● Four Tragedies by William Shakespeare 

Macbeth (Set in Scotland, the play illustrates the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.)

Macbeth www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzAujyWpK_s

Othello (This tightly constructed work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his beloved wife, Desdemona; his loyal lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted but unfaithful ensign, Iago. Because of its varied and current themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and repentance, Othello is still often performed in professional and community theatre alike and has been the basis for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations.)

Othello www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6LqSgukOU

Othello  p.s. Iago hates Othello and devises a plan to destroy him by making him believe that his wife is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio.

Othello   

Othello  Iago is a fictional supporting character in the animated Aladdin films and television series produced by The Walt Disney Company. He is voiced by Gilbert Gottfried and appeared in the first film as the sidekick to the main antagonist Jafar. The red-plumed talking bird is an apparent homage to an identically-named red parrot in the Tintin adventure The Castafiore Emerald.

Hamlet (The play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is instructed to enact on his uncle Claudius.)

Hamlet www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0CqUTmwKiM

King Lear (The titular character descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all.)

King Lear www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptXr7LKylpg

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● The Tempest

The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place using illusion and skilful manipulation. He conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island. There, his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio's lowly nature, the redemption of the King, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso's son, Ferdinand.

Characters

Prospero, the main character. The overthrown Duke of Milan. He now lives on an island and is a great sorcerer. Miranda, Prospero's daughter, who falls in love with the Prince of Naples, Ferdinand. Ariel, a spirit who does Prospero's bidding and is, at times, visible only to him. He became Prospero's "slave" because he was saved by Prospero from being trapped in a tree by Sycorax. Ariel obeys all of Prospero's demands and is eventually granted freedom. Caliban, a villainous island native, the deformed son of a witch named Sycorax (see below), who ruled the island before Prospero arrived. He now works as Prospero's slave but despises him. In the play, he is known to have spoken many colorful curses, an example being, "a southwest wind blow on ye and blister ye o'er". Sycorax (unseen), a deceased Algerian sorceress and mother of Caliban, who was banished to the island before Prospero arrived and enslaved the spirits on the island, including Ariel. Iris, Ceres, and Juno, spirits who perform the roles of goddesses in a masque presented to the young lovers.

Alonso, King of Naples Sebastian, Alonso's treacherous brother. Antonio, Prospero's brother, who usurped his position as Duke of Milan. He and Sebastian plot unsuccessfully to kill Alonso. Ferdinand, Alonso's son. Falls in love with Miranda. Gonzalo, a kindly Neapolitan courtier, who secretly provided Prospero and Mirandawith food, water, books, and other "stuffs and necessaries" when they were pushed out to sea. Adrian and Francisco, lords. Trinculo, the King's jester and friend of Stephano. Stephano, the King's drunken butler and friend of Trinculo who tries to help Caliban overthrow his master Boatswain Master of the ship

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● A Midsummer Night's Dream

video clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1wMfOwlAZ8

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theme

love’s difficulty, magic, dreams (www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/msnd/themes.html)

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play-within-a-play

The play-within-a-play that takes up most of Act V, scene i is used to represent, in condensed form, many of the important ideas and themes of the main plot. Because the craftsmen are such bumbling actors, their performance satirizes the melodramatic Athenian lovers and gives the play a purely joyful, comedic ending. Pyramus and Thisbe face parental disapproval in the play-within-a-play, just as Hermia and Lysander do; the theme of romantic confusion enhanced by the darkness of night is rehashed, as Pyramus mistakenly believes that Thisbe has been killed by the lion, just as the Athenian lovers experience intense misery because of the mix-ups caused by the fairies’ meddling. The craftsmen’s play is, therefore, a kind of symbol for A Midsummer Night’s Dream itself: a story involving powerful emotions that is made hilarious by its comical presentation.

