Showing posts with label Hamlet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hamlet. Show all posts

Monday, March 10, 2014

Shakespeare through Infographics

From: http://arts.uchicago.edu/event/midsummer-nights-dream


Inspired by an outstanding production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream this past weekend (University of Ch
icago's Dean's Men Production), I thought I'd take post an interesting collection of facts, quotes and infographics related to Shakespeare and his works.

For me, the brilliance of Shakespeare's work is its timelessness, and his outstanding play with language. All gifts, thrills and treats, the infographics below cannot begin to relate or express. As a result, while fun, I find the infographic limiting.  That said, they can be used to motivate, detail, and summarize aspects of The Bard's genius with language and character.

So, while I provide you with the inforgraphics below to help students and readers learn, appreciate, understand, and simply have fun with Shakespeare  - it his insults, jabs, sonnets, and prose that should be savored and enjoyed. The infographics below introduce his work - be they his "history" plays, his tragedies, comedies, famous quotes, suggested reading, life history, or interesting statistics. They are fun but should be taken and enjoyed ALONG WITH THE  reading and exploration of the texts and plays themselves.

More specifically, the infographics below relay:
  • Aspects of his "History" plays;
  • His tragedies - as told by their deaths;
  • Interesting Shakespeare "statistics";
  • His more famous quotes and where they're from; 
  • Goodreads.com helping you "Choose" which Shakespeare play you want to read; and
  • An "anatomy" of Shakespeare's insults
For more on Shakespeare (to supplement the infographics)  please see:

So please enjoy the infographics below, but don't stop here.

INFOGRAPHIC #1: The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare's History Plays - Shakespeare's Game of the Hollow Crown designed by Ricardo Galvez and Produced/Researched by Tom McNamara. Please visit Shakespeare Uncovered (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered/blog/anatomy-of-a-scene/)for more Shakespeare infographics. Note these come from PBS's Anatomy of a Scene: Shakespeare like your High School English teacher never taught you.

Hamlet and Macbeth are about a lot of things. Power and revenge. Madness and the otherworldly. But, when you get right down to it, these are plays about death and dying and murder: so that you know evil when it crosses your path.

See Shakespeare’s dark world illustrated and how each character came to their bloody end. (Click on the image to enlarge or open in new window.)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered/blog/anatomy-of-a-scene/
Using Shakespeare’s Richard II, Henry IV, Part One and Henry IV, Part Two as your map, follow the history of rebellion in turn of the 15th century England and the successive stories of three kings: Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V.

Richard II (Click on the image to enlarge or open in new window.)

 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered/blog/anatomy-of-a-scene/

Henry IV, Part 1 (Click on the image to enlarge or open in new window.)

www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered/blog/anatomy-of-a-scene/

Henry IV, Part 2 (Click on the image to enlarge or open in new window.)



Look at Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It. They take place in a wood and a forest respectively. Interestingly, “wood” meant “mad” back in Shakespeare’s day. So, it makes sense that while these are settings of enchantment and escape, they are also sites of confusioneven madness: where fairy queens fall in love with ass-headed (literally) common folk; or where you don’t even know if you’re sleeping or awake.

Enter Shakespeare’s Enchanted Forest and see all the comedy (or madness) that ensues. (Click on the image to enlarge or open in new window.)
www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered/blog/anatomy-of-a-scene/



INFOGRAPHIC #2: Shakespeare's Tragedies by Cam Magee and Caitlin Griffin - summarizing Shakespeare's tragedies in a nutshell. Cam Magee and Caitlin S. Griffin created a infographic that crosses Shakespeare with the people from bathroom signs. It shows every death from the tragedies, plus one of the most famous stage directions ever, from The Winter's Tale: "Exit, pursued by a bear."


An infographic that keeps track of all of Shakespeare's deaths for you
http://io9.com/an-infographic-that-keeps-track-of-all-of-shakespeares-1534516437?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflo



INFOGRAPHIC # 3 William Shakespeare in Statistics The source for this infographic was http://www.riokaelani.com which I  found at View the full image at NoSweatShakespeare’s
Note that some of the personal 'items' below related to Shakespeare's personal life are believed true, but a good amount of his life was and still is not fully known to us.
View the full image at NoSweatShakespeare’s Shakespeare facts & statistics infographic



INFOGRAPHIC #4: Eight Phrases We Owe to William Shakespeare found at http://dailyinfographic.com/8-quotes-we-owe-to-william-shakespeare-infographic by Grammar.net 2011

http://dailyinfographic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/eightphrasesweowetowilliamshakespearegrammarnewsletter_4f6db12a30fa3_w587.png
http://dailyinfographic.com/8-quotes-we-owe-to-william-shakespeare-infographic


























































INFOGRAPHIC #5:What Shakespeare Play Should I read by Goodreads.com and posted by Jessica on 4/23/2013 at http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/415-what-shakespeare-play-should-i-read-an-infographic


INFOGRAPHIC #6: A Grand Taxonomy of Shakespearean Insults created by Charley Chartwell at charleycharwell.com
http://www.cooldailyinfographics.com/post/a-grand-taxonomy-of-shakespearean-insults


That's about it for this week.  Thank you for your visit. Please leave your own teaching ideas and/or your memories of the thrills and chills of reading/learning Shakespeare in the comments below.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

X- Rated Cursing and a Bedtime Story for the Sleep Deprived Parents. What is Acceptable?

