Appreciating Shakespeare with Doctor Rap

Series I, Chapter 6: Why the play's the thing: Unity in Variety, Session 1

Unity and meaning
Shakespeare and the hologram
All roads lead to meaning

Words
Images

In the next session we'll look at figures of speech, action, scene, character, and plot.
In the third session, we'll look at setting and theme and then at the audience.

Series II, Podcast D: Much Ado about Nothing

Discussion of the play
Three key lines
Particular notes to help you in your reading of the play: For these you may want to be sitting with your text and a pencil.

Questions? email [email protected].

Series I, Chapter 5, Foiled Again? Shakespeare's Characters

The particular and the general
The good, the evil, the mixed
The humorous
Characters can change
Foils and the Shakespearean complication

Series II, Podcast C: The Merchant of Venice


Questions? Email [email protected]

Series I, Chapter 4: Shakespeare's Language, Session 4: 

Rhetorical Devices: Variation in Speech

Did Shakespeare's audience get it all?

Coming next: 
The Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare's Characters

Questions? email [email protected]

Series I, Chapter 4: Shakespeare's Language, Session 3

Rhetorical devices rooted in sound:
Repetition
Rhyme
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance

Rhetorical devices rooted in structure:
Antithesis
Repetition of Syntax
Chiasmus
End-stopped and Enjambed lines

To come next: Variation in Speech

Questions: email [email protected]

Shakespeare's Language: Rhetorical Devices Rooted in Sound

Onomatopoeia
Pacing: Meter and Rhythm

What is iambic pentameter?
What are masculine and feminine endings?
What is blank verse?

Questions? email [email protected]

Did People Really Talk Like That? Shakespeare's Language

Session 1 of four on Shakespeare's Language: 
What is poetry for?
Is it Verse or Prose?
Rhetorical devices rooted in meaning: Metaphor and Simile. 

To come: 
Session 2: rhetorical devices rooted in sound: Onomatopoeia, Meter, and Rhythm.
Session 3; repetition of sounds; rhetorical devices rooted in structure.
Session 4: variation in speech; "Did Shakespeare's audience get it all?"

Questions? email [email protected]

 

Series II, Podcast B: A Midsummer Night's Dream

A discussion of one of Shakespeare's most lyrical plays. 
Rhetoric as the vehicle of emotion. 
The nature of love.

Expect most uploads on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Coming up, Shakespeare's Language.
Questions? email [email protected]

What was the state of the art in Shakespeare's theater? 
Hearing a play. The building and the Stage. Sets. Props. Costumes. Actors. Play direction. Prompt-book and book-keeper. Dance. Audience. 

Questions? Email [email protected]