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A joint blog from Sam and Brittany...it's a joy

Iambic Rhythms

Sapphire, this most glorious of days, was rather a delightful experience, but I suppose that was to be expected. It is not often that Sapphire delves into such things as the work of Shakespeare, but then again, trying new things seems to be becoming a trend of late… Everything has become terribly serious. We still have a lark though, as ever.

We started with an old favourite, nothing less than a game of Coconuts. And, from that point on, counting became rather an important part of the session. 1 2 3 4 5 6 COCONUTS quickly become 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 as we counted the syllables in various lines from plays and sonnets, soon spotting the pattern. Lots of us already knew to expect this, having studied sonnets and what not at school, but fewer were aware of the pattern of unstressed/stressed syllables within it: Iambic Pentameter. *Cue dramatic music* *Gasp* *Intriguing close up camera angle*

Now, I must say, the chances are that many of you will not want to read my tedious attempt at an explanation of such a thing, so, I shall bore you not. Although I do urge you to Google it if you do not know…

We found it thoroughly delightful to view extracts of Shakespeare in a new light, taking into account our new found knowledge of iambic pentameter, feeling that it added extra layers of meaning to what was being said.  As we had not previously explored the wonders of meter and its effect on character and meaning, we were surprised at how much you can learn, and I’m sure you would be too!  Without a shadow of a doubt we are now fully equipped to wow our English teachers!

Now I (Brittany) am a big lover of Shakespeare, like I am a little bit obsessed (for anyone reading this who knows me personally…stop laughing…yes Tiff I’m looking at you). Okay, I’ll admit it, not a little…a lot obsessed… So when I heard we were delving into the world of Shakespeare my heart gave a little smile. As Sam has previously explained what we did I shall not bore you, but shall simply tell you: I LOVED THIS SESSION. It was wonderful to explore Shakespeare in even more detail than at school, and I found a new found love for Shakespeare’s work…or should I say an even greater love...
Now, we just thought we’d go the whole hog and attempt to write a sonnet… So, hardly a thing of beauty, here it is:

A blog of wonders, happiness, delight
detailing the beauty of a yew tree
session, a special focus on the plight
of playwright Shakespeare who counts one two three
to aim for iambic pentameter
in speeches by lords and ladies on high
all this taught by our great educator
turning the bring into fun, surprise,
surprise, and then we sadly reach the end
of our Yew Tree session, farewell my friend.

Makes us grin every time…
So, just to finish off our little blog, I (Sam again) just thought I’d just give a little tribute to Yew Tree Youth Music. I went to my first session last week and I am officially in awe of what is a fantastic group of people they are... I just think that it needed a mention… So, bye…

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