 








 I submit this post in honor of a (belated) Fathers' Day and "X" week at ABC Wednesday. I hope I don't offend anyone as I offer this bedtime story by Adam Mansbach, read by Samuel Jackson. It was forwarded to me by my sleep-deprived cousins as they learn to juggle life with their second child and I now share it with you:





THIS IS NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK.  IF you are having trouble with bedtime and getting your kids to sleep, please see my blog post: http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-them-to-sleep-bedtime-rituals.html




So, with a smirk on your face and the kids asleep.... let's talk X-rated mouths:  What is your take on cursing?

I was raised by conservative parents who would not stand for cursing.  (They threatened to wash my mouth out with soap if I cursed.  I was a good girl - for the most part). As a result, I tend not to curse but I must confess, there are times when a good well placed curse (with emphasis)  makes all the difference in the world! [Just ask my husband!]

What is your take on cursing?  Is it alright to curse in front of your child?  To your child?

An educator's perspective on cursing in front of kids: Don't do it (at least not regularly or intentionally - we all have our moments).  There are so many truly colorful onomatopoeic expletives that can be used in lieu of cursing that present wonderful intellectual and verbal challenges to the creative communicator.  I also think that aside from the well-deserved curse, using crass curse words too frequently cheapens our language.  That said, I do love the delicately placed colorful curses as they add depth and diversity to conversations (and often just feel good releasing).

Here are some alternative expletives:
  • persnickety
  • shoot
  • nuts 
  • whoopsadaisy
  • fiddlesticks
  • freaking
  • sugar
  • knucklehead
  • halfwit
  • dimwit
  • numbskull
  • lewd
  • warped
  • cavernous
  • tedious
In my opinion, however, Shakespeare was the master insult / curse-writer.  Below are two clips from Much Ado About Nothing which illustrate his craft at cursing.  Explore these clips (or the entire film/play) and the list of selected insults and curses below on your own or with your kids, and please add your favorites in the comments:

  • I would my horse had the speed of your tongue! (Much Ado About Nothing)
  • Thou art like a toad; ugly and venomous. (As You Like It)
  • Thou art a flesh-monger, a fool and a coward. (Measure for Measure)
  • A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality. (All's Well That Ends Well)
  • Thy tongue outvenoms all the worms of the Nile (Cymbeline)
  • You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian!  I'll tickle your catastrophe! (Henry IV Part 2)
  • Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver'd boy (Macbeth)
  • Thine face is not worth sunburning. (Henry V)
  • A foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.  What a piece of work is man! (Hamlet)
  • My two schoolfellows.  Whom I shall trust as I will adders fangs. (Hamlet)
  • Scurvy, old, filth, scurry lord (All's Well That Ends Well)
  • You are not worth another word, else I'd call you knave. (All's Well That Ends Well)
  •  I desire that we be better strangers. (As You Like It)
  • Beg that thou may have leave to hang theyself. (Merchant of Venice)
  • Four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one. (Much Ado About Nothing)
  • This is a subtle whore, a closet lock and key of villainous secrets. (Othello)
  • Hang cur, hang, you whoreson, insolent noisemaker. (The Tempest)
  • Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood. (King Lear)
  • It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (Macbeth)
  • milksops
  • braggarts
  • artless
  • bawdy
  • base-court
  • beetle-headed
  • beef-witted
  • boil-brained
  • clay-brained
  • barnacle
  • beslubbering
  • clapper-clawed
  • canker-blossom
  • craven
  • curish
  • errant
  • dankish
  • fobbing
  • frothy
  • earth-vexing
  • fen-sucked
  • folly-fallen
  • haggard
  • haughty 
  • lewd minx
  • loggerheaded
  • lout
  • maggot-pie
  • mewling
  • paunchy
  • ill-breeding
  • malt-worm
  • mammet
  • puny
  • puking
  • minnow
  • rutish
  • roguish
  • reeky
  • rank
  • pernicious
  • plume-plucked
  • pox-marked
  • surly
  • ratsbane
  • swag-bellied
  • scut
  • strumpet
  • timorous wretch
  • vassal
  • villainous
  • wart-necked
  • urchin-snouted
  • whey-faced
  • yeasty

This list is a mere sampling.  Explore the remainders on your own or with your child, friend, or nemesis. In the meantime, here is one more clip.



Please leave comments on how you handle cursing, cursing with kids, and cursing alternatives.   PLEASE  leave some of your favorite gems!