WHY ARE THE
FOLLOWING IMPORTANT?
1.
The Great Bible was Henry VIII’s
version which was written in a quite complex English, not everyone could
understand it.
(There appeared what is
known as the Great Bible in 1539, also compiled by Myles Coverdale. The Great
Bible was issued to meet a decree that each church should make available in
some convenient place the largest possible copy of the whole Bible, where all
the parishioners could have access to it and read it at their will (wikipedia)
The new translation, the
King James’ Version of the Bible, was written in plain talking (very simple but
very effective language) and achieved the majestic effects of its prose with
barely 8.000.
(The
King James Version (KJV), or Authorized Version is an English translation of
the Holy Bible, commissioned for the benefit of the Church of England at the
behest of James I of England. First published in 1611, it has had a profound
impact not only on most English translations that have followed it, but also on
English literature as a whole (wikipedia)
The aim of the RSC is to keep modern audiences in touch
with Shakespeare as our contemporary. That means that as well as the work of
Shakespeare and his contemporaries, our repertoire includes classic plays by
international dramatists and work by living writers (http://www.rsc.org.uk )
MATCHING EXERCISE: PLACES
1. Stratford-on-Avon – Birth place of Shakespeare
2. Cambridge University - Translation of Authorised Version
3. Warwickshire - Country vocabulary
4. London - Where Shakespeare wrote his plays
5. Australia - Penny Downey
1. John Bois -The King James’ Version of the Bible (it was translated by
a Committee; the best piece of literature in English)
2. Sir John Guilgud
-Shakespearean acting
3. John Barton - E.
Shakespearean director
4. Sir Thomas More
- Latin borrowings: education
5. Sir Frances
Bacon - Greek Borrowings: skeleton
6. Henry VIII -The
Great Bible
MATCHING EXERCISE: DATES
3.1564 - Shakespeare born April
23 (?) in Stratford-on-Avon
4.
1611 - King James Bible published
5. 1616
- Shakespeare dies April 23 of
6. 1623
- First Folio published
FILL
IN THE FOLLOWING VERSE: The Creation
In the beginning God created
the Heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was upon
the face of the deep
And the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters
And God said, Let there be
light: and there was light
And God saw the light, that it
was good: and God divided the light from the darkness
And God called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night
QUESTIONS
Shakespeare contributed a lot
to the development of English language. He was a Renaissance man: all
extravagance and English language, by his influence, experimented a real
explosion (Shakespeare had around 34.000 words) As MacNeil says: “He had an
inexhaustible passion for words; He has the largest vocabulary of any writer of
English, approximately 34000 words, which is about double what an educated
person uses today in their lifetime”.
·
He was
responsible for the inclusion of new words like obscene, submerge and
many others.
·
The inclusion of quotations and phrases: “nothing
will come for nothing”
·
He changed grammatical classes : he made nouns into
verbs: “he dukes it well” (he acts as a Duke) or “he pageants us”
(he entertains)
“Shakespeare words and
phrases, had a direct influence on every one of us who speaks English today”
2. Shakespeare's range of
language is remarkable. List three types of language he uses in his plays as
they are discussed in this program. What is the dictionary definition of each?
a. pastoral-lyrical
with Titania (like Cervantes) A pastoral place, atmosphere, or idea is
characteristic of peaceful country life and scenery.
b. heroic (with Henry the Fifth ) Heroic means
being or relating to the hero of a story.
c. badwy (with Falstaff
)A bawdy story or joke contains humorous references to sex.
Besides pidgin with
Caloban, and philosophical with Hamlet among others.
3. Shakespeare's plays and the
King James Bible are masterpieces, but there is one fundamental linguistic
difference between them. What is it?
the King James’ Version with
barely 8,000 words is written in plain vocabulary so everyone could follow it
and understand it while Shakespeare's vocabulary include around 34.000 words
therefore, his plays are real pieces of innovation including lots of
new terms and expressions made up by the writer.
4. Which version of the Bible
does this quote belong to? “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is
vanity.”
The King James' Version which is much more precise.