Shakespeare.............

1. Define and explain, The Great Vowel Shift.
The Great Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in the south of England between 1450 and 1750.The Great Vowel Shift was first studied by Otto Jespersen (1860–1943), a Danish linguist and Anglicist, who coined the term.


2. Name 5 dialects of Modern English.
Australian English
Cameroon English
Canadian English
Guyanese English
Jamaican English


3. One of the problems with Early Modern English was a lack of uniformity in spelling. Which 2 people (1-English, 1-American) helped establish standardized spelling?
1-American helped establish standardized spelling?
Early Modern English lacked uniformity in spelling, but Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 in England, was influential in establishing a standard form of spelling. Noah Webster did the same in America, publishing his dictionary in 1828; see American and British English spelling differences.


4. How many countries in the world have given Modern English official status?
56 approximately


5. The most recent statistics show that approximately how many people speak Modern English as a:I. First language? II. Second Language?
The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where English is an official language. Most of these countries, such as India, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and the Philippines, use English as an official language but not the sole official language.


6. When was Early Modern English spoken?
Early Modern English (often abbreviated EModE[1]) is the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 15th century) to 1650


7. How are the use of Pronouns different between Early Modern & Modern English?
In Early Modern English, there were two second person personal pronouns: thou, the informal singular pronoun, and ye, which was both the plural pronoun and the formal singular pronoun.Like other personal pronouns, thou and ye had different forms depending on their grammatical case; specifically, the objective form of thou was thee, its possessive forms were thy and thine, In other respects, the pronouns were much the same as today. One difference is that my and thy became mine and thine before words beginning with a vowel and letter h; thus, mine eyes, thine hand, and so on.


8. Which language families does Modern English belong in?
it is assumed that the world has approximately 3,000 (some put it 5,000) languages, which can be grouped into roughly 300 language families on the basis of similarities in their basic word stock and grammar. The Indo-European is one of them. It is made up of most of the languages of Europe, the Near East, and India. The prehistoric Indo-European parent language is thought to be a highly inflected language


9. Name 4 worldwide uses for Modern English.
Canada
Ireland
United Kingdom
United States of America


10. In your opinion, what was the greatest influence on the spread of Modern English around the world? Why?
In my opinion the greatest influence on the spread of modern English is probably the migration that other people did it, is just because to became reality the “American dream”, that means learn the language and go to USA to win some money working there.


11. There has been a lot of controversy over the true authorship of Shakespeare's writings. Which 3 people are also candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare's plays?
The 3 candidates as the possible authors of Shakespeare’s plays are:
Christopher Marlowe
Francis Bacon
Edward de Vere.


12. Briefly explain The Oxfordian Theory.
The case for Oxford's authorship is based on perceived similarities between Oxford's biography and events in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets; parallels of language, idiom, and thought between Oxford's letters and the Shakespearean canon; and underlined passages in Oxford's Bible that may correspond to quotations in Shakespeare's plays.


13. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, which according to the Folio Classification, fall into 3 categories. Name the 3 categories.
Comedies
Histories
Tragedies.


14. In which town was Shakespeare born?
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon.


15. Which famous London theatre (built by actors, for actors) is connected with Shakespeare's plays?
The Globe Theatre


16. Even though Richard III is the most performed play, Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous play. In your opinion, what does this portion of Hamlet's famous soliloquy mean:
In my opinion means that he is fighting with him, trying to discover who is he or who he could be if he took a risk decision to be or not to be that guy.


17. Name 5 post-Shakespearean artists whose work was heavily influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare influenced novelists such as Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, and Charles Dickens. The American novelist Herman Melville's soliloquies owe much to Shakespeare; his Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick is a classic tragic hero, inspired by King Lear. Scholars have identified 20,000 pieces of music linked to Shakespeare's works. These include two operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Otello and Falstaff, whose critical standing compares with that of the source plays. Shakespeare has also inspired many painters, including the Romantics and the Pre-Raphaelites. The Swiss Romantic artist Henry Fuseli, a friend of William Blake, even translated Macbeth into German. The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud drew on Shakespearean psychology, in particular that of Hamlet, for his theories of human nature.


18. Which of Shakespeare's plays are included in The Wars of the Roses series?



19. Shakespeare wrote most of his works in blank verse composed in iambic pentameter. What is blank verse & iambic pentameter?


20. Name 4 actors from Shakepeare's original company.
Richard Burbage
Henry Condell
John Heminges
William Kempe


21. What were the Wars of the Roses (1377-1485)?
The War of The Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England, it was a fight between supporters of two rival branches of the Royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York (the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively).


22. Why was this war called the Wars of the Roses?
The name was originated because the family badges were Roses, one White and the other was Red, that’s why is called the War of the Roses.


23. What were the names of the 2 houses which fought in this war?
The house of Lancaster and the house of York.


24. What prompted this civil war to begin?
Following the early death of Edward III's heir apparent, there was a series of wars between the descendants of two of Edward III's younger sons: the Duke of Lancaster and the Duke of York because they wanted the throne of England.


25. How did the war end?
After many battles a period of comparative peace followed, but Edward died unexpectedly in 1483. His surviving brother Richard of Gloucester first moved to prevent the unpopular Woodville family of Edward's widow from participating in government during the minority of Edward's son, Edward V, and then seized the throne for himself, using the suspect legitimacy of Edward IV's marriage as pretext. Henry Tudor, a distant relative of the Lancastrian kings who had inherited their claim, overcame and defeated Richard at Bosworth in 1485. He was crowned Henry VII, and married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, to unite and reconcile the two houses.


26. Which Kings of England were participants in the Wars of the Roses?
Henry IV (1399 - 1413) and Edward IV (1461 - 1483)