physorg.com — Research at the University of Liverpool has found that Shakespearean language excites positive brain activity, adding further drama to the bard's plays and poetry. Shakespeare uses a linguistic technique known as functional shift that involves, for example using a noun to serve as a verb.
Dec 18, 2006 View in Crawl 4
dclowd9901Dec 19, 2006
"Not sure why I'm ranting, this just ranks right up there with analysing every book in a class for symbolism that the author probably never intented to be read into his work."If a good author intends to convey meaning and theme in his book, it is presumed that every word he says in the book is very carefully selected among a bank of synonyms, because the word has a specific duty: to not mislead the reader who is trying to understand the underlying meaning of the book. If the author haphazardly selects his words, he is bound to give the reader conflicting images and themes, and the book will feel convoluted and ungrounded. Take a literature class; it'll really open your eyes to writing *and* reading alike.(And, when I say "good author" I'm not talking about John Grisham or Dean Koontz or Stephen King. I'm talking about classic literary writers like Faulkner, Dickens and Steinbeck.)
crash128Dec 19, 2006
If Shakes created a game (like Monopoly), it would be called a bard game.Footnotes, get your footnotes here. One dollar. Map of the stars homes, one dollar.aarrtt - this is my functional shift for the day - 3d text, right before your eyes.Note to self - get a life.
shogusumiDec 19, 2006
How should Shakespeare be taught, then?
javandiverDec 19, 2006
@ tubalcaneShakespeare's works were written to be understood by the masses. The masses in Elizabethan England. Most of whom were illiterate. Are you saying that you have less ability to comprehend the English language than an illiterate peasant? If so, please do us a favor and do not reproduce.
yetimonDec 19, 2006
Verbing wierds language.
caddyalanDec 19, 2006
I suspect that someone believes those "Baby Mozart" programs work. (I have no idea.)
acadianDec 19, 2006
Good point--never really thought of it like that, but it's true. Though it's probably also worth mentioning that by merely watching it, while the plot and storyline is easier to follow, you often miss out on some of the better aspects of his writing.
Closed AccountDec 20, 2006
Calvin said words you and someone else already posted that.
coreydoucoreyApr 21, 2007
So. This is too common for our brain.
literaturfanMay 6, 2008
I think that reading in general has positive effects on the human mental development. Nevertheless I doubt whether the lecture of a Shakespearian text is no efficient as a text of Faulkner.
postitmemoAug 6, 2008
I like Willie
bobcoltApr 25, 2009
No Wonder I am getting smarter after reading this shakespeare quotes:<a class="user" href="http://quotesbyauthors.blogspot.com/2009/04/william-shakespeare-quotes-and-sayings.html">http://quotesbyauthors.blogspot.com/2009/04/willia ...</a>