Intro To Shakespeare's Othello

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Facts on Shakespeare:

Born April 1564

Birthplace: Stratford-on-Avon

Wrote a total of 38 plays and 4 poems

Verse vs. Prose:

Verse: Writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having rhymes

-Poetic style for high status character; tragic moments

Prose: Written in its ordinary form, without metrical structure

-Low status characters; written challenges

Meter:

-Stressed or unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse; create rhythm

Foot:

-Group of syllables that form metrical pattern

Iambic pentameter:

-Most used pattern in Shakespeare's work

Iambic: unstressed syllable, stressed syllable

Pentameter: Lines of 5 iambic feet

Blank Verse vs. Free Verse

Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter

Free Verse: No regular meter