Guide To Literary Agents
How to Read Shakespeare and Middle English Without Tearing Your Hair Out
If high school students were asked, ‘Who would you most wish to see tortured?’, William Shakespeare would top the list. English teachers love the Bard’s bawdy 16th century dialogue; English students hate him. If you need to read a comedy, tragedy or sonnet of Shakespeare’s and don’t know how to begin, here are some tips to get you started.
If high school students were asked, ‘Who would you most wish to see tortured?’, William Shakespeare would top the list. English teachers love the Bard in all his wonderful, bawdy 16th century dialogue and prose; English students hate him for the same reason. If you need or want to read a comedy, tragedy or sonnet of Shakespeare’s and don’t know how to begin, here are some tips to get you started.
Keep a Shakespeare lexicon handy. A lexicon is a reference guide similar to a dictionary, except that it defines and explains word usage from different time periods or regions. It will translate terms from Middle to Modern English. Check below for links to lexicons to e-read or buy.
Choose a book version with built-in lexicon help. Many publishers include a lexicon in the form of referenced footnotes at the bottom of each page. Penguin and Dover are two publishers that provide a lexicon.
Explore online study guides. Many sites offer free study guides to the works of William Shakespeare. These websites will include a character analysis, character web, plot timeline, major themes and chapter or verse breakdown, as well as an explanation of unfamiliar terms. I regularly use Cliffnotes, Sparknotes, Bookrags, E-Notes and Pink Monkey for literary help.
Read the story itself in a narrative or children’s version to get the main plot. Charles and Mary Lamb and Evelyn Nesbit have written beautiful story versions that are very readable for all ages. If you read it as a story without the dialogue or unfamiliar dialect and language, you will get a feel for the plot and characters. You will understand the story better. I found these versions at Barnes and Noble.
Read an expository writing or essay on the work.’Shakespeare without Tears’ by Margaret Webster, and Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’, are useful in helping you put the Middle English into a modern perspective.
Speak the dialogue aloud. Shakespeare is first and foremost a playwright. His works were written for actors in a theater. His sonnets were written to be read aloud as well. As funny as it may sound, say the lines aloud. Try to add the correct emotion (which the play will tell you in parenthesis). Try to feel the character. Reading aloud will also help you to understand the flow and meaning of the dialogue.
Visualize the similes and metaphors. One of Shakespeare’s greatest gifts was his facility with metaphor. He made excellent comparisons. As you explore his metaphors you will better understand his phraseology.
Listen to the Bard’s literal words. What is he really saying? To understand the dialogue in Shakespeare, it helps to know that if it sounds like he is saying something he probably is. If a line sounds like an insult in Modern English, it probably is in Middle as well. If it sounds complimentary, it probably is.
Use the dialogue cues written by each line of dialogue.These are cues to the actors to help themto understand their character and speak their part appropriately. These cues will help you translate the odd phrases and determine what is meant by a particular line. The emotion associated with each line will help with comprehension. The movement or blocking called for by the actor provides insight also.
Watch a theater or movie version of the play. You can access some versions of the plays on Unitedstreaming.com as a teacher. Several Shakespearean plays have been made into movies recently and retain much of the dialogue (‘Much Ado About Nothing’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Othello’, ‘Henry V’, ‘Twelfth Night’). As a student, look on the Internet Movie Database for a comprehensive list of productions. Listen to the way that the actors say the lines.
Shakespeare is fun and eminently quotable! Make friends with the cadence and rhythm of this most engaging reading! Use this handy guide and soon you’ll have formed a ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ dedicated to the Bard. You’ll be ‘quothing’ Shakespeare in no time!
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I only use the Guide to Literary Agents – haven’t seen the Writer’s Market.
I have a 2006 & 2007 Guide and have found them VERY helpful.
Get a new one. There were 2 agents in the 2006 Guide that I queried that are not in the 2007 Guide.
Good luck
Do you need The Writer’s Market AND The Guide to Literary Agents?
I have a writer’s market from 1997 (lol OLD haha) and I think it has a section in it that lists literary agents. Is the guide to literary agents more thorough for the genre you are looking for or what?
I asked this earlier and didn’t get an answer for this question, so I’ll try again.
no no no I’m not asking do I need a new one. I think that is pretty duh since the one I have is 10 years old. I was just mentioning it to mention that it listed literary agents in it. I’m buying The Writers Market, and I’m asking do I need to buy the Guide to Literary Agents too.
Do you need the writers market AND the guide to literary agents, or will just the writers market do?
What about the guide to the novel and short story if you are writing a novel? And do you think it is better to buy it or look at a copy at the library? (though they won’t let you check it out, you have to take notes in one sitting).
Also, if I bought the writers market 2007 right now, do you think it would still be OK? Cause I can get it cheaper used than buying the 2008 brand new. Would the info still be good you think?
both would help even more
A huge list of agents, publishers, and editors.
The Writer’s Market only concentrates on the market, has a much smaller list of the above, and is technically a “mill” for selling books designed to help you–the writer. (I’ve bought quite a few from these people.)
I’ve never read this book, but I’m not sure why it wouldn’t. Fantasy is a large market and any “guide” would be incomplete without it.
What does the Literary Guide to Agents have that The Writer’s Market doesn’t? And vice versa?
What’s better for the aspiring writer; 2010 guide to Literary agents, or 2010 writer’s guide?
It depends on where you are with your writing and how much you need to learn about the publishing industry as a whole. The Guide to Literary Agents strictly focuses on the last steps of presentation for your work. This picks up after the point in which you have already gotten your work in to the best shape it can be in (at least by you and your resources). This guide will teach you how to write query letters, book proposals and synopsis and how to format both plus your manuscript according to the submission guidelines of each Agent they list. This book tells you what genres each agent/agency represents, who their current published authors are as well as any other agents working with them. This is like the agent who’s who and they try to include only agents with a proven track record and who are respected in the publishing world.
The book provides conferences and workshop information where you could literally meet with agents if you register ahead of time. Most are pitch sessions that run about 15 minutes. The book tells you what you’ll need and how to talk to an agent.
* I didn’t see a writer’s guide but The 2010 Writers Market. It is a more comprehensive list. It lists publishers and what they are looking for as well as their submission guidelines. It has a list of agents too and it teaches you how to rid your manuscript of rookie mistakes that will get it tossed before an editor will even look at it. It tells you how to submit to other publications as well. It gives you plenty of pros and cons to writing over all with helpful samples and stories and examples.
So if you aren’t sure if your work is ready for the market then the Writers Market is better for you. If you know (more or less) what you are doing then Literary agents is the one you might get.
Does the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino have a section for LAs that represent fantasy?