Shakespeare and Early Modern English

1. Define and explain, The Great Vowel Shift.
- The Great Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in the south of England between 1200 and 1600, it was æ in Old English. The Great Vowel Shift is one of the historical events marking the separation of Middle and Modern English, mainly in the pronunciation.

2. Name 5 dialects of Modern English.
- American English, Australian English, Indo-Pakistani English, New Zealand English, Philippine English.

3. One of the problems with Early Modern English was a lack of uniformity in spelling. Which 2 people (1-English, 1-American) helped establish standardized spelling?
- English: Samuel Johnson
American: Noah Webster.

4. How many countries in the world have given Modern English official status?
- 53 countries

5. The most recent statistics show that approximately how many people speak Modern English as a:
I. First language? 309–400 million
II. Second Language? 199–1,400 million
Over 508 million speakers of English.

6. When was Early Modern English spoken?
- Between 1500 – 1650 AD.

7. How are the use of Pronouns different between Early Modern & Modern English?
- In Early Modern English, there were two second-person personal pronouns: thou, the informal singular pronoun, and ye, which was both the plural pronoun and the formal singular pronoun. In Modern English the pronouns were much the same as today. One difference is that, much as a becomes an before a vowel, my and thy became mine and thine before vowels as well; hence, mine eyes, thine uncle, and so on

8. Which language families does Modern English belong in?
- American English, Australian English, British English, Canadian English, Caribbean English, Hiberno-English, Indo-Pakistani English, New Zealand English, Philippine English, Singaporean English, and South African English

9. Name 4 worldwide uses for Modern English.
- There are diverse uses as controlling airplanes, developing software, conducting international diplomacy, and business relations.

10. In your opinion, what was the greatest influence on the spread of Modern English around the world? Why?
- In my opinion the greatest influence was the literature, because people could discover a lot of different stories.

11. There has been a lot of controversy over the true authorship of Shakespeare's writings. Which 3 people are also candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare's plays?
- The possible authors are Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward de Vere.

12. Briefly explain The Oxfordian Theory.
- The case for Oxford's authorship is based on perceived similarities between Oxford's biography and events in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets; parallels of language, idiom, and thought between Oxford's letters and the Shakespearean canon; and underlined passages in Oxford's Bible that may correspond to quotations in Shakespeare's plays.

13. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, which according to the Folio Classification, fall into 3 categories. Name the 3 categories.
- Comedies, Histories and Tragedies.

14. In which town was Shakespeare born?
-He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon.

15. Which famous London theatre (built by actors, for actors) is connected with Shakespeare's plays?
- The Globe Theatre.

16. Even though Richard III is the most performed play, Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous play. In your opinion, what does this portion of Hamlet's famous soliloquy mean:

To be or not to be, that is the question;
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,...


17. Name 5 post-Shakespearean artists whose work was heavily influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare.
-Thomas Hardy
William Faulkner
Charles Dickens
Herman Melville
Henry Fuseli.

18. Which of Shakespeare's plays are included in The Wars of the Roses series?
- Some of the events of these wars were dramatized by Shakespeare in the history plays Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V; Henry VI, Part 1; Henry VI, Part 2; Henry VI, Part 3; and Richard III.

19. Shakespeare wrote most of his works in blank verse composed in iambic pentameter. What is blank verse & iambic pentameter?
- This means that his verse was usually unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with a stress on every second syllable. Its sentences tend to start, pause, and finish at the end of lines, with the risk of monotony.

20. Name 4 actors from Shakepeare's original company.
-Richard Burbage, William Kempe, Henry Condell and John Heminges.

21. What were the Wars of the Roses (1377-1485)?
- The Wars of the Roses were a series of bloody dynastic civil wars between supporters of the rival houses of Lancaster and York, for the throne of England.

22. Why was this war called the Wars of the Roses?
- It has its origins in the badges associated with the two royal houses, although the roses were occasionally used as symbols during the wars, most of the participants wore badges associated with their immediate feudal lords or protectors.

23. What were the names of the 2 houses which fought in this war?
- The White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster.

24. What prompted this civil war to begin?
- The overthrow of King Richard II by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, in 1399. Richard II's government had been highly unpopular and Bolingbroke returned from exile, initially to reclaim his rights as Duke of Lancaster.

25. How did the war end?
- The war ended with the victory of the Lancastrian Henry Tudor, who founded the House of Tudor which subsequently ruled England and Wales for 116 years.

26. Which Kings of England were participants in the Wars of the Roses?
- The Yorkists: King Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III, Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and Duke of York.The Lancastrians: King Henry VI, Duke Somerset, Henry VII, Margaret of Anjou, Duke of Buckingham, and Thomas Percy.