Exploring Historical Writing and Shakespearean Drama

Historical Writing is an organized account, often in narrative form, of the past of a nation, of a group of people, or of one important figure.

Focus: it is concerned with the real events in the relatively distant past.

Text organization: the events are told in chronological order.

Author's Style and Purpose: it is usually an objective retelling of facts rather than a personal interpretation. However, the author may have a specific purpose in mind, such as teaching a moral lesson.

Features: the author may incorporate literary devices such as anecdotes (brief stories that focus on an event in the person's life to illustrate a point).

Is a biography of the poet Caedmon. A biography is usually to inform readers about its subject's life.

Learn how a dream inspired the life of an important historical figure.

Caedon is the earliest English poet known and Bede's History is the only source of information about him. Caedmon wrote many poems written in English. He lived at Whitby Abbey, a religious community on the coast of England. It was founded in 657 by St. Hilda, who in Caedmon's day was still the abbess in charge.

Subject: Caedmon's life

Time: seventh century

Place: England

Narrative

Style: anecdotes

Purpose: inform readers about Caedmon's life and behavior.

Anecdotes

Skillful was he in composing religious and devotional songs.

He turned passages of Scripture into delightful and moving poetry.

He received this gift of poetry as a gift from God.

He could never compose any frivolous or profane verses.

Present at a feast in poetry.

He was inspired by dreams.

He sang of the creation of the world, the origin of the human race, and the whole story of Genesis.

He sang of Israel's departure from Egypt, their entry into the land of promise, and many other events of scriptural history.

He sang of the Lord's Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the teaching of The Apostles.

He also made many poems on the terrors of the Last Judgment, the horrible pains of Hell, and the joys of the kingdom of heaven.

He composed several others on the blessings and judgment of God, by which he sought to turn his hearers from delight in wickedness, and to inspire them to love and do good.

Caedmon gained his talent for poetry in a miraculous way.

Lived a disciplined life and resisted evil.

Used poetry for entertainment.

Was very strong.

He sang to convince others.

He followed a secular occupation.

Characterization are the techniques a writer uses to develop characters. In the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer offers a vivid portrait of English society during the Middle Ages. Among his 30 characters are clergy, aristocrats, and commoners.

Describe the character's appearance.

Narrate the character's speech, thoughts, and actions.

Explain the reactions of others to the character.

Communicate personal opinions about the character.

Character traits are the consistent ways a character thinks and acts. As you read, look for details that reveal each pilgrim's traits.

Restate information in your own words.

Learn about the characters who narrate The Canterbury Tales.

Chaucer was among the first writers to show that English could be a respectable literary language. Today his work is considered a cornerstone of English literature and The Canterbury Tales is regarded as a masterpiece. In the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, a group gathers at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a town just south of London. They are making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas á Becket at Canterbury. At the suggestion of the innkeeper, the group decides to hold a storytelling competition to pass the time as they travel. "The Prologue" introduces the "sundry folk" who will tell the stories and is followed by the tales themselves- 24 in all.

1. Knight a) Brave, honorable, wise, humble, loyal, truthful, chivalrous, and generous.
b) Participated in many battles and came out victorious in all of them.
c) Possessed fine horses but didn't dress in an elegant way.
d) Wore a fustian tunic with dark smudges.

2. Squire
a) The Knight's son; the Squire is about twenty years old.
b) He has curly hair and wears an embroidered tunic of red and white.
c) He's an excellent horseman and has seen action with the cavalry.
d) He is of average size but is strong and agile.
e) He can sing, dance, play the flute, write, draw, and recite poetry.
f) He's also hot-blooded and passionate when it comes to love.

3. Yeoman
a) Yeoman is a servant to the Knight and Squire.
b) He's dressed in green and carries a bow and arrows, along with a shield, a sword, and a dagger.
c) He wears a brace to protect his forearm while shooting his bow.
d) He also wears a St. Christopher medal and a hunting horn.
e) The Yeoman is wise in the ways of the forest.
f) The author doesn't seem to like him much and doesn't take him seriously. Based on quote "He is a proper forester, I guess."

4. Nun or Prioress
a) The Prioress, Madame Eglantyne, is a high-ranking nun in the Catholic Church.
b) She tries to impress others by speaking French, but her French is very bad.
c) Polite, elegant, refined behavior.
d) She sings Church services through her nose and has good manners when eating.
e) The Prioress has grey eyes, a small mouth, and a broad forehead, which signified beauty in Chaucer's time.
f) She was "entertaining" according to the author who makes fun of her.
g) The Prioress is accompanied by a nun and three priests.
h) Had dogs and wore jewelry (against the monastery rules).

