Shakespeare expert visits English class at Southern State
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What do you get when you cross a fricative, a short vowel sound and a plosive? The perfect expletive (you know, those short satisfying words you might utter when you stub your toe), according toShakespeare expert Bill Kincaid who recently conducted a workshop at Southern State Community College’s North Campus in Wilmington. Kincaid is professor and head of the acting department at Western Illinois University and has toured extensively with Shakespeare productions and festivals.
And why was Kincaid discussing expletives to Svetlana Kazakova-Kincaid’s English Composition III class? Because some aspects of language develop almost universally, and one writer in particular (that would be Shakespeare) had a keen sense for the craft of choosing just the right words to convey meaning and sensation. Kincaid discussed the myriad sounds and hidden meanings of spoken language. The works of William Shakespeare, he explained, were not written to be read; they were written to be performed.
“A lot of people who do Shakespeare, do it badly,” he said, adding that most people’s first experience learning about Shakespeare is not from someone who is passionate about it.
Because the class had studied “Othello” the previous quarter, Kincaid dissected a passage by the character Iago: “Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands: But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.”
Kincaid directed the class’s attention to the heavy use of the M and N sounds in the beginning of the passage, sounds that are soothing and calming. The passage quickly moves to more S sounds, indicating the true nature of the character: sneaky, sly, snake-like.
“We’re not worried about meaning here, just feeling,” Kincaid said. “During the Elizabethan times, language was not seen or written, it was heard and felt by the audience.”
And so, the next time you stub your toe, consider the harmonic convergence of fricative, short vowel sound and plosive, and … keep your mouth shut.
For more information about Southern State Community College, please email info@sscc.edu, call 800-628-7722 or visit www.sscc.edu.
What do you get when you cross a fricative, a short vowel sound and a plosive? The perfect expletive (you know, those short satisfying words you might utter when you stub your toe), according to Shakespeare expert Bill Kincaid who recently conducted a workshop at Southern State Community College’s North Campus in Wilmington. Kincaid is professor and head of the acting department at Western Illinois University and has toured extensively with Shakespeare productions and festivals.
And why was Kincaid discussing expletives to Svetlana Kazakova-Kincaid’s English Composition III class? Because some aspects of language develop almost universally, and one writer in particular (that would be Shakespeare) had a keen sense for the craft of choosing just the right words to convey meaning and sensation. Kincaid discussed the myriad sounds and hidden meanings of spoken language. The works of William Shakespeare, he explained, were not written to be read; they were written to be performed.
“A lot of people who do Shakespeare, do it badly,” he said, adding that most people’s first experience learning about Shakespeare is not from someone who is passionate about it.
Because the class had studied “Othello” the previous quarter, Kincaid dissected a passage by the character Iago: “Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands: But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.”
Kincaid directed the class’s attention to the heavy use of the M and N sounds in the beginning of the passage, sounds that are soothing and calming. The passage quickly moves to more S sounds, indicating the true nature of the character: sneaky, sly, snake-like.
“We’re not worried about meaning here, just feeling,” Kincaid said. “During the Elizabethan times, language was not seen or written, it was heard and felt by the audience.”
And so, the next time you stub your toe, consider the harmonic convergence of fricative, short vowel sound and plosive, and … keep your mouth shut.
For more information about Southern State Community College, please email info@sscc.edu, call 800-628-7722 or visit www.sscc.edu.
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