WILLIAM

SHAKESPEARE
(1564-1616)
All the worlds a stage, and all the
men and women players: they have
their exits and their entrances; and
one man in his time plays many
parts, his acts being seven ages.

Background

Was born in Stratfordupon-Avon and

baptized on 26th of
April 1564
Probably educated in
Stratfords grammar
school
Married Anne
Hathaway in 1582 and
had three children

Life as a
Playwright

From roughly 1594

onward Shakespeare
was an important
member of the Lord
Chamberlains Men
company of theatrical
players
There are no records of
how Shakespeare
refined his craft

Whats So
Great About
This Guy?

Shakespeare wrote 37
plays, such as the
famous Romeo and
Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet,
The Taming of the
Shrew, Twelfth
Nightto name a few
He also wrote 154
sonnets (which we will
be studying!)

Whats So
Great About
This Guy?
Cont.

You might be familiar

with some of his
quotes, which people
use still (and movies):
To be or not to be: that
is the question
O Romeo, Romeo, where
art thou Romeo?
Some are born great,
some achieve greatness,
and some have greatness
thrust upon them

Whats So
Great About
This Guy?
Cont.

Shakespeare through
his plays and sonnets
influenced the English
language
Some words he
invented are used in
modern English today,
such as: lonely, bump,
bet, torture, just to
name a few

Shakespeares
Sonnets
1. Structure
2. What
Shakespeare
was trying to
achieve
through
sonnets

1.

Structure

14 lines (3 quatrains,
2 couplets at end as
resolution)
Iambic pentameter
(iambic meaning
unstressed, then
stressed syllable,
and pentameter
meaning ten
syllables into five
pairs)

Shakespeares
Sonnets
1. Structure
2. What
Shakespeare
was trying to
achieve
through
sonnets

1.

Structure (Cont.)

Rhyme scheme is
abab for the first
quatrain, then cdcd
for the second, then
efef for the last. The
couplets rhyme
scheme is gg

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Shakespeares
Sonnets
1. Structure
2. What
Shakespeare
was trying to
achieve
through
sonnets

2. What Shakespeare
was trying to
achieve through
sonnets

Friendship
Love
Time
Cycle of life and death
Nature (human and
earth)
Conscience
Beauty

So What?

The purpose of the unit

is for learners (you) to
be able to read,
analyze, and synthesize
your ideas of a
Shakespearean sonnet.
This will increase and
refine your skills to
recognize themes and
analyze not only his
sonnets, but other
literary works

WHAT??

For the next 8 to 9 days

of class, we will be
working on
Shakespearean sonnets!
We will go through the
different steps to analyze
one of his sonnets, and at
the end use our newly
learned and refined skills
to analyze a random
Shakespearean sonnet by
yourself!