Day 1
Writing of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Ben Johnson once wrote, He
was not of an age, but for all time!
The words were prophetic for he is still performed throughout the world. The
most beloved English poet of all.
Correction of sentence fragment
Use of comma with coordinating conjunction
Elimination of redundancy
Use of quotation marks to show a writer’s exact words
Correction of vague pronoun reference
Day 1
Of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Ben Johnson once wrote, “He was not of an
age, but for all time!”
Elimination of redundancy
Use of quotation marks to show a writer’s exact words
The words were prophetic, for Shakespeare’s plays are still performed throughout
the world. He remains the most beloved English poet.
Use of comma with coordinating conjunction
Correction of vague pronoun reference
Correction of sentence fragment
Day 2
Among English authors in the 1500’s, a autobiographical sequence of sonnets
were a fashionable literary form.
Scholars have long debated the identities of the young nobleman and lady
who Shakespeare dedicated his 154 sonnets to.
Revision of sentence ending with preposition
Correct case of relative pronoun
Correct indefinite article
Subject and verb agreement
Day 2
Among English authors in the 1500’s, an autobiographical sequence of sonnets
was a fashionable literary form.
Correct indefinite article
Subject and verb agreement
Scholars have long debated the identities of the young nobleman and lady to
whom Shakespeare dedicated his 154 sonnets.
Correct case of relative pronoun
Revision of sentence ending with preposition
Day 3
A Shakespearean sonnet, 14 lines in iambic pentameter consists of 3 quatrains
and a rhyming couplet.
What these sonnets usually do is present a problem in the quatrains and offer
a solution in the couplet.
Revision of wordy sentence
Use of commas to set off an appositive
Spelling out numbers through one hundred
Day 3
A Shakespearean sonnet, fourteen lines in iambic pentameter, consists of three
quatrains and a rhyming couplet.
Spelling out numbers through one hundred
Use of commas to set off an appositive
____________
What ... do
These sonnets usually present a problem in the quatrains and offer a solution in
the couplet.
Revision of wordy sentence
Day 4
Shakespeare’s sonnets don’t have no titles, so they refer to them by their first
line or by the number assigned to them.
The destructive effects of time, the quickness of physical decay, and losing
love are the commonest themes.
Elimination of double negative
Elimination of faulty parallel structure
Correction of unclear pronoun reference
Correct superlative form of adjective
Day 4
Shakespeare’s sonnets have no titles, so readers refer to them by their first line or
by the number assigned to them.
Elimination of double negative
Correction of unclear pronoun reference
The destructive effects of time, the quickness of physical decay, and the loss of
love are the most common themes.
Elimination of faulty parallel structure
Correct superlative form of adjective
Day 5
Although the playright wrote the sonnets over a period of several years in the
late 1590’s they were published in 1609.
One thing is sure, these sonnets are clearly from the same man who produced
Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet.
Use of colon to introduce a clarifying idea
Correction of commonly misspelled word
Use of specific noun to improve style
Use of comma after introductory subordinate clause
Use of underlining or italics with title of play
Day 5
Although the playwright wrote the sonnets over a period of several years in
the late 1590’s, they were published in 1609.
Correction of commonly misspelled word
Use of comma after introductory subordinate clause
One thing is sure: these sonnets are clearly from the same genius who
produced Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet.
Use of colon to introduce a clarifying idea
Use of specific noun to improve style
Use of underlining or italics with title of play