Author: Jamie

Modern Version of Romeo and Juliet

September 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Gregory: Yo bring out the football, the Montagues are here.

Sampson: I’ve got the football. Play and I will back you within these 90 minutes. Let them kick off!

Gregory: I will swear at them when they pass by.

Sampson: I will stick my middle finger at them their moist if they do nothing.

Abram: yo bro did you just stick your middle finger out at us.

Sampson: I do swear.

Abram: Do you want to swear at us now.

Sampson: Nah bruv I don’t need to swear at you, but I can if I want to.

Gregory: Are you asking for beef?

Abram: Beef, Is it Halal? (rhetorical question)

Sampson: But if you do want beef I wouldn’t mind because I am as strong as you

Abram: No stronger big man

Sampson: Well……

Enter Benvolio

Gregory: (Aside to Sampson) Talking about ‘stronger’ here’s one of our best players.

Sampson: Actually, yes i am stronger

Abram: you bloffin, go da way

Sampson: Lets go, Gregory, we are gonna smack them.

(Kick off) (10 minutes later dirty tackle fight starts)

Benvolio: Stop fighting before you both get red cards do you not understand the rules of football.

Enter Tybalt

Tybalt: What are you doing here, get away from my squaaaaad

Benvolio: Relax fam i’m just warning them.

Tybalt: What, relax fam? I hate the word relax, as I hate your mum, I’ll bang you in your face.

(They fight again)

What methods does Shakespeare use to keep the audience interested in this play Macbeth?

March 7, 2015 / / 1 Comment

This essay will review how Shakespearean plays captures the interest of the audience with a variety of complex devices.A few of these devices will be explained in further detail throughout this essay.This includes soliloquy’s, foreshadowing and personification.

Shakespeare uses ambition in the play Macbeth to show a characters determination for success and desire.An example of this is in Act 1 scene 7 were Lady Macbeth has a driving force to encourage Macbeth to take action on the prophecy and kill King Duncan.She says “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll not fail.”Lady Macbeth is giving Macbeth the courage to kill Duncan and give him the ambition for greed and power.Which corrupts him later on in the play and turns him into a tyrant which keeps the audience interested about the characters persona.

Another device that Shakespeare uses to capture the audiences interest is a soliloquy. A soliloquy is when only one actor is on stage and thinks aloud. An example of Shakespeare’s use of soliloquy is when Macbeth says “Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.”This shows that Macbeth is thinking about killing King Duncan.This influences people in the audience and increases the tension in the play and is getting the audience excited about knowing that Macbeth could perform treason, which attracts the audience attention and keeps them interested.

Other events occur during the course of the play which are key factors to help keep the audience engaged.Shakespeare’s use of the supernatural is used in this play to keep the audience engaged and unable to look away.The use of supernatural also fills the audience with anticipation and are eager to know what happens next.”Fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air.”This quote from the first scene in Macbeth shows that the audience would automatically assume that their is a connection between the witches and their rhythmic speech to suggest they are plotting something that will connect to the supernatural.This is to capture the audience attention which keeps them engaged and interested in the play.

Dramatic irony is another device used to keep the audience interested.Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the characters in a play does not. A clear example of this is from act 1 scene 4 were King Duncan does not know about the witches’ prophecy, or that Macbeth and is expecting to become king and will kill him to get the honor. The audience knows about the witches, and so this scene is especially dramatic because it makes the audience wonder what will happen next.

Foreshadowing is a good method Shakespeare used in many of his plays. He uses foreshadowing in this play is an important role in because most of the action of Shakespeare’s plays has hints of what might happen before it happens. An example of this is from act 3 scene 1 where Banquo had remembered the witches’ prophecy, and he begins to suspects that Macbeth has killed the King Duncan to get the throne and the honor. Banquo also remembered that the witches said that his children would become king. This quote reminds the audience that Macbeth has not completey secured the throne,and now know that Banquo is now in danger.This attracts the audience members and makes them want to see more.

Shakespeare uses a wide variety of dramatic devices in the play Macbeth. A dramatic device Macbeth uses is personification in this extract from Act 2 Scene 1.

Macbeth sees a dagger before him which is an illusion and potentially a sign of madness. He says “Thou marshall’st me the way I was going; and such a instrument I was to use”.

Another device is personification.In this soliloquy Macbeth uses personification by using the object – in this case a knife – as if it were a living being. In this quote Macbeth uses the words “marshall’st me” which means it is guiding him. He says this to the knife which he is imagining to see in front of his eyes. He says to the knife to guide him as a metaphor to control the way he is going. “And such an instrument I was to use” refers to a knife being an instrument and is about to be played. The quote chosen shows hints of remorse even if he continues with the plan to kill King Duncan. In the play, Macbeth sees a dagger because he is uncertain whether to kill Duncan or not. He feel weakness if he doesn’t continue with the plan but will fell remorse if he continues so he needs guidance on what he is going to do. He uses the dagger to justify his actions. Personification attracts the audience and gives them a colorful way to describe complex ideas to the audience.

