{"id":3207,"date":"2012-08-01T21:28:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T02:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/?p=3207"},"modified":"2017-08-20T14:06:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-20T19:06:26","slug":"connecting-students-with-the-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/archives\/3207","title":{"rendered":"Connecting Students with the Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just as we make Shakespeare more relevant to our students by drawing modern-day connections to his plots and characters, so too can we use the elements of today’s world to make connections to his language.<\/p>\n

Sometimes when I teach iambic pentameter, I feel like my students can be like the syllables in that very meter: about half of them are stressed and half of them are unstressed. Whichever half you’re in, you should enjoy Pentametron<\/a>. This is a website that searches Twitter for tweets that are naturally in iambic pentameter. It then somehow sorts them into rhymed couplets and groups them 14 lines to a page.<\/p>\n

It’s intriguing to see instances of unintentional meter. Here are a few quick examples (slightly edited in the retype):<\/p>\n

I will forever love The Cosby Show.
\nWhatever, ready for tomorrow, though.
\nI haven’t eaten anything today.
\nI really want to dance the night away.
\nThat breakfast sandwich didn’t stand a chance.
\nSo… what’s the definition of romance?
\nIt’s pretty much already Thursday, damn.
\nBob Dylan IS the Tupac hologram.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click through<\/a> to see many more. Some of the language is a little salty to use the actual website in the classroom, but it’s a good place to find examples of natural language iambic pentameter and with social media cred to boot! Note that these people aren’t deliberately writing in iambic pentameter, but they ended up doing it anyway. This can help you to make the meter less intimidating for students, and to make the point, as some have argued, that iambic pentameter mimics common natural English language patterns.<\/p>\n

I’ve written before about using song lyrics to teach poetic devices, but “Mosh”<\/a> is about eight years old and I’ve been searching and searching for a more recent song that would be just as useful.<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.<\/p>\n

From “More” as performed by Usher
\nWritten by Hinshaw, Khayat, and Raymond<\/strong><\/center>Watch me as I dance under the spotlight-
\nListen to the people screaming out more and more,
\n‘Coz I create the feeling that keep ’em coming back,
\nYeah, I create the feeling that keep ’em coming back,
\nSo captivating when I get it on the floor.<\/p>\n

Know y’all been patiently waiting, I know you need me, I can feel it,
\nI’m a beast, I’m an animal, I’m that monster in the mirror,
\nThe headliner, finisher, I’m the closer, winner.
\nBest when under pressure with seconds left I show up.<\/p>\n

If you really want more, scream it out louder,
\nGet it on the floor, bring out the fire,
\nAnd light it up, take it up higher,
\nGonna push it to the limit, give it more.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Literary devices<\/strong><\/center>Repetition<\/strong>: \u201cmore and more,\u201d \u201cI create the feeling that keep \u2018em coming back\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhyme<\/strong>: more\/floor, fire\/higher<\/p>\n

Alliteration<\/strong>: \u201cmonster in the mirror,\u201d create\/coming\/captivating<\/p>\n

Assonance<\/strong>: \u201cpatiently waiting,\u201d finisher\/winner, Best\/pressure\/seconds, \u201climit\/give it\u201d<\/p>\n

Lists<\/strong>: \u201cI’m a beast, I’m an animal, I’m that monster in the mirror, the headliner, finisher, I’m the closer, winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antithesis<\/strong>: Get it on the floor\/take it up higher<\/p>\n

You can have students analyze these lyrics side-by-side with a speech from Shakespeare and compare how the two texts use the same devices. They can then find more examples within the play you are teaching or song lyrics they bring in. They can even start using these devices in their own poetic creations!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just as we make Shakespeare more relevant to our students by drawing modern-day connections to his plots and characters, so too can we use the elements of today’s world to make connections to his language. Sometimes when I teach iambic pentameter, I feel like my students can be like the syllables in that very meter: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,16,48,95,3,110,87,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classroom-ideas","category-education","category-music","category-poetry","category-shakespeare","category-shout-out","category-teaching-shakespeare","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3207"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6431,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207\/revisions\/6431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}