Rules For Comedy

Rules For Comedy

Comedy Routine Review

Opening

Share your homework about your favorite comedy moment with your classmates.

Then complete a Quick Write in response to the following questions.

  • Do you notice any similarities between what you find funny and what your classmates find funny?
  • Which elements of humor are most popular in your class?
  • Why do you think this is?

Open Notebook

Shakespearean Insults

Work Time

Take a look at the list of Shakespeare’s insults and compliments. Note that each group of words is divided into three columns.

Choose one word from each column to make a three-word insult or compliment that you will say to the people you meet. Your teacher will organize you into two circles for this exercise.

To get you started, here are a couple of possibilities.

  • “You rank, puking codpiece!”
  • “You’re a paunchy, artless lout!”

Shakespearean Compliments

Work Time

Now go around the circle giving compliments to each other in the same manner as you did the insults. By taking one word from each column, you will be able to create three-word Shakespearean compliments.

Here are some possible compliments.

  • “You are a bonny, brisky madonna!”
  • “My courtly, enchanted lambkin!”

Insult and Compliment Analysis

Work Time

In a small group, discuss the following questions.

After listening to the responses of your group, jot down brief answers.

  • Did you find this funny? Why or why not?
  • Can you connect this exercise to your Humor Top 10 list?
  • Do we really have to completely understand every word to understand the underlying meanings and humor?
  • How did this task add to your understanding of Shakespeare?

Open Notebook

When everyone’s ready, share your responses with the class.

An Introduction to Iambic Pentameter

Work Time

Shakespeare wrote in a specific pattern called “iambic pentameter.” This was a format that determined not only the number of syllables in each of his lines of poetry but also the stressed and unstressed patterns within them.

Stressed and unstressed syllables are critically important in spoken English; they often determine what the word means.

For example, if you ignore spelling, what is the difference between the words “dessert” and “desert”?

The difference is based on which syllable is stressed and which one is unstressed.

Stressed and Unstressed Syllables

Work Time

Take a look at the list of stressed and unstressed words. With a partner, do the following.

  • Read the words on this list aloud and indicate which syllables are stressed and which are unstressed. See if you can hear this clearly as you both repeat the words.
  • Try saying your own names with the stressed and unstressed patterns reversed. What do they sound like?

Metrical Feet

Work Time

Now that you can hear the difference between the stressed and unstressed syllables, you need to know that each of these patterns has a specific name. These patterns are called “metrical feet.”

There are five metrical feet that you will need to know.

  • iamb
  • trochee
  • dactyl
  • anapest
  • spondee

So, an iamb is a type ofmetrical foot .

Sonnet 130

Closing

Now take a look at Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130. Shakespeare’s sonnets do not have traditional names; their “names” are simply numbers. He wrote 154 sonnets. Each one is referred to by a number.

  • Read through the sonnet and see if you can underline or highlight the stressed syllables in it.
  • It may help to read it quietly aloud by yourself or with a partner.

Sonnet 130 Paraphrase

Homework

Now that you have found the iambic pentameter in Sonnet 130, read the poem carefully and see if you can understand what Shakespeare is saying.

  • Paraphrase the poem.

Open Notebook

You will submit your paraphrase during the next lesson.