Shakespeare Test

Theaters highlighted in purple are the ones that Dr. Boswell said in class that we "should know".

Shakespeare birth date

April 23, 1564

name of the play performed by the mechanicals

A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus and his love Thisbe, very tragical mirth

The Rose builder

Phillip Henslowe

theater built with the materials of the original ___

• they were carried across the ___

The Globe

Theatre, River Thames

The Globe flag symbol

atlas

The Swan flag symbol

swan

first theater built on the southern bank of the ___

The Rose

Thames

___ foundation was confirmed by archaeologists in ___

The Rose, 1989

Shakespeare baptism date

April 26, 1564

baptism dates are usually within ___ days of birth

three

St. George’s Day

• April 23

• the date celebrating the patron saint of England

Shakespeare mother

Mary (née Arden) Shakespeare

Shakespeare father

John Shakespeare

Shakespeare was his parents’ ___ child and ___ son

third, first

Shakespeare father occupation

whittawer, wool trader, money-lender, brewer of malt, town alderman, bailiff

whittawer

a glover; someone who tans the hides of animals and makes/sells soft leather goods

bailiff

equivalent of mayor for a small town

Shakespeare birthplace

Stratford-Upon-Avon

Shakespeare left the ___ bed for his wife, as it was the ___ bed. guests received the ___ bed

second-best, marital, best

___ was very high when Shakespeare was born. ___ died within the first week and ___ died within the first month

infant mortality, 9%, 11%

in Shakespeare’s birthplace, there were ___ annual baptisms, and almost as many burials

63

Shakespeare death date

April 23, 1616

potentially referred to as ___

“The Bard of Avon”

bard

literary term for poet

rhapsode

• literary term for poet

• Greek

• In The Odyssey

Scop

• literary term for poet

• Anglo-Saxon

within ___ months of Shakespeare’s birth, a ___ hit (___ Plague)

three, pandemic, Bubonic

• as a result, his family moved to the countryside

• Shakespeare was never a victim of the Bubonic plague

  • his brother was not so fortunate

• in London, the lifespan was very low

Shakespeare’s ___ has a curse on it

tombstone

we don’t think Shakespeare’s ___ is intact, because ___ was big in the ___ century

skeleton, grave robbing, 19th

• some admitted to stealing his skull

two major reasons for grave robbing

1. medical students had to do it (the hospitals wouldn’t provide bodies for them)

2. science was becoming bigger (biology, telekinesis, phrenology)

phrenology

pseudoscience in which people thought they could deduce something about someone from the bumps on their head

the school Shakespeare probably attended (it was an institution established for the ___ of ___ citizens)

the local Stratford grammar school, sons, prominent

Shakespeare attended school from attended from ___ to ___ with only a break for ___ and ___

6 AM, 5 PM, lunch, recess

at school, Shakespeare would have learned ___ and read the ___ authors extensively

Latin, Roman

Shakespeare may have helped his father, learning ___ and ___ practices

agricultural, mercantile

Shakespeare grew up with ___ younger siblings

four

Shakespeare younger siblings names

Gilbert, Edmund, Richard, and Joan

___ of Shakespeare’s siblings died (___ older, ___ younger)

three, two, one

Shakespeare’s dead siblings names

Joan, Margaret (older), Anne (younger)

• died in infancy or youth

Shakespeare married ___

Anne Hathaway

Shakespeare marriage year

1582

Shakespeare marriage age

18

Shakespeare’s wife marriage age

26

Shakespeare’s wife birth year

1555/56

Shakespeare’s wife death year

1623

Shakespeare had ___ kids named ___

three, Susanna, Hamnet, Judith

Shakespeare’s first child name/birth month

Susanna, May 1583

Shakespeare’s twins names/birth year

Hamnet and Judith, 1585

Shakespeare’s child that died name / age of death / cause of death

Hamnet / 11 / Bubonic Plague

Shakespeare retired from theater in ___

1610

when Shakespeare retired from theater, he returned to ___ to live with ___

Stratford, Anne

the ___, ___, ___, and ___ are all part of the enjoyment and pleasure in reading Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets

word play, imagery, syntax, verse forms

“you”

• normally used in the plural and when speaking to someone with social superiority or an elder, like a parent

• connotes formality

“thou”

• used for talking to a social inferior, children, or loved ones

• implied familiarity

“ye” and “thee”

objective case pronouns for “you” and “thou”

if a character switches from “___” to “___”, that signals a ___

• happens quite frequently in ___ between ___ and ___

you, thou, shift

• The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio, Katherine

Shakespeare’s vocabulary seems to have been about ___ words, nearly ___ that of an average ___ college student

29,000, twice, American

• Shakespeare was known for ___, which were coming into English from a number of fields, mostly ___ forms

• Latin had been the language of use in the ___ and ___

• neologisms, Latin

• chuch, government

three kinds of evidence to determine original pronunciation

• the observations made by people who were writing in the language at the time

  • there were several people at the time who commented on how words rhymed

• the spellings that people used at the time

  • the spellings were a much better guide back then than they are today

• absolutely critical: there are rhymes and puns which don’t work in modern English that do work in original pronunciation

Old English timeline

500 - 1100

Old English writing

• Cædmon's Hymn (660s)

• Beowulf (700s)

  • name of poem, not poet

Middle English timeline

1100 - 1500

Middle English writing

Chaucer Canterbury Tales (1343 - 1400)

Early Modern English timeline

1500 - 1800

Early Modern English writing

Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Late Modern English timeline

1800 - present

“The Great Vowel Shift” timeline

1350 - 1700

[includes description]

flag:

• says if there is a play or not

• plays run rain or shine at 2:00 pm

• black flag for tragedy, white for comedy, red for history

[includes description]

hut:

• encloses things for special effects (e.g. lights, sounds, lowering actors)

upper gallery

middle gallery

lower gallery

roof / canopy

terrace

doors for actors / discovery space

hell

trap door

tiring rooms / dressing rooms

pit

corridor that goes behind benches

upper stage characteristics

• action

• musicians

• seating (bad view)

how much it cost to sit in a gallery

2 pence / 3 pence

how much it cost to stand

1 pence

how much it cost to rent a cushion

1 pence

Elizabethan

Reign of Queen Elizabeth I

birth year of Queen Elizabeth I

1533

when/why did Queen Elizabeth I ascend the throne

• 1559, at the death of her older sister

death year of Queen Elizabeth I

1603

when Queen Elizabeth I died, she had no ___ because she never ___

for this reason, she was known as the ______.

heir, married, Virgin Queen

Queen Elizabeth I’s throne went to ____

her closest relative, King James I of England

birth year of King James I of England

1566

when/why did King James I of England ascend the throne

1603, because Queen Elizabeth I died

King James I of England was king until ___, because of ___

1625, his death

death year of King James I of England

1625

Jacobean

Latin cognate of James

English is not the only ___; drama goes back ___

drama tradition, centuries

the earliest plays were ___

mortality plays

mortality plays

told you the right ways of being a person, or being a Christian

it was more about the ___, not the ___

language, sight

they would even say “I’m going to ___ a play” instead of “I’m going to ___ a play”

hear, see