CopyWorkBook: Comedies of William Shakespeare

Cast your eye upon this dearth of well-known epigrams, monologues, and soliloquies from the Bard himself. Then wield your pen in replication. Why copy Shakespeare? For the love of language, for training in poetic rhyme and wording, for unraveling the logic and puzzle of his work, and for engaging with some of the most famous writings in the English language. Each section selects quotations from one of 14 Shakespearean comedies, whether familiar ones like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Taming of the Shrew or less familiar like Love’s Labour’s Lost or The Winter’s Tale. Excerpts are in the original vernacular without explanation or definition. While the publisher deems this appropriate for as young as Grade 4, you’ll want to preview with your student in mind. There are references common to Shakespeare, including gods, “being damned,” being “falser than vows made in wine,” “wooing,” and “mewing,” and the like. Each quotation includes the character’s name and the Act and Scene from which it’s taken. I foresee these quotations spurring a lot of interesting conversations. Consider, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool” (Touchstone in As You Like It, Act 5, Scene 1). Each section ends with an extra full page of lines. Choose your style of penmanship. Practice pages demonstrate traditional manuscript, traditional cursive. For long copywork selections, the 14 lines are spaced at 5/16 inches. 203 pgs, pb. ~ Ruth