{"id":5313,"date":"2014-02-09T22:17:45","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T03:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/?p=5313"},"modified":"2014-02-09T22:17:45","modified_gmt":"2014-02-10T03:17:45","slug":"a-good-pairing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/archives\/5313","title":{"rendered":"A Good Pairing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, I was working with a Shakespeare teacher who was looking for ways to help students better appreciate the language. He liked the idea of using song lyrics<\/a>, and Usher’s “More” in particular. For easy reference, I reprint the excerpt and devices from the earlier post.<\/p>\n

\n

From “More” as performed by Usher
\nWritten by Hinshaw, Khayat, and Raymond<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

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><\/p>\n

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

But then the question arose as to which passage from Shakespeare to use. When I used to do this activity using “Mosh,”<\/a> I’d have students compare Eminem’s use of literary devices in the song to Shakespeare use of the same devices in the Prologue from Romeo and Juliet<\/em>. But that text doesn’t use the same literary devices as “More,” so we needed another choice.<\/p>\n

Et voil\u00e0!<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Sonnet 130
\nby William Shakespeare<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
\nCoral is far more red than her lips’ red;
\nIf snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
\nIf hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
\nI have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
\nBut no such roses see I in her cheeks;
\nAnd in some perfumes is there more delight
\nThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
\nI love to hear her speak, yet well I know
\nThat music hath a far more pleasing sound;
\nI grant I never saw a goddess go;
\nMy mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
\nAnd yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
\nAs any she belied with false compare.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Literary devices<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

Repetition<\/strong>: red, wires, roses<\/p>\n

Rhyme<\/strong>: sun\/dun, red\/head, etc.<\/p>\n

Alliteration<\/strong>: “I grant I never saw a goddess go,” “when she walks”<\/p>\n

Assonance<\/strong>: “nothing like the sun,” “then her breasts,” “and yet, by heaven”<\/p>\n

Lists<\/strong>: The whole poem, basically<\/p>\n

Antithesis<\/strong>: The whole poem, basically<\/p>\n

What’s nice about this selection is that many of the poetic devices are actually easier<\/em> to identify in the Shakespeare, making the activity more likely to succeed in helping students connect with the language.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare Teacher: your sonnet sommelier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, I was working with a Shakespeare teacher who was looking for ways to help students better appreciate the language. He liked the idea of using song lyrics, and Usher’s “More” in particular. For easy reference, I reprint the excerpt and devices from the earlier post. From “More” as performed by Usher Written by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,16,48,95,3,101,87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classroom-ideas","category-education","category-music","category-poetry","category-shakespeare","category-teaching-matters","category-teaching-shakespeare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5313","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=5313"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5316,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5313\/revisions\/5316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}