VM II: Book Parts 1-3

What are the four agreements?

Don’t make assumptions, Don’t take anything personally, Always do your best, Always be truthful with your word

Lexicon

Look up words you don’t know before analyzing the text

Poetry

Feel instead of think, affects the mind on a subliminal level, written in distinct lines; Communes, is magical, is illumination, transcends reality, intuitive, evocative

Prose

Goal is to communicate something, less sophisticated, written in large blocks of text; communicates, records and reproduces nature, is useful, is knowledge, transcribes reality, descriptive, informative

Stress

A weight of energy given to a beat of a foot

Unstress

A dip in energy running counter to a beat

Scansion

Rhythm of the verse/study of the structure of the lines

Rhythm of verse

Mimics the beating of a heart - more iambic means more steady and sure

Mono syllabic line

A line meant to have weight, slow down and analyze the importance

Elision

Compression of a syllable, where the unstressed syllable is omitted (know’st instead of knowest)

Word expansion

Stretching a vowel to take up more syllables (it is instead of tis)

Meter

The schematic of beats (based on number of feet)

Pentameter

Five feet meter

Iamb

Unstressed - stressed

Trochee

Stressed - unstressed

Anapest

Unstressed - unstressed - stressed

Spondee

Stressed - stressed

Secondary Spondee

Slightly less stressed - stressed

Pyrrhic

Unstressed-unstressed

Dactyl

Stressed - unstressed - unstressed

Feminine/weak ending

A line ending with an extra unstressed syllable

Amphibrach

Unstressed - stressed - unstressed

Headless line

A line of verse with only nine syllables, with the first foot missing its unstressed syllable

Catalexis

The state of lacking a syllable in the last foot of a line

Catalectic Trochaic Tetrameter

Verse where each line of a speech has four feet, where the first foot is always a trochee and the last foot is always a catalexis (used for supernatural speech, think witches from Macbeth)

Enjambent

The continuation of a complete idea from one line to the next without pause

Endstop lines

A thought comes to a logical pause, suspension, or end at the end of a line of verse

Roller Coaster Effect - Line Endings

Ends of lines or thoughts should not stop the speech. Instead they should be the highest point on a roller coaster that launch you to the next line/idea. Sir Peter Hall describes line endings as energy points

Caesura

A break in the middle of a line of blank verse, often marked with a period or semicolon; sense pause

What are pauses meant to bring out?

The meaning, the mood, or the physical necessity of a breath

What does it (usually) mean for your character if they stay steady with 10 syllables per line of verse?

They are in control/in a steady emotional state

What does it mean if your character speaks in more or fewer than 10 syllables?

Something emotional is happening to them

What is the significance of a monosyllabic line?

They are used for emphasis/creating a strong point of view - Don’t rush!

Partial verse lines

Lines that contain fewer than five metric stresses or have ‘empty feet’ which allow the character to ponder and let the language sink in

Shared lines

A half line speech that is connected by another character’s words, meant to be spoken at a fast pace

What are the steps in “For the Performing Artist” by Gigi Buffington?

1) Freeing the voice from physical or emotional entrapment by creating more room for breath; 2) Connecting the actions of the rib cage and abdomen to support breath and the onset of sound; 3) Producing supported sound in physically challenging situations; 4) Embodying the text and compelling others to listen; 5) Articulation

Check List - Approaching the Text

1) Remember to play the text

2) Use the scansion

3) Support the thoughts all the way through the line

4) Know who you’re speaking to and why

5) Speak on the thought instead of before or after it

6) Use imagery to tell the story

7) Specificity of language without losing tempo

8) Breathe with the thought

9) Know what every word means

10) Drive through the speech and use your tools

Procedure for Scansion

1) Number each line

2) Count Syllables

3) Scan

4) Check for words that can be elided or expanded

5) Check First Folio

6) Activate the language

Quatrain

Four consecutive lines of verse usually with an alternating rhyme (ABAB)

Couplet/Rhyming Couplet

Two consecutive lines of verse, usually within the same meter and joined by rhyme. The last syllable in each is strongly stressed, and there is usually a pause at the ends of lines only

Alexandrine

A verse form composed in iambic hexameter (six feet per line); usually with a caesura after the third foot.

Who speaks in Alexandrine verse?

High born characters engaging in complex ideas and emotions, narrative description, and/or cathartic moment

What is the first folio?

A collection of Shakespeare’s works as they were originally written published in 1623. It allows actors to bypass changes made by modern editors and get closer to what Shakespeare and his actors may have intended (it’s theatrical instead of scholastic)

Who created the First Folio?

John Heminge and Henry Condell

What are irregularities in the first folio?

Stage directions written into the text itself, often removed by editors

How is grammar used differently in the First Folio?

It was written in a way that would give clues/deliver instructions to help new actors learn and play the parts

What is the significance of Long Spelling in the First Folio? (i.e. son versus sonne)

It indicated moments were the actor would extend the words for emphasis due to emotion, a need to communicate an opinion, or an experience that makes them talk differently

What is the difference between capitalization/italicized in modern editions of plays versus the First Folio editions?

More words are capitalized/italicized in the First Folio, and it is important to examine why

How are periods used in the First Folio?

They appear at the completion of a thought, and are more common in the First Folio

Should you breathe at a period in the First Folio?

Not always, especially if the period falls in the middle of a line of verse. It is best to explore different places to breathe based on the piece itself

How are other forms of punctuation besides the period used in the First Folio?

There’s no definitive answer, but they are thought to indicate a change or shift in thought

What is the difference between modern question marks in modern editions versus the First Folio?

They would be used as exclamation marks in certain instances

If a period means “Full Stop” in modern punctuation, what does it mean in Elizabethan Punctuation?

Full stop with emphasis

If a comma means “Short pause, breath” in modern punctuation, what does it mean in Elizabethan Punctuation?

Shift in thought

If a colon is an “introduction to a new idea” in modern punctuation, what does it mean in Elizabethan Punctuation?

Leap into a new thought

If a semicolon is a “pseudo-period, semi-full stop” in modern punctuation, what does it mean in Elizabethan Punctuation?

Continuation of an already stated idea, explanation

Why is it important to explore stage directions in the First Folio?

They can lend new insight into the characters/situation (i.e. Seyton in Macbeth)

What is difference between names and prefixes in the First Folio and modern edits? Why is it important?

Names are more likely to change in the First Folio, sometimes even in the same scene, which can give insight into who the character is. Editors will add prefixes/titles the characters may not have had, which can obscure or diffuse their motivations (i.e. ‘Lady’ Capulet may not have actually been high class)

Ecphonesis ‘O’

An emotional exclamatory moment, an expression of extreme rage, sadness, and elation

How to editors change “Oh” as compared to the First Folio?

Many editorial versions of plays will change “Oh” into “O” even though these two were not intended to carry the same emotional weight

How does the First Folio help determine which syllables should be stressed?

If it’s spelled with an ‘-ed’ at the end of a word it is meant to be stressed, where as unstressed words will end with ‘‘-‘d”

What is the difference between verse structure in modern editions versus the First Folio?

Editors will often break up lines based on how they believe the lines should be read. For example, a complete line that in the First Folio has sixteen beats may be broken into two lines, one with ten beats and one with six.

What are some of the arguments that support breathing at the end of each line of verse? (Note: Santi does not support this opinion on breath)

It differentiates verse from prose, it gives you more breath to give lots of support to each line, it imbues the next line with energy and focus, it is closer to the natural pattern of breathing (people usually don’t naturally wait to breathe until the end of a sentence - they just breathe when they need to)