Creative Expression - The Shakespearean Way

I have often heard people groan when Shakespeare is mentioned. They seem to think he is beyond the comprehensible; his language is too far removed from the present age. Yes, there are uses of archaic vocabulary and references to Greek mythology that may not be familiar to generations of current readers spanning the globe. Then, there are all those cultural inferences immediately evident only to those who have lived in that age and in England and those who study the history of those times.

Yet, if you look closely and make some effort to visualise what is being said in the plays, one can appreciate the beauty of the language used. In the present age of limited vocabulary, often interspersed with `ah, yeah, like', `you know' and `whatever', Shakespearean language gives one an opportunity to go beyond the mundane and find expression in playing with the language.

Let's look at an extract from Act 1, Scene 3 of The Merchant of Venice.

Shylock: 

This kindness will I show:

Go with me to the notary; seal me there

Your single bond, and - in a merry sport -

If you repay me not on such a day,

In such a place, such sum or sums as are

Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit

Be nominated for an equal pound

Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken

In what part of your body pleaseth me.

The use of the term `merry sport' not only indicates that Shylock adds the following condition, "as a joke" but it gives an air of playfulness, an air of `look, let's just have some fun and include this preposterous condition as well." Those two words implies quite a bit, enabling Shylock to quite craftily make the whole proposition sound innocent and not serious.

Antonio:

Content, in faith. I'll seal to such a bond,

And say there is much kindness in the Jew.

Instead of a boring, "Alright, I agree to sign the bond", Antonio expresses his satisfied feelings too in merely saying, "Content, in faith."

Bassanio:

You shall not seal to such a bond for me!

I'll rather dwell in my necessity.

And I love this - "I'll rather dwell in my necessity"! What a wonderful use of the word `dwell' to mean that he would rather continue to be in his predicament of being in need of money.

Antonio:

Why fear not, man; I will not forfeit it.

Within these two months - that's a month before

This bond expires - I do expect return

Of thrice three times the value of this bond.

So what would be `thrice three times the value of this bond'?! So, there is Math in there as well!

Shylock:

O father Abram, what these Christians are,

Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect

The thoughts of others! Pray you tell me this:

If he should break his day, what should I gain

By exaction of the forfeiture?

A pound of man's flesh taken from a man

Is not so estimable, profitable neither,

As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say

To buy his favor I extend this friendship,

If he will take it, so; if not, adieu.

And for my love I pray you wrong me not.

Read through and observe closely the expressive language. What can you gain from such a mode of expression? There will be many perspectives from just this short dialogue. In mid-week, Part 2 for my perspective on this will be posted - keep a lookout for it!

Meanwhile, try The Pear Tree's course on Literary Analysis for Beginners to gain a greater appreciation for literature and in the process, language!

Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Reading - Part 2

In relation to Irving's commentary (found in the extract in the previous post) of the two groups of people he met in The Country Church, how do the images below correspond to his opinions?

Now, consider the following and link the probable meanings with your answers to the questions above.

Use of Language	Probable Meanings
unpretending great	`great' - in terms of cultured behaviour, inherent higher social standing; self-assured enough to be unassuming, no need to pretend?
arrogant little	`little' - in terms of social achievements, character and yet, proud because of accumulated wealth
titled rank... accompanied with true nobility of soul	higher social status derived from one's birthright, play on the word `nobility' - the aristocratic upbringing leading to a personality that is selfless, kind and helpful
aspirings of vulgarity	`vulgarity' - the common and crude persons who seek to elevate themselves in society

What you find above is Irving's opinion about the two groups.  Of course, you may have different ideas about the two groups since in your experience, you may have come across the kinds of behaviour mentioned above in the pompous `great' and/or noble `little'.

If you are interested in dwelling further into literary analysis or in enhancing critical thinking skills, join our lessons, at The Pear Tree Centre for Education, on reading comprehension and literary analysis.

Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Reading - Part 1

Gaining Wisdom through Reading

When you read, say, a prose, is it a superficial read or do you go beyond the superficial meaning found therein and ask yourself, "What does the author really mean in writing this piece?"  One might even ask, "Are there multiple meanings here that even the author did not envisage?"  One perspective of literary appreciation, which is found in the Reader Response mode of literary analysis, transfers ownership of completed works into the hands of the reader.  Once an author creates a piece, the work of art is out of his or her grasp.  The work becomes the property of the reader, leading him or her to an interactive endeavour through which multiple meanings, and even emotional ties, are created.