Iambic pentameter is another device Shakespeare uses in Macbeth.In Macbeth the higher more important characters mostly speak in unrhymed iambic pentameter. An example of this is where Lady Macbeth tells her husband to wash his hands after he has just murdered King Duncan. She says “and WASH this FILthy WITness FROM your HAND.” You may have noticed that every second syllable is accented (stressed) so this is classic iambic pentameter. This Is when the lines have no regular rhyme. This attracts the audience interest because it enables them to visualize an interpretation of each characters wealth a importance to the play.

The evidence shows how Shakespeare uses a great amount of complex devices to keep the audience interested in his play Macbeth.

This dagger was made with a transparent blade to reinforce its symbolic reference to Macbeth's deteriorating state of mind

Personification

November 6, 2014 / / 2 Comments

Shakespeare uses a wide variety of dramatic devices in the play Macbeth. A dramatic device Macbeth uses is personification in this extract from Act 2 Scene 1. Macbeth sees a dagger before him which is an illusion and potentially a sign of madness. He says

“Thou marshall’st me the way I was going; and such a instrument I was to use”.

Macbeth uses personification by using the object – in this case a knife – as if it were a living being. In this quote Macbeth uses the words “marshall’st me” which means it is guiding him. He says this to the knife which he is imagining to see in front of his eyes. He says to the knife to guide him as a metaphor to control the way he is going. “And such an instrument I was to use” refers to a knife being an instrument and is about to be played. The quote chosen shows hints of remorse even if he continues with the plan to kill King Duncan. In the play Macbeth sees a dagger because he is uncertain whether to kill Duncan or not. He feels weakness if he doesn’t continue with the plan but will feel remorse if he continues so he needs guidance on what he is going to do. He uses the dagger to justify his actions.

Christina Rossetti

December 18, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Christina Rossetti one of the finest devotional poets in the english tradition.
She was a “Poet’s poet”, an “Artist devoted to art”.
Christina Rossetti born 1830 and died in 1894, was described by many as a ‘saint’ and it was said how strongly Christina would relate her pieces of poetry very closely to religion and being spiritual; this being due to the physical and psychological crisis which she suffered and the idea which is one of her poems called ‘Hope in Grief’:

Tell me not that death of grief
Is the only sure relief,
Tell me not that hope when dead
Leaves a void that naught can fill,
Gnawings that may not be fed

This poem was entered into her notebook after her breakdown and within the context of Christina’s life understand the ‘mindset’ of Christina, this being apparent in the use of language with words such as “grief”, “dead”, “void” presenting this very alone and sad attitude and yet the contradictory terms such as “hope”, “relief” which shows a conflict and contrast of emotions.
It is very common in alot of her poems the theme of ‘women in grief’, examples being death’s chill between where a woman’s beloved dies and the second ‘Heart’s chill between’ where a woman has to face the loss of a faithless lover; these themes discuss the ideas of relationship and enables the reader to question whether a partner or relationshop played a significant role in Christina’s life.

When looking at the structure of Christina’s poems, firstly the concept of the first and last line both discussing a natural location allows the reader to gain access to a backround meaning of the poem.
The terms used in some of the poems include “waves”, “rivers”, “springs” which presents the idea of something being out human control and in this case in ‘dream-Land’ being death.
Also the high use ‘water’ related terms could possibly present the idea of something being thin and not pure and the idea of unpredictably which can relate to all of her poems and to an extent, Christina’s own life.

What i think is interesting, is that during the 19th century Christina’s poems would’ve been seen in a normal context and through the themes like these which were normally used in the poems of these times, however as an immediate impression to a modern day audience, Christina’s poems seem very dull, depressing and shows the ideas that would’ve been displayed to context such as our attachment and judgement of words such as ‘grief’.

In the poems the main character/only character is always a female and expresses opinions from a  very feminist view, this including the equality and liberty of rights for both man and woman which relates to the idea of men and women being to write just as equally as each other as Christina showed.                                                                                                                  It is also said that at the time, Christina’s writing style was disliked and to some extent questioned because of how averse it is to the orphodox style of poetry, this led to not being able to put her poetry in newspapers or magazines for a long time, and I feel it showed a very courageous and determined individual to ‘stick by her guns’ and continue on in her own way and become highly successful from it.

Goblin market was once again a poem with the kiss of a feminist on it, whilst studying in class, I noticed how key parts of the poem explore the opinions of how women can do it just as much as men can, this being where the two sisters talk about how their light can ‘shine’ just as bright.

I think Christina would be a very strong woman, with very forward and outgoing opinions, who would stick by her point and do/write what she feel’s write.