used to hid things

- A murder

Question 21

Groundlings

Answer 21

Paid half penny and stood and leaned on the Apron

*only men attended plays except Queen Elizabeth

Question 22

Blood, sweat and tears in plays

Answer 22

Blood - Many killings
Sweat - It’s hot, they’re outside, heavy robes
Tears - Plays had emotional affect on audience

Question 23

The Globe and its atmosphere

Answer 23

• 4000 men fit in the globe
• A man went to one play a week
• 3 to 4 hours long
• Ale and mead were drank and it was a night out for men
• Men got very rowdy
• Vegetables, fruits, and nuts were sold - eaten and thrown

Question 24

Shakespeare vocabulary

Answer 24

• Invented 12,000 words
• 40,000 word vocabulary
• Quoted in 20,000 songs

Question 25

Literary Contributions

Answer 25

1. Dramatic Narratives conveyed sense of psychological identity through literary techniques - Considered master of conveying thoughts : ideas through dramatic dialogue - Studied by more psychologists than any other person 2. Developed extended Language 3. Perfected: blank verse, iambic pentameter, heroic couplet 4. Use of word play - Would use the same word as a noun and a verb in the same sentence. 5. Writes toward a written performance

Question 26

5 steps to Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy

Answer 26

1. Hero has not created situation in which he finds himself 2. Opening is horrible situation, hero does not take fatal steps, but is confronted with appalling facts 3. The villain is indicator of action & resolution, not hero. Hero is committed to counter action and response rather than creation. The hero plays the waiting role. 4. Denouement (falling action) comes a out through the villain. The revenger takes opportunity provided by the villain. 5. The hero descends to the moral level of his opponent. The vengeance is as hideous as the crime.

Question 27

Classic View of Tragedy (Cathartic Effect):

Answer 27

1. Pity 2. Flaw 3. Suffering 4. Hero

Question 28

Pity

Answer 28

We pity this character because he has fallen from prosperity to misery

Question 29

Flaw

Answer 29

His flaw is always excessive pride.

Question 30

Suffering

Answer 30

Has capacity to endure his tremendous suffering creates catharsis in the reader

Question 31

Hero

Answer 31

Hero has a new awakening, because he is courageous, but does not solve his problem.

Question 32

Political world in Shakespeare's Time

Answer 32

England was in a civil war about theatre Fundamentalists headed by Erael of Essex - Hated Shakespeare and tried to shut him down - Left to go to New World Hamlet is a story about REVENGE - Shakespeare's father and son died a couple years before - Said to be reason he wrote Hamlet

Question 33

Theaters

Answer 33

- 1st theatre built in 1576 for public use - Globe burned in 1613, during a Henry performance * highly envied and people were jealous - Globe was built in 1599

Question 34

Shakespeare is center of Renaissance

Answer 34

His writing is reflective of his time period

Question 35

Tomorrow Quote:

Answer 35

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.