Such an interaction with a well-written work of literature can lead to the development of critical thinking skills. Let us now look at an extract from Washington Irving's The Country Church.

I have been rather minute in drawing the pictures of these two families, because I considered them specimens of what is often to be met with in this country - the unpretending great, and the arrogant little.  I have no respect for titled rank, unless it be accompanied with true nobility of soul; but I have remarked in all countries where artificial distinctions exist, that the very highest classes are always the most courteous and unassuming.  Those who are well assured of their own standing are least apt to trespass on that of others; whereas nothing is so offensive as the aspirings of vulgarity, which thinks to elevate itself by humiliating its neigbour.

Irving paints a contrast between two social classes: the aristocrats and those who scaled the social ladder through newfound wealth.  He expresses strong feelings for or against each of these groups.  Some possible questions one could ask are:

      What are these contrasting opinions? 
      He was an American, and so how would this have an impact on his views on the English countryside?  Would it be different if the author was an Englishman?

      Are there other possible perspectives?  Do you agree with Irving? What would be your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with him?
      Strong words are used to express strong views.  What is the role of the use of language here in:

o   persuading the reader to accept the author's viewpoints?

o   the graphic representations of the two groups?  What was the purpose? Was the purpose achieved?

o   allowing us to see that the author is himself opinionated and makes generalised observations?

Indeed, in comprehending, different devices, such as contextual clues, use of language and use of prior knowledge, come in handy to help us better understand the text.  In the next blog post, the questions mentioned above will be explored so as to appreciate the given extract even more.

Appreciating the English Language

  

Language has these, and more.

The following story, about the famous English poet, Lord Byron, was told by one of my university professors:

When Lord Byron was a young child and in school, he was told to write an essay on the `Wedding at Cana'.  Before I continue with Lord Byron's childhood exploit with his writing skills, let me enlighten those unfamiliar with this Biblical reference.  Jesus was once invited to a wedding at Cana, but midway through the wedding reception, the wine ran out.  He then instructed that jars be filled with water.  When the guests were served from these jars, it was found that the water had turned to wine and the guests complimented the host on serving the finest wine toward the end of the feast.  Now, let's get back to our story about the young Lord Byron.  While the other children in his class feverishly wrote their essays, our young Lord Bryon was gazing out of the window, seemingly lost in a dream.  Just as the teacher told the class they had five minutes to finish their essays, Lord Bryon wrote the following one-liner:

The water saw its Lord and blushed.

That one-liner is what I call, `art'! The whole story of `The Wedding at Cana' is captured in that one-liner.

In that one-liner, you will find that water is personified and takes on the characteristics of a bride.  The active verb, `blushed', provides a beautiful imagery of not only the changing properties of the water, but it also hints at the inner feelings of a bride.  The reference to `Lord' is an allusion to how a groom was perceived in a bygone era.  Yes, all it took was a one-liner to capture the essence of the changing of the water to wine and link it beautifully to an event set during a wedding.

Now, would you like to discover more of the `art' in the language? Enrol in our course, Literary Analysis for Beginners I, and learn to appreciate the `art' in the English Language!

Though the course is targeted at students who will be learning English Literature for the first time, anyone can enrol in the course as this will be useful for those who would like to, not only learn the English Language, but also gain an appreciation of its artistic usage from the masters of the language.

Adult Communication Skills - Pronunciation

 What I learnt from the letter `X'

Hmm, you may well wonder, what has adult communication skills, in general, and pronunciation, in particular, got to do with the letter `X'?  One would have heard of something being X-rated, and come across too few words beginning with `x' and the impossibly sounding x-words with a hint of the snake's hiss in it!

I was having a particularly challenging moment!  The adult student in front of me stared hard at me, probably trying to get a hint from the way I moved my mouth.  I laboured on and stressed, "Ex' but she continued to vocalise it as "Es".  I needed a breather, a time-out period, to think how I could lead her to differentiate between `ex' and `es'.  It didn't help even when I continually tried telling her it was an `x' and not `s' after the `e'. 

