Close Reading Assignment Based on a Passage in King Lear Acts 4 & 5.

Description

This assignment is based on the play of King Lear by William Shakespeare, specifically only acts 4 & 5. Here is the link to access the full reading; https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/king-lear/

For this assignment, you will have to choose a passage of about 8-10 lines within either acts 4 or 5. Choose a passage that stands out to you, intrigues you, seems complex with its word use… etc. Once having chosen a particular passage, you must follow with paragraphs analyzing it – exploring the passage’s language using the Oxford English Dictionary and you MUST then form an argument about the passage.

I will be posting a sample essay for you to refer to and follow!

THIS ESSAY should be 650 words long (2 pages double-spaced), and should follow the assigned structure, starting with a passage of 8-10 lines and following with paragraphs that explore the passage’s language and form an argument about it.

Close reading is a strategy for probing below the surface meaning of a text to uncover other stories encoded into its imagery and language. Because English words held so many additional and unfamiliar meanings in the early modern period, Shakespeare’s plays are filled with unexpected undercurrents and double-entendres that we can easily miss at first glance. Examining the histories of individual words offers a powerful tool for uncovering these stories. Close readings can and should also consider other details such as puns, metaphors, repetition, sound (assonance, alliteration, meter, rhythm, and rhyme), paradoxes, and irony.

Here are the instructions more in-depth; Please read through them CAREFULLY and EACH must be answered within this paper – take notice of all the questions/ideas that need to be addressed within your analyzation of the passage!

Instructions:

1. As you read, find a passage that intrigues you. Your passage should be approximately 8-10 lines; keep an eye out for writing that strikes you as confusing, complex, ambiguous, and/or containing interesting words, allusions, and/or figures of speech. If initial research into words doesn’t turn up something useful, keep exploring other passages.

2. Type out the passage in full. Read it aloud to hear the way it sounds. What sorts of themes and structures do you see in the language? Are there allusions to other texts, echoes of earlier moments in the text, or foreshadowing of later moments? Do you see any connections or contradictions within the passage? Play with the text visually, circling words, drawing arrows between words, underlining repeating sounds, putting boxes around unusual metaphors, etc.

3. Think about what themes in the broader text Shakespeare is exploring in this passage. What do we know about its speaker, narrator, and/or person described? In what ways is this speech characteristic or surprising for the speaker, and what is he or she trying to achieve through this passage? Are these words intended to seduce? Persuade? Intimidate? Encourage? Anger?

4. Look up the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online, If you do not have access to this, pick a passage you would like to use in acts 4 & 5 of (8-10 lines), tell me words you would like to look up the definitions for in that specific passage and I will send you attachments for them.

5. Look up as many words as you can in the OED, and gather as much information as you can about them. Make sure to read the full etymology (click on “read more” if it doesn’t all appear) and the full entry. Most English words in this period have roots that are either Germanic (from Anglo-Saxon, Old or Middle German, Dutch, Scandinavian, etc) or Latin (the ultimate source of almost all words listed as French, Norman French, or Anglo-Norman); some are Greek. What language families do your words represent? Is your passage especially dense in Latin words, or largely Germanic? Does one unusual word stand out from the rest? Look at definitions specific to the dates of these plays (1600-1610), and keep an eye out for unfamiliar meanings, multiple meanings, homonyms, and puns. Make sure to consider multiple definitions rather than just one, and think about how these meanings might overlap and/or conflict. If some words changed meanings since Shakespeare’s time, how might those changes affect the way we understand the passage? Which words in the passage have more than one meaning, and how might the alternate possibilities affect the way we understand the passage?

6. Look up key words in a concordance – http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/concordance/ – and consider when and where Shakespeare uses these words. Is there any information here that helps you think about the word’s significance here? Is it an unusual usage for Shakespeare, a common usage, a word primarily linked with certain kinds of plays or speakers? Is the word’s use here typical or unusual for Shakespeare? Only cite details if they serve your argument.

7. Organize the ideas resulting from this research into a cohesive two-page argument about what the author is doing in this passage, and how the language achieves its effects, making sure to support your argument with specific verbal details from the passage. Start the essay with the passage typed out in full (single-spaced) at the top of your paper, and follow the passage with specific observations about what it does and how. Do not summarize what the passage says, and do not generalize (ie, “Shakespeare is a genius”); instead, limit your writing to analytical claims about the language that you can illustrate with textual evidence. Include etymologies and period-specific definitions from the OED for at least two words from the passage, and discuss how word-choice works together with other verbal patterns in the passage. See if you can show how this passage works as a microcosm reflecting something about the play at large. End your essay with a conclusion that sums what you have learned about how the passage’s language affects your understanding of the passage and the play.

The essay will be evaluated on how well it fulfills the following criteria:

D Diction: demonstrates attention to individual words and their impact on the passage’s meaning

O OED: demonstrates thorough and accurate research into relevant words using the Oxford English Dictionary; for full credit, must include etymologies and at least two different period-specific definitions for at least two words

C Close reading: carries out a thoughtful and persuasive overall close reading – interpretation rooted in textual details – of the passage

W Writing: is clearly written, with clear, grammatically correct, and well-formulated sentences

F Format: includes the required components (a passage of 6-10 lines, research into words, interpretative argument, and conclusion), and avoids generalizations; has a well-organized flow of ideas and arguments.