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vocabulary

mend: to become corrected or improved

amendment: the act of amending

reprehend: to voice disapproval of

comprehend:  to understand (something, such as a difficult or complex subject)

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quote

“If we shadows have offended, 

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumbered here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream, → theme

Gentles, do not reprehend:

If you pardon, we will mend:

And, as I am an honest Puck, → verbal irony

If we have unearned luck

Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,

We will make amends ere long;

Else the Puck a liar call;

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Robin shall restore amends.”

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slumber party

A sleepover, also known as a pajama party or a slumber party, is a party most commonly held by children or teenagers, where a guest or guests are invited to stay overnight at the home of a friend, sometimes to celebrate birthdays or other special events.

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● Vocabulary

woo /wuː/ v.

to try to persuade people to support you or to buy something from you, especially by saying and doing nice things

e.g., Supermarkets are trying to woo customers by cutting prices.

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charm /tʃɑː(r)m/ v.

to deliberately make someone like you so that they do what you want them to do

e.g., He was able to charm my mother into helping him financially.

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ant: a person or thing performing or causing the stated action

e.g., assistant (someone whose job is to help another person in their work, for example by doing the easier parts of it)

e.g., participant (someone who takes part in something)

e.g., disinfectant (a chemical substance that kills bacteria and is used for making things very clean)

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e, ex: out, away, out of or outside

e.g., elope (to run away to be married)

e.g., elapse (if time elapses, it passes)

e.g., eliminate (to get rid of something that is not wanted or needed)

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mis: wrong, bad, badly

e.g., mischief (behaviour or play, especially of children, that causes trouble but not serious harm to other people)

e.g., mistake (something that you have not done correctly, or something you say or think that is not correct)

e.g., misconduct (seriously bad or dishonest behaviour, especially by someone who has a position of responsibility)

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mischief /ˈmɪstʃɪf/ n.

behaviour or play, especially of children, that causes trouble but not serious harm to other people

e.g., The boys are always up to some mischief or other.

p.s. "Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out." (The Tale of Peter Rabbit)

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caesarean /sɪˈzeəriən/ n.

a medical operation in which a baby is born by being removed from a woman’s body through a cut made in her abdomen, because the baby cannot be born in the normal way

p.s. word story: Perhaps named after Julius Caesar, who it is sometimes said was born this way.

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complexion /kəmˈplekʃ(ə)n/ n.

the appearance of the skin on someone’s face, and whether it is pale, dark, smooth etc

e.g., an oily complexion

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● "Shall I comepare thee to a summer's day?" (Sonnet 18)

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? 

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: 

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: 

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, 

And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; 

And every fair from fair sometime declines, 

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; 

But thy eternal summer shall not fade 

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; 

Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, 

When in eternal lines to time thou growest: 

   So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, 

   So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 

Summary & Commentary: www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shakesonnets/section2.rhtml

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● "A red red rose"

www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173068

Poet: Robert Burns; Poet's Region: Scotland

metaphor→  sands o’ life

simile→ like a red, red rose

alliteration→ a red, red rose

p.s. Alliteration is a stylistic literary device identified by the repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words, or the repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of a phrase.

p.s. e.g., "The weary, way-worn wanderer bore" ("To Helen" by Edgar Allan Poe)

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● Cupid and Psyche

A symbolic butterfly hovers over Psyche in a moment of innocence poised before sexual awakening.

Cupid and Psyche is a story from the Latin novel Metamorphoses.  It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche ( "Soul" or "Breath of Life") and Cupid (Latin Cupido, "Desire") or Amor ("Love"), and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage.

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● Bert and Ernie

Bert and Ernie are two Muppets who appear together in numerous skits on the popular U.S. children's television show Sesame Street.

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● Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia is a word that phonetically imitates, resembles or suggests the source of the sound that it describes.

For animal sounds, words like quack (duck), moo (cow), bark or woof (dog), roar (lion), meow/miaow or purr (cat), cluck (chicken) and baa (sheep) are typically used in English. Some of these words are used both as nouns and as verbs.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1GC1yWdM_c