I had taught language acquisition courses in the university and read through quite a bit of literature on the `critical age theory' when I embarked on my research in designing and testing the effectiveness of the Literature-Driven English Curriculum.  So, could this be an instant of the `critical age theory' proving itself correct in that this adult learner of the English Language simply could not vocalise the `x' because it is not a sound she is familiar with in her native language?  As such, she has reached a stage where unfamiliar sounds may be difficult for her to vocalise since she is already set in her ways.  Her repertoire of sounds becomes limited to what she has learnt in her native language, and hence, non-native sounds that require different modes of working one's speech apparatus become difficult to imitate.

What I have learnt in my experience is that theories are well and good to increase our understanding of the status-quo, of the state of affairs as it exists in the present moment.  However, as an educator, I have to go beyond being a linguist and discover a way to reach the student, whatever the `critical age theory' may say.

A few more attempts were made to spit out the correct `ex' in preference to the `es'.  Then, lo and behold, the `Eureka' moment descended on both of us.  We looked excitedly at each other as I scribbled on the whiteboard, `eks'.  "You are missing out the `k'!" I was almost in a rapture as she finally pronounced `ex' and thereafter, `expert' correctly. 

Indeed, our lean and mean, `x' stealthily hid three letters in it!

If you think, learning a language is boring, think again!  It is a puzzle to be solved, and that puzzle also holds the key to unlocking man's ingenuity in creating languages and systems to propagate these languages.

Come join us for our first online Adult Communication Skills course in which you will learn pronunciations of words in common usage, learn sentence structure and create sentences with appropriate structures.

Making sense through grammar

Grammar is a system and we make sense using a known system to discover the meanings in written and spoken words. This system may develop over time or it may be created but it is one that is acknowledged by those using that particular language.

So, as in any other language, evolved or created, English too has its system of grammatical rules, conventions of usage and mechanics.

Now,  we are going to see how simple grammatical rules, mechanics and English Language usage were ignored when e.e. cummings wrote his poem, anyone lived in a pretty how town. Let's consider the first stanza of the poem.

	Unusual Use of Grammar and Mechanics
1)   anyone lived in a pretty how town	No capitalisation at the beginning; odd insertion of `how' that is usually used when asking a question
2)   (with up so floating many bells down)	The parenthesis indicates that this is an explanation, not quite a part of the main sentence. So, what would the implications of that be? Notice that the syntax, the way in which parts of the sentence are constructed.
3)   spring summer autumn winter	There are no commas to separate the seasons and no linking words to indicate a link with the beginning of the main sentence (1).
4)   he sang his didn't he danced his did	Again, linking words are not used to connect (4) with (3) and there is no punctuation to separate the ideas. Use of the possessive pronoun `his' with no explicit mention of what or who belongs to the `he'.

How would Cummings' unusual use of grammatical rules and neglect of the common usage and mechanics of the language provide us with clues that will help us to make sense of the poem?

To get at the clues, we need to have a knowledge of the grammar, mechanics and usage as is commonly followed in the English Language.

Try to work out the solutions on your own before you check the possible answers when you go into: Making Sense through Knowing Grammar, Remember, language is subjective and there could be other possible responses.

Also remember to check out our available Online Courses for students in Upper Primary and Lower Secondary or Grades 5 to 8.

Learn Grammar for Enhanced Understanding

Not convinced that you have to learn grammar in order to better understand what you hear or read?

Consider the following extract from a poem by e. e. cummings

anyone lived in a pretty how town

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did.

Women and men (both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

Most students, I have come across, would look at me in bewilderment, almost as though I had somehow conspired with e. e. cummings to create a poem that no living person, except the poet himself, would be able to understand!

However, once you point out a few grammatical concepts, they begin to `see the light'! After all, grammar is a system and all systems have logical components.

I am going to leave you here for the moment to consider how a poet, who seemingly threw the concept of grammar to the winds, needs you and me to have a good grasp of grammar to understand his poem!

Look out for my next post to see if you were able to see where I am coming from. Meanwhile, Happy Reading and Happy Thinking!