[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-365491-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-365491-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","reading-shakespeare-this-will-help","Reading Shakespeare? This Will Help","","A practical handout explains why Shakespeare’s early-modern English can feel difficult despite most vocabulary being familiar today. It describes three core reasons for the challenge: stage-oriented writing, inventive wordplay, and character voices that can be pompous, devious, or unpredictable. It then provides structured reading strategies for verse, punctuation-driven meaning units, inverted sentences, ellipses, clause tracking (subject-verb-object), and managing pronoun references while paraphrasing passage action.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/","Literature",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/reading-shakespeare-this-will-help/365491/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/reading-shakespeare-this-will-help/365491.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mimi","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-23",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why is Shakespeare sometimes hard to read even when many words are familiar?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The handout lists three reasons: Shakespeare wrote for actors on stage, he reshaped and rearranged words creatively, and different characters use challenging ways of speaking.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How should students approach rhythm when reading Shakespearean verse?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Students should follow appropriate phrasing and intonation. The handout advises not pausing at line ends unless punctuation appears, and using comma and period-type pauses to support the verse’s rhythm.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What is the method for reading longer speeches effectively?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Track who does what by keeping the subject, verb, and object clear. Also monitor pronoun references and paraphrase the main thoughts to follow the passage’s line of action.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},365491,1791170031,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,91,95,100,105,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":26,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":96,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":111},2336477974920,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Reading Shakespeare? This Will Help.  \nWhat's so hard about Shakespeare's language? Many students come to Shakespeare's language assuming that the language of his period is substantially different from ours. In fact 98% of the words in Shakespeare are current-usage English words. So why does it sometimes seem hard to read Shakespeare? There are three main reasons:  \n1. Originally, Shakespeare wrote the words for an actor to illustrate them as he spoke. In short, the play you have in hand was meant for the stage, not for the page.  \n2. Shakespeare had a love of re-forming and re-arranging words; it’s not that different from what’s found in hiphop lyrics and internet subcultures today. His plays reflect an excitement about language and an inventiveness that becomes enjoyable once the reader gets into the spirit of it.  \n3. Since Shakespeare puts all types of people on stage, those characters will include some who are pompous, some who are devious, some who are boring, and some who are crazy; and all of these will speak in ways that are sometimes difficult. Modern playwrights creating similar characters have them speak in similarly challenging ways.  \nIn class, you’ll read some of the play out loud, and you’ll be reading and re-reading at home while preparing for quizzes and journaling. I’ve prepared twelve tips for reading Shakespeare’s early-modern English because it is considerably different from reading almost anything else. That said, once you get used to it, it’ll be much more comfortable. Your ability to read raw, unfiltered Shakespeare is an essential skill for this class, so study over this handout before spending time alone with Shakespeare’s play, and refer back to it periodically.  \n1. When reading verse, note the appropriate phrasing and intonation.  \nDO NOT PAUSE AT THE END OFA LINE unless there is a mark of punctuation. Shakespearean verse has a rhythm of its own, and once a reader gets used to it, the rhythm becomes very natural to speak in and read. Beginning readers often find it helpful to read a short pause at a comma and a long pause for a period, colon, semicolon, dash, or question mark.  \nHere's an example from The Merchant of Venice (IV.i):  \nThe quality of mercy is not strain'd,(short pause)  \nIt droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven  \nUpon the place beneath: (long pause) it is twice blest; (long pause)  \nIt blesseth him that gives,(short pause) and him that takes; (long pause)  \n'tis mightiest in the mighties; (long pause) it becomes  \nThe throned monarch better than his crown; (long pause)  \n2. Reading from punctuation mark to punctuation mark for meaning.  \nIn addition to helping you read aloud, punctuation marks define units of thought. Try to understand each unit as you read, keeping in mind that periods, semicolons, question marks, exclamation points, and (usually) colons all signal the end of a thought. Here's an example from The Taming of the Shrew (I.i):  \nLUC. Tranio, I saw her coral lips to move,  \nAnd with her breath she did perfume the air;  \nSacred, and sweet, was all I saw in her.  \nTRA. Nay, then, 't is time to stir him from his trance.  \nI pray, awake, sir: if you love the maid,  \nBend thoughts and wits to achieve her.  \nThe first unit of thought is from“Tranio” to “air”:  \nHe saw her lips move, and her breath perfumed the air.  \nThe second thought (“Sacred, and sweet…”) re-emphasizes the first.  \nTranio replies that Lucentio needs to awaken from his trance and try to win “the maid.”  \nThese two sentences can be considered one unit of thought because of the joining function of the semicolon.  \n3. In an inverted sentence, the verb comes before the subject. Some lines will be easier to understand if you put the subject first and reword the sentence. For example, look at the line below:  \n“Never was seen so black a day as this:”(Romeo and Juliet, IV.v)  \nYou can change its inverted pattern so it is more easily understood:  \n“A day as black as this was never seen:”  \n4. An ellipsis occurs w","cbCaieYyKUe0Rr7X","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaieYyKUe0Rr7X","pdf",453334,"English","# Overview\n## Why Shakespeare feels hard\n## Twelve tips: core reading strategies\n### Reading verse rhythm and pauses\n### Using punctuation to read meaning\n### Rewriting inverted sentences\n### Understanding ellipses\n### Tracking subject, verb, object and pronouns","[{\"question\":\"Why is Shakespeare sometimes hard to read even when many words are familiar?\",\"answer\":\"The handout lists three reasons: Shakespeare wrote for actors on stage, he reshaped and rearranged words creatively, and different characters use challenging ways of speaking.\"},{\"question\":\"How should students approach rhythm when reading Shakespearean verse?\",\"answer\":\"Students should follow appropriate phrasing and intonation. The handout advises not pausing at line ends unless punctuation appears, and using comma and period-type pauses to support the verse’s rhythm.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the method for reading longer speeches effectively?\",\"answer\":\"Track who does what by keeping the subject, verb, and object clear. Also monitor pronoun references and paraphrase the main thoughts to follow the passage’s line of action.\"}]","Reading Shakespeare? This Will Help | PDF",1790161054]