In class: Please turn in Hamlet graphic organizer for Act I, scene 1. If you were not in class on Thursday, you will need to collect the handout and complete the work independently. If you need assistance, I am available periods 1, 2, 4 and 9, as well as after school on Monday (room 176), Tuesday (library) and Thursday (library).
Preview of new vocabulary (Hamlet 2) class handout / copy below
vocabulary review next Thursday, September 22
Hamlet 2 vocabulary quiz on Friday, September 23
Mr. Clarkin will be presenting a lesson puns today.
First, watch this two-minute video, titled The Best Joke Ever!
Standards addressed:
RL.11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful (include Shakespeare as well as other authors).
Learning Objective:
Students will learn to identify and analyze puns, and will consider their potential use as a literary device.
Learning Targets:
- I can explain how puns work.
- I can determine the two different senses in which a word is being used in a pun.
- I can explain why an author might use puns in a text.
Essential Question:
How does the use of figurative language impact one’s thought process?
Take out your notebook and copy in the following terms.
Review of key terms and related ideas
Pun: A play on words in which one word is substituted for another similar or identical sounding word with a different meaning (a homonym).
Denotation: a word’s meaning(s) as defined in a dictionary.
Connotation: overtones or suggestions of additional meaning that a word gains from all the contexts in which we have met it in the past.
Figure of speech: an expression or comparison that relies not on its literal meaning, but rather on its connotations and suggestions.
Homonyms: Two or more words which sound the same, but have different meanings.
Two or more words which sound the same, but have different meanings, are called "homonyms" (and the relation between them is called a "homonymy"). When a homonymy is used to draw out both potential interpretations, it is a pun. When one makes a pun, one is often said to be making a "play on words."
As we will see throughout the text, Shakespeare often makes clever use of puns and other forms of figurative language and wordplay to convey multiple layers of meaning, and to further develop our understanding of the characters, their motivations, viewpoints, and attitudes towards others. Hamlet in particular draws on puns in this way throughout the text.
A couple of terms for review, just to be sure we can talk about those "layers of meaning" that puns can help expose us to.
Denotation: a word’s meaning or meanings, as defined in a dictionary.
Connotation: overtones or suggestions of additional meaning that a word gains from all the contexts in which we have met it in the past.
Since a pun is a playful use of a homonymy to convey multiple (and sometimes conflicting) layers of meaning, the reader or listener needs to have some "shared knowledge" with the person making the pun. This shared knowledge between reader and writer presupposes a few things.
First, and most obviously, because the pun relies on two words sounding the same, the reader must have a sense of the pronunciation of the word.
Recognizing puns draws the reader's vocabulary, because the reader must first recognize the words "in play," so to speak. The readers must know (or at least have reason to suspect) that the punned word has more than one potential meaning. This is why denotation matters.
Recognizing puns also draws on readers' familiarity with various contexts in which the punned words are often encountered. This allows the reader to "unpack" the possible implications of the pun in this context. When one sees how a given word or expression has been used figuratively in previous contexts, one gains a better sense of how to "read" the word when it is being used figuratively in new contexts. This is why connotations and associations matter.
Now for some practice!
To warm up, let's consider some contemporary puns.
For each of the following sentences, circle the “homonymy” (the punned words) and identify the two senses in which the expression can be interpreted words can be interpreted. What two meanings of the punned words are at play?
1. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
2. A happy life depends on a liver.
3. What is the difference between a conductor and a teacher? The conductor minds the train and a teacher trains the mind.
4. I used to have an ant farm, but they didn't grow anything.
5. A dog not only has a coat but also pants.
6. I used to be twins. My mother has a picture of me when I was two.
7. Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
8. I'd tell you a chemistry joke but I know I wouldn't get a reaction.
9. I want to make a joke about sodium...Na.
10. A book just fell on my head, and I've only got my shelf to blame.
11. I was going to give him a nasty look, but he already had one.
12. Many of Shakespeare's plays were on words (take that as you like it).
Next, we will consider some examples of Shakespeare's puns.
Remember what we said about denotation and connotation! If you don't know how a word is pronounced, you may miss the pun altogether. If you don't know what a word denotes, you're not going to recognize the meanings underlying the pun. If you don't have a sense of the connotations and associations the pun evokes, you may not grasp the significance of the pun in the current context.
“I'll cross it, though it blast me.”
Hamlet, I.i.126-127
“You cannot speak of reason to the Dane and lose your voice.”
Hamlet,I.ii.43-44
“A little more than kin, and less than kind.”
Hamlet,I.ii.64-65
“Not so, my lord, I am too much in the sun.”
Hamlet,I.ii.66-67
“Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York”
Richard III, I.i.1-2
Give me a torch. I am not for this ambling.
Being but heavy, I will bear the light.
Romeo and Juliet, I.iv.11-12
With nimble soles. I have a soul of lead
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.
Romeo and Juliet, I.iv.15-16
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.”
Romeo and Juliet, III.i.98-99
New vocabulary Hamlet 2
1. obstinate- (adjective)- firmly or stubbornly adhering to one’s purpose, opinion
2. slander- (noun)- to make a false and damaging statements about someone
3. condolence- (noun)-expression of sympathy towards a person who is suffering sorrows, misfortune, or grief.
4. filial- (adjective)- of, pertaining to, or befitting a son or daughter
5. cunning- (adjective) skillfully achieving one’s end by deceit
6. conscience- (noun) the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives
7. melancholy- (noun) a gloomy state of mind, especially when prolonged; depression
8. neglected- (adjective)- give little attention or respect
9. absurd- (adjective) illogical, or untrue, total nonsense
10. treachery- (noun)- willful betrayal of trust; deception
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