{"id":4349,"date":"2015-07-15T00:21:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T00:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/?page_id=4349"},"modified":"2015-07-15T00:21:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T00:21:55","slug":"lesson-5-making-shakespeare-sound-natural","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/?page_id=4349","title":{"rendered":"LESSON 5: Making Shakespeare Sound Natural"},"content":{"rendered":"

OBJECTIVE:<\/h4>\n

Students will demonstrate their understanding of scansion and making classical text sound natural by analyzing the text of their monologue\/scene.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MATERIALS NEEDED:<\/h4>\n

Recording of \u201cGood Times Back\u201d from The Little Mermaid<\/em> Broadway Soundtrack<\/p>\n

\u201cGood Times Back\u201d lyrics sheet \u00a0Good Times Back Lyric Sheet.Lesson 5<\/a><\/p>\n

Lady Percy scansion monologue \u00a0Lady Percy Mono.Shakes & Contemp Speech.Lesson 5<\/a><\/p>\n

Shakespeare Lexicon and other resources (if available)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

HOOK:<\/p>\n

Pass out lyric sheets for the song from \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d.\u00a0 Have students get a pencil out and be ready to make notations on the paper while they listen.\u00a0 Ask them to circle or underline words that the performer, Sheri Rene Scott, really \u201ccolors\u201d through elongating them, playing with the pitch, changing tone, etc.\u00a0 They should note what she does to the word to make it interesting to listen to.\u00a0 Also have them put a star by words or phrases that because of the way they are performed make sense and are funny, sarcastic, develop thoughts of the character, show character personality, sound natural to the character, etc.\u00a0 The whole point of the notations is for the students to analyze WHAT Scott does with the lyrics and HOW she performs them to help portray this fantastic character of Ursula.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Play Sheri Rene Scott\u2019s \u201cGood Times Back\u201d (see notes on the lyrics sheet).\u00a0 If need be, play it through twice \u2013 once for the students to just listen to and once to make notes through the song playing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Discuss together as a class WHAT and HOW Scott performs the song.\u00a0 Get students thinking about how they can manipulate\/explore\/play with their own text and dialogue to convey meaning and thoughts, portray personality, and sound natural.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To apply this to classical Shakespeare text, together, go through four sentences written on the board:<\/p>\n

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt.<\/p>\n

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks.<\/p>\n

Two households, both alike in dignity.<\/p>\n

To be, or not to be? That is the question.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Review iambic pentameter and write the stressed\/unstressed symbols above the top three sentences.\u00a0 Play with the rhythm; say only the stressed syllables and then only the unstressed.\u00a0 Clue from Shakespeare is that important (perhaps operative words) are on stressed.\u00a0 Then do the fourth line \u2013 does not scan.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 What clues is Shakespeare giving to the dialogue?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you can scan the text \u2013 it will help you know operative words and what Shakespeare figures is important, interesting, and different.\u00a0 Then you can begin to play with the text to make it sound natural and do all the things that the class discussed about the song from the hook exercise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Using the Lady Percy monologue (PowerPoint) as in the previous lesson, demonstrate how to analyze the text scansion.\u00a0 Examine how the written language affects the sound of the piece and could affect the acting of the piece as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then go through the monologue (with the contemporary translation side-by-side) and model the last few steps taught yesterday (identifying operative words, dividing up the text into phrases\/beats, and discovering transitions). Be sure to read through the monologue once the steps have been taken in order to demonstrate the different performance value after doing these elements of text analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Encourage the students to allow themselves much freedom in their speaking on stage.\u00a0 Often young Shakespearean actors err in being “too in-control” or holding too much restraint in their speech.\u00a0 They need to use natural punctuation and idea beats\/phrasing to provide naturalness, variety, and freedom in their vocal characteristics and levels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Give students time to apply scansion to their pieces and divide the performance up into beats or phrases.\u00a0 Using the index cards, have the students discover and score the phrases\/beats in their performance pieces.\u00a0 Prompt them to use scansion, follow punctuation, and to create transitions between their beats.\u00a0 Guide them through this analytical process, encouraging them to read between the lines to find out the subtext of the scene or monologue and then play that vocally and physically.\u00a0 Encourage students to keep the rhythm or pace of their piece always moving \u2013 have them think on the line and give the words the emotion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pair students up and have them speak their piece to their partner\u2026let the partner just LISTEN with eyes closed to give feedback on how it sounds vocally.\u00a0 Have partners give feedback on the scansion, interpretation, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Journal write: Have students jot down a personal application of the previous exercise\u2014what did they learn about making Shakespeare sound natural that they can work on in their own piece?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remind students to be working on their memorization.\u00a0 Brainstorm ways to memorize their pieces \u2013 using the index cards, writing it out, etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Get some students up on their feet and coach the students to use transitions between their beats\/phrases.\u00a0 These transitions can be verbal, physical, blocking change, level difference, prop business, emotional adjustment, objective transformation, etc.\u00a0 Promote the idea of starting the very beginning of the piece with a transition \u2013 a “boom!” \u2013 that provides a strong opening to the monologue or scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remind students how they can overcome the fearfulness of verse and elevated language in their classical performances:<\/p>\n