5. Monk
a) The Monk is a bad representative of the Church.
b) Monks were supposed to be poor and lacking in worldly goods, but Chaucer's Monk is dressed in rich clothes and maintains a stable of horses.
c) He spends much of his time hunting instead of saving souls.
d) His hood is fastened with an expensive gold clasp. The Monk is fat and has a shiny face and a shiny bald head, along with bulging, darting eyes.
e) The Monk rode a brown horse.
f) He ignored all the rules monks must follow.

6. Friar
a) The Friar was corrupt and greedy.
b) He cared little for the poor, but he was always willing to grant forgiveness to the wealthy for a bribe.
c) He was eloquent in speech, and he spoke with a lisp, believing that it made his voice sweeter.
d) He enjoyed young women and often gave them small gifts. He also arranged quick marriages for girls who found themselves "in trouble."
e) The Friar sang and played the hurdy-gurdy and the harp.
f) Qualified to make confessions.
g) Went a lot to taverns.
- Chaucer criticizes church officials in this poem. He makes fun of them and shows that they do not behave the way they should as the church officials they are.

● Shakespearean Sonnets
- Have three quatrains and one couplet
- Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
- 1st quatrain introduces a situation, explored in the next two quatrains.
- There is often a turn (shift in thought), which occurs in the third quatrain or the couplet. The couplet resolves the situation.
- Imagery: Words and phrases that create vivid sensory experiences for the reader.
- Mainly talks about love in his poems.

Sonnet 18 is devoted to praising a friend or lover, traditionally known as the 'fair youth', the sonnet itself a guarantee that this person's beauty will be sustained. Even death will be silenced because the lines of verse will be read by future generations, when speaker and poet and lover are no more, keeping the fair image alive through the power of verse.

The speaker of this sonnet says he's completely bummed and that he's been bawling his eyes out over his pathetic life and all of his misfortune. He says he's all alone and feels unsuccessful. He says he wishes he was rich and had something to hope for. Also, he totally wishes he was good looking, popular with friends, and talented like some other dudes he knows. Just as our bummed out speaker is thinking about all the stuff he used to really dig, he suddenly remembers a special person in his life and his mood begins to shift in a big, dramatic way. The mere thought of this unnamed mystery person makes our speaker so unbelievably happy and hopeful. Finally, our speaker concludes that life is pretty great after all. Even though this unnamed person isn't exactly around right now, just thinking about his or her "sweet love" makes our speaker feel like the luckiest guy ever—so lucky that he wouldn't trade places with anyone else for all the money and power in the world.

This sonnet attempts to define love, by telling both what it is and is not. In the first quatrain, the speaker says that love—"the marriage of true minds"—is perfect and unchanging; it does not "admit impediments," and it does not change when it finds changes in the loved one. In the third quatrain, the speaker again describes what love is not: it is not susceptible to time. Though beauty fades in time as rosy lips and cheeks come within "his bending sickle's compass," love does not change with hours and weeks: instead, it "bears it out ev'n to the edge of doom." In the couplet, the speaker attests to his certainty that love is as he says: if his statements can be proved to be error, he declares, he must never have written a word, and no man can ever have been in love.

4. Sonnet 130

Sonnet 130 is like a love poem turned on its head. Usually, if you were talking about your beloved, you would go out of your way to praise her, to point all the ways that she is the best. In this case, though, Shakespeare spends this poem comparing his mistress's appearance to other things, and then telling us how she doesn't measure up to them. He goes through a whole list, giving us details about the flaws of her body, her smell, even the sound of her voice. Then, at the end, he changes his tune and tells us about his real and complete love for her.

● William Shakespeare (baptized on April 23, 1564 to April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, actor, and poet and is often called England's national poet.
● Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
● He was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. This company was later known as The King's Men.
● William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582.
● William was 18 and Anne was 26, and, as it turns out, pregnant.
● Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583.
● Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11.
● William Shakespeare's early plays were written in the conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn't always align naturally with the story's plot or characters.
● Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his purposes and creating a freer flow of words.
● The exact cause of William Shakespeare's death is unknown, though many believe he died following a brief illness.

List of his Plays:

● Henry VI
● Richard III
● The Comedy of Errors
● The Two Gentlemen of Verona
● Romeo and Juliet
● A Midsummer Night's Dream
● King John
● The Merchant of Venice
● Henry IV
● Much Ado About Nothing
● Henry V
● Julius Caesar
● Twelfth Night
● Hamlet
● The Merry Wives of Windsor
● Othello
● Macbeth
● Antony and Cleopatra
● The Two Noble Kinsmen

The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act I

Drama by William Shakespeare

Macbeth is a Scottish general whose ambition is to become a king.

Text Analysis

Elements of Tragedy

Drama Conventions

Reading Strategy: Reading Shakespearean Drama