Shakespeare_General

PART 1 William Shakespeare was born in Stratford on about April 23rd 1564. His father William was a successful local businessman and his mother Mary was the daughter of a landowner. there is no evidence he attended university. In 1582 William, aged only 18 Anne Hathaway. Soon after they had there first daughter, Susanna. They had another 2 children but William’s only son Hamnet died aged only 11. he spent most of his time in London writing and performing in his plays. He didn’t mind being absent from his family, only returning home during Lent when all theatres were closed. The 1590s was when he wrote the majority of his sonnets. This was a time of prolific writing and his plays developed a good deal of interest and controversy. William Shakespeare wrote 154 Sonnets mostly in the 1590s. Fairly short poems they deal with issues such as lost love. His sonnets have an enduring appeal with his characteristic skill with language and words. Shakespeare’s plays address many issues such as betrayal, murder, lust, power, love, hate and envy. Allot of his plays also had a quirky sense of humor. His plays were very relevant to the time they were written, they were all extremely popular and were quite patriotic. They were written when England’s powers still lay in the king/queen and several were actually based on past rulers. The stories Shakespeare wrote immortalised kings but at the same time caused allot of controversy with the people at the time. Part 2 That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed whereon it must expire Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by. This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long. The main ideas of That Time Of Year is that the poet is preparing his friend for a metaphorical death. The death of his youth and innocence. The poem is written in quite a confusing way. Shakespeare uses his gift of words to create amazing metaphors, like “black night” which is a metaphore for death itself. If you rewrite the poem into what we would call modern English it would look somthing like this You may see that time of year in me when little, or no, yellow leaves hang on the branches that shiver in the cold bare ruins of the choir stalls where sweet birds sang so recently. You see, in me, the twilight of a day, after the sun has set in the west, extinguished by the black night that imitates Death, which closes everything in rest. You see in me the glowing embers that are all that is left of the fire of my youth - the deathbed on which youth must inevitably die, consumed by the life that once fed it. This is something you can see, and it gives your love the strength deeply to love that which you have to lose soon. Shakespeare uses comparisons to compare death to autumn, when leaves begin to change colour and fall of trees. the poem is a very well written peace and is one of Shakespeare’s great sonnets. PART 3 1) What made you chose this poet I chose Anthony Kiedis because he writes lyrics for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and his poems have a wide variety of themes, such as substance abuse, love, war, america and freedom of speech. 2) Write down the names of each poem and briefly explain what each one is about Californication- The song is mainly about the dark side of Hollywood. The song opens to the "Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation, Kiedis got the inspiration for the lyric from when he was in California and he heard a woman on the street ranting about there being psychic spies in China. The track also makes references to the decline in Western society, and other topics such as pornography and plastic surgery and even some pop culture references including Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and David Bowie and even star wars. My friends - My Friends is one of the moodier songs that Anthony has written, exploring the loneliness and emptiness people feel. Kiedis then stresses that those people "hurt by the cold" are not alone and are loved. The song is about the difficult times Flea (Anthony’s best friend) went through also, as he was going through a painful divorce with his first wife and had become depressed. Don’t forget me- don’t forget me is about how every person hides there true self from the public, and how when they cant be seen they mutate into something else, the song recalls all of Kiedis’s experiences of when it has happened to him, and how he feels that people should know that there is more to be reviled about people than you think. 3) Out of these poems which strikes you as the most interesting, explain. I think that californication is the most interesting poem. This is because of the way it handles Hollywood and shows how it can warp people’s minds and manipulate the way they think. It also shows how not everyone feels the same way about things and that just because you see it on tv, it does not mean that it is real 4) Out of these poems, which has the most effective techniques' write down five and examples along with why the technique is so effective Don’t forget me has the best techniques a) Metaphor – “ I’m the bloodstain on your shirt sleeve.” Effectiveness – shows how violence has taken over the character and how he is that hard to remove memory left in your life that is hard to cover up and explain or get rid of B) Repetition - “sideways falling, all will be revealed my friend.” Used 5 times Effectiveness – tells the reader that the characters story of misdeeds is not over yet, as the list goes on it just gets worse. C) Rhyme – “ I’m a dancehall, dirty break beat ,make the snow fall up from underneath your feet” Effectiveness- shows ability to rhyme and gives the poem a catchy beat’ D) Hyperbole – “ I’m an ocean in your bedroom “ Eff/ectiveness – over proportions the story to give a larger than life view of the poem E) Simile “like a rainbow in your jail cell Effectiveness – very effective, says that even though your in a bad place, there is still a silver lining 5) For students reading these poems what do you think they could learn from a close reading if the poems I think that children could about how being famous isn’t all that it is cracked up to be, that Hollywood is not all glitz and glamour(Pay your surgeon very well To break the spell of aging, Celebrity skin is this your chin, Or is that war your waging) and that it very easy to lose faith in what you are doing and to start questioning yourself (my friends are so depressed, i can feel there emptiness) 6) Californication lyrics 7) Psychic spies from China Try to steal your mind's elation Little girls from Sweden Dream of silver screen quotations And if you want these kind of dreams It's Californication It's the edge of the world And all of western civilization The sun may rise in the East At least it settles in the final location It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication Pay your surgeon very well To break the spell of aging Celebrity skin is this your chin Or is that war your waging [Chorus:] First born unicorn Hard core soft porn Dream of Californication Dream of Californication Marry me girl be my fairy to the world Be my very own constellation A teenage bride with a baby inside Getting high on information And buy me a star on the boulevard It's Californication Space may be the final frontier But it's made in a Hollywood basement Cobain can you hear the spheres Singing songs off station to station And Alderon's not far away It's Californication Born and raised by those who praise Control of population everybody's been there and I don't mean on vacation [Chorus] Destruction leads to a very rough road But it also breeds creation And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar They're just another good vibration And tidal waves couldn't save the world From Californication Pay your surgeon very well To break the spell of aging Sicker than the rest There is no test But this is what you're craving [Chorus]