IAMBIC PENTAMETER
Sounds BIG and SCA ry, BUT what DOES it MEAN?
Numerical Prefixes
•
•
•
•
UNIcycle =
BIcycle =
TRIangle =
QUADrilateral =
•PENTAgon =
• HEXAgon =
Iambic Pentameter
• IAMB = metrical FOOT with one unstressed
syllable and a 2nd STRESSED syllable.
• PENTA = FIVE!
1
3
2
Ta-TUM
Ta-TUM
Ta-TUM
4
Ta-TUM
Ta-TUM
5
Five
Feet!
I
Shall
PARE
com
a SUM-
TO
thee
mer’s DAY?
How
sweet
the moon
upon
light sleeps
this bank!
WHY did Shakespeare use iambic
pentameter?
• To show emotion or
importance
• Shakespeare was meant
to be heard! It made it
easier for the audience
to follow the lines.
• It helped the actors to
memorize their lines.
• It made sure that the
actors emphasized the
words Shakespeare
wanted to emphasize.
Watch where your stressed syllables
fall…
•
•
As YOU can SEE it’s NOT that HARD to LEARN.
You CAN see it’s not THAT hard TO learn THIS.
• Which sounds better??
• But I am GIV ing YOU a BET ter CAR.
• I AM giv ING you A bet TER car TOO.
DO!
Living iambic pentameter
In sooth I know not why I am so sad.
It wearies me, you say it wearies you
And such a want-wit sadness makes of
me
That I have much ado to know myself.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArrR66OS
a0Q
Five (PENTA) feet (IAMBS) = IAMBIC
PENTAMETER!
• As YOU can SEE it’s NOT that HARD to LEARN.
• You CAN see it’s not THAT hard TO learn THIS.
• You CAN write JUST like SHAKE speare DID back THEN.
• Did YOU know THAT I’m WRITing LIKE that NOW?
• And IT gets EA si ER the MORE you TRY.
• I AMB ic PEN ta ME ter’s NOT that BAD!
Homework
• Write 5 lines in iambic pentameter about
yourself – ON YOUR INDEX CARD!
• Write your name on your card to be collected,
but DO NOT include your name IN the poem
so we can guess who wrote it. 