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Listen to this extract from Shakespeare's play As You Like It. As you listen, read
the poem aloud; you can do this more than once.
All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier.
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation.
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
About the Poet
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. He is
considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time. He wrote 154 sonnets, two
long narrative poems and about three dozen plays. Shakespeare used poetic and
dramatic means to create unified aesthetic effects. In verse, he perfected the dramatic
blank verse.
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On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
by ticking the correct choice.
All the world's a stage is an extended metaphor for________.
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On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
by ticking the correct choice.
All 'have their exits and their entrances'. Exits and entrances refer to __________.
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On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
by ticking the correct choice.
The seven roles that a man plays correspond to his __
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| Stages | Characteristics |
| infancy | crying |
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Work individually, and rank the seven stages in order of attractiveness. If you
think being a schoolboy is most attractive stage, you could rank it number 1.
Then, work in groups of four and compare your individual rankings.
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Explain the meaning of the following.
a) ... all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances...
b) And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace...
c) a soldier,
... Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth.
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You already know the two literary devices generally used by writers and poets for comparison, i.e. metaphor and simile.
e.g. a) He was a lion in the battle, (metaphor)
b) He fought like a lion, (simile)
In (a) the writer talks of the soldier in terms of a lion. The comparison is implied.
In (b) the writer compares the soldier to a lion with the use of the word like, (as may also be used for such comparisons.)
Read the poem again and note down the metaphors and similes. Complete the following chart.
| Reference | Metaphor | Simile |
| world | all the world's a stage | |
| men, women | ||
| school-boy | ||
| lover | ||
| soldier | ||
| reputation | ||
| voice |
Which comparison(s) do you find most interesting? Why?
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In this poem, life is being compared to a play. Just as in a play, a man acts many
parts, so also in life, a man plays many roles. Can you think of some other
comparison for life? (For example, life could be compared with the seasons in
nature, the days of the week, the lessons in a school day.) Select one of these
comparisons (or choose one of your own), and write about the similarities that
life has with it. (80-100 words)
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Parents alone are responsible for inculcating a good sense of dental hygiene
amongst children. Do you agree/disagree? Discuss with your partner
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Listen to the poem.
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth,
And spotted the perils beneath.
All the toffees I chewed,
And the sweet sticky food,
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth.
I wish I'd been that much more willin'
When I had more tooth there than fillin'
To pass up gobstoppers.
From respect to me choppers,
And to buy something else with me shillin'.
When I think of the lollies I licked,
And the liquorice all sorts I picked,
Sherbet dabs, big and little,
All that hard peanut brittle,
My conscience gets horribly pricked.
My mother, she told me no end.
'If you got a tooth, you got a friend.'
I was young then, and careless,
My toothbrush was hairless,
I never had much time to spend.
Oh, I showed them the toothpaste all right,
I flashed it about late at night,
But up-and-down brushin'
And pokin' and fussin'
Didn't seem worth time-I could bite!
If I'd known, I was paving the way
To cavities, caps and decay,
The murder of fillin's
Injections and drillin's,
I'd have thrown all me sherbet away.
So I lay in the old dentist's chair,
And I gaze up his nose in despair,
And his drill it do whine,
In these molars of mine.
"Two amalgum," he'll say, "for in there."
How I laughed at my mother's false teeth,
As they foamed in the waters beneath.
But now comes the reckonin'
It's me they are beckonin'
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth.
About the Poet
Pam Ayres (1947- ) is a contemporary writer, a great entertainer who writes and performs
comic verse. She started writing poems and verses as a hobby and has appeared in every
major TV show in the U.K. She has published six books of poems, and cut seven record
albums including a collection of 50 best known poems.
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On the basis of your reading of the poem, complete the following table.
| Stages in the life of the poet | Activities | Consequences |
| Youth | eating toffees ____________ |
____________ |
| Adulthood | ____________ | gazing at the dentist in despair. |
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On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
by ticking the correct choice.
The title 'Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth' expresses __________.
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On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
by ticking the correct choice.
The conscience of the speaker pricks her as she has__________.
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On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
by ticking the correct choice.
The speaker says that she has paved the way for cavities and decay by __________.
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On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
by ticking the correct choice.
The tone of the narrator is one of ____________.
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Answer the following question.
a) "…But up-and-down brushin'
And pokin' and fussin'
Didn't seem worth the time-I could bite!"
What do these lines convey?
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Answer the following question.
Why did the poet go to the dentist? How could she have avoided it?
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Answer the following question.
"If you got a tooth, you got a friend", what do you understand from the line?
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Answer the following question.
With reference to the poem, how can you look after your teeth?
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