This document provides background information on William Shakespeare and the evolution of the English language. It notes that Shakespeare was baptized in 1564 and died in 1616. It includes three famous quotations from Shakespeare's works Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet. It then describes Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English, providing examples of works from each period. Finally, it provides a definition of Modern English as developing around 1550.

1. Why do we have such a problem with this guy? Baptised 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616

2. Shakespearean Quotations: From Romeo and Juliet, II:2 Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow. Twelfth Night, II:5 Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em Hamlet, III:1 To be, or not to be: that is the question. Macbeth, I:3 If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then to me.

3. OLD ENGLISH: Also called Anglo-Saxon, Old English is an early form of the English language spoken and written in areas which are now England and south-east Scotland. Old English was spoken between mid-5th century and mid-12th century. EX. Beowulf

4. MIDDLE ENLISH: Used between the late 11th century until about 1470. EX. Canterbury