What are good strategies to memorize Shakespeare?
I am helping my brother memorize it for drama. He needs to memorize sonnet 61. I need strategies for him. He keeps blanking out. Please help me. Thank you so much!
Memorising a sonnet is quick work if you do it right.
Have your brother write out the sonnet, dividing it up into sections – the first stanza (4 lines), then the next (4 lines), then the next (4 lines), then the closing couplet. Tell him to go somewhere where he can be alone and talk out loud, and sit the paper on a table or bed – somewhere he can get to it. He needs to look at the first line or two, and repeat them out loud – just walk around the room, standing up straight and looking out (not at the floor) and moving his arms around, and repeat the first line or two over and over. Sonnets are in iambic pentameter, so there’s a rhythm to them – have him get the rhythm down. Don’t sing, because that’s hard to drop, but maybe rap it a touch, or change pitch on words he finds he has trouble remembering. When he has the first line or two, add more of the first stanza until he has it all. (This will give him two rhymes – ABAB – so it should be easy to remember.) He’ll need to say that one over and over until he’s sure he has it.
Once the first stanza is down, repeat the process with the second. Then, try to say the first and second together.
When they’re down, add the third. Try to say them all together.
When they’re down, add the last couplet. Try to say them all together.
After he’s mostly memorised the whole thing, have him switch it up – try to say the second stanze, then the third, then the couplet, then the first. Or try to say the first, third, second stanzas, then the couplet. Saying them out of order will make sure he gets each thought and really knows the material, and keep him from rehearsing the first stanza a whole lot more than the rest of it.
You’ll know the sonnet by now, especially with the rhythm as a helper. Over the next while, say the sonnet whenever you can – in the shower, driving, standing in line, doing laundry – without the exaggerated rhythm.
This sounds like a really long, involved process, but it only takes an hour or two. Rehearsing while standing and moving helps him to develop muscle memory that will make him look good when presenting, too – his body will associate standing up straight and looking ahead with the sonnet, and he won’t be trapped into folding his hands, putting them in his pockets, etc.
Best of luck!
Memorising a sonnet is quick work if you do it right.
Have your brother write out the sonnet, dividing it up into sections – the first stanza (4 lines), then the next (4 lines), then the next (4 lines), then the closing couplet. Tell him to go somewhere where he can be alone and talk out loud, and sit the paper on a table or bed – somewhere he can get to it. He needs to look at the first line or two, and repeat them out loud – just walk around the room, standing up straight and looking out (not at the floor) and moving his arms around, and repeat the first line or two over and over. Sonnets are in iambic pentameter, so there’s a rhythm to them – have him get the rhythm down. Don’t sing, because that’s hard to drop, but maybe rap it a touch, or change pitch on words he finds he has trouble remembering. When he has the first line or two, add more of the first stanza until he has it all. (This will give him two rhymes – ABAB – so it should be easy to remember.) He’ll need to say that one over and over until he’s sure he has it.
Once the first stanza is down, repeat the process with the second. Then, try to say the first and second together.
When they’re down, add the third. Try to say them all together.
When they’re down, add the last couplet. Try to say them all together.
After he’s mostly memorised the whole thing, have him switch it up – try to say the second stanze, then the third, then the couplet, then the first. Or try to say the first, third, second stanzas, then the couplet. Saying them out of order will make sure he gets each thought and really knows the material, and keep him from rehearsing the first stanza a whole lot more than the rest of it.
You’ll know the sonnet by now, especially with the rhythm as a helper. Over the next while, say the sonnet whenever you can – in the shower, driving, standing in line, doing laundry – without the exaggerated rhythm.
This sounds like a really long, involved process, but it only takes an hour or two. Rehearsing while standing and moving helps him to develop muscle memory that will make him look good when presenting, too – his body will associate standing up straight and looking ahead with the sonnet, and he won’t be trapped into folding his hands, putting them in his pockets, etc.
Best of luck!
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