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Overview
 

Access to this e-course is restricted. For more information and access, please contact CCNMTL at ccnmtl@columbia.edu.
 

This seminar is more than an exploration of William Shakespeare's sonnets--it is also a personal journey to awaken the dormant power of the human voice. Drawing on Professor Linklater's experience as a student, teacher, actor and director, "The Shakespearean Sonnet and the Modern Voice" details her innovative approach to "speaking" Shakespeare.

Please read the entire contents of this page to learn about systems requirements and features of this seminar. You may want to print this page for your reference. You should also bookmark it because it will remain your entry point to the seminar for the time that the seminar is open to you.

Lessons:

This seminar is divided into four modules, each with sections intended to expand on key ideas, concepts and activities. The modules include"Exercises" designed to engage you not only in the process of freeing Shakespeare's voice, but also your own. In two of the "Exercises" you are asked to "record" your own rendering of two Shakespearean texts--a passage from Henry V and a sonnet from our "Sonnet Archive." These visits to the "Sonnet Recital Room" will prove to be enjoyable and educational. Professor Linklater's exercises are complemented by glimpses into her acting workshop in which fourteen graduate students at Columbia University's theatre division participated.

Occasionally, Kristin Linklater also speaks a Shakespearean text herself. Throughout the course, "Exercises," "Kristin's Class Time" and "Kristin Talks the Text" are accesssible by clicking the appropriate icon. Various animated activities htat appear in separate sections of the course further enhance the experience.

Discussion Tools:

Columbia Interactive Seminars have discussion board tools so you can respond to questions posed by the faculty member and your peers throughout the seminar experience. You can view your responses and those of your classmates by clicking "View Postings in the Course Forum" or by going to the section of the course called "Forums" (in the right navigation). A graduate student selected by Kristin Linklater and Linklater herself will participate in the discussion over the period that the seminar is available. Furthermore, Linklater and her graduate student will critique a student's two submissions to the Sonnet Recital Room.

Reading Assignments:

"The Shakespearean Sonnet and the Modern Voice" is completely self-contained: there are no additional required materials.

About Kristin Linklater:

Professor Kristin Linklater trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She was the Master Teacher of Voice at NYU from 1965 to 1977 while also working with the Open Theater, the Negro Ensemble Company, Stratford, Ontario, the Guthrie Theatre and Broadway shows. She was cofounder of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts in 1977. She is a 1981 Guggenheim Fellow, lecturer, writer and actor, playing the title role in King Lear, produced by The Company of Women, her all-women Shakespeare company codirected with Carol Gilligan. She is the author of Freeing the Natural Voice (1976) and Freeing Shakespeare’s Voice (1992). She taught at Emerson College, Boston, 1991 to 1997. She has been awarded the ATHE and NETC Career Achievement Awards.

 

 

 
Syllabus
 
Module I: Playing the Body
  1. Conversation Starter
  2. Module Content:
    1. Vowels and Consonants
    2. The Balance of Emotion and Intellect
    3. Scene Painting
    4. Vowel Exercises
    5. Consonant Exercises
    6. The "ZZOOO-OO - REE-EE" Exercise
    7. Brush Up Your Shakespeare

Module II: Word and Image

  1. Conversation Starter
  2. Module Content:
    1. Words and Images
    2. Words and Images as Keys
    3. The Process of Imaging
    4. Little Big Words
    5. Words Into Phrases
    6. Breaking the Habit
    7. The Big Moment!
    8. Another "Exer-sonnet
   Module III: The Revealing Voice
  1. Conversation Starter
  2. Module Content:
    1. Organically Speaking
    2. Cosmically Speaking
    3. Etymologically Speaking
    4. Figures of Speech: Alliteration, Assonance, Onomatopoeia
    5. Antithesis
    6. Engagement in Antithesis
    7. Word Play
    8. The Ladder

Module IV: Elements of Interpretation

  1. Conversation Starter
  2. Module Content:
    1. Iambic Pentameter
    2. Stress of Verse, Emphasis of Sense
    3. Our Master Sonnet
    4. Obedience to Rhythms
    5. The Iambic Pulse
    6. Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme
    7. Line Endings
    8. Mental Follow-through
    9. The Thought/Breath Implus
    10. Shakespeare's Truth
 

 

 
Technical Requirements
 

To appreciate this seminar experience, it is critical that you have the appropriate software, plug-ins, and network connections. Please take the time to download the latest versions of the plug-ins mentioned below if you do not already have them:

  1. Browser: Netscape versions 4.x up to 4.76, or Internet Explorer versions 4.x or later. Your browser must have JavaScript enabled and it must be set to accept cookies.
  2. Plug-in:
    • RealPlayer 7 or later
    • Flash Player 5 or later
    • PureVoice from QUALCOMM and a microphone for recording
  3. Network Connection: The recommended minimum connection is 56K modem with throughput of 44Kbps or more. A faster connection is suggested.

If you do no have RealPlayer and Flash Player already have installed, please download them from the following sites:

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