Much Ado About Nothing - Language
This Literature quiz is called 'Much Ado About Nothing - Language' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at high school. Playing educational quizzes is a user-friendly way to learn if you are in the 9th or 10th grade - aged 14 to 16.
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Test yourself on language in this high school English Literature quiz. Much Ado About Nothing contains dazzling wordplay as Beatrice and Benedick conduct their verbal sparring. The play, which ends in two marriages, includes much language about love. But beneath the wit and the talk of love lie hints at something much darker. Look out for the language of violence, betrayal, mistrust and shame. The play relies much upon deception and disguise, patterns marked in Beatrice’s speech, which rarely holds a single meaning, instead preferring to toy with multiple meanings.
Most of the characters in Much Ado About Nothing use language in a straightforward manner when they are not trying to deceive someone else. Pay attention to the words and phrases which are repeated in different scenes and by different characters.
How do these help you understand the play’s themes? A very useful revision technique is to collect examples of vocabulary related to each of the themes of the play. Think about the language assigned to each character as you list your examples, and consider what the implications might be for their specific choices.
Analyzing language in a text
When you read a play, you are not exposed to its full effect, which can only be gained through watching a performance. Individual actors add their own interpretations through pace, tone and gesture. Although you do not have access to these living interpretations while reading, the written language is the foundation and substance through which a play’s meaning is conveyed.
Authors are precise when it comes to choosing words. Beyond the literal meaning of each word lies any number of symbolic meanings and other associations. Metaphor, simile and personification each play a part, adding shades and layers of meaning. Be aware of subtle effects, in addition to those which practically leap off the page.
Paying close attention to the language of a text is always worthwhile. In this way, you will be able to develop a deeper understanding of what you read. Always try to look beyond the surface meaning, asking yourself what else might be going on besides the obvious. Authors take great care with their language. Shakespeare, of course, is famous for this! So ensure that you also spend time and care on the language. Practicing this skill will help you to decipher the text’s deeper meanings.
Answer the questions below to develop your understanding of the way language choices affect our interpretation of Much Ado About Nothing.
Prove you that any man with me conversed
At hours unmeet, or that I yesternight
Maintained the change of words with any creature,
Refuse me, hate me, torture me to death.
How does Hero suggest Leonato "prove" her?
BENEDICK: Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.
BEATRICE: I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me. If it had been painful I would not have come.
What is the source of humor in these lines?
BEATRICE: Not till God make men of some other mettle than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? — to make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl?
Which words give the impression that Beatrice does not think very highly of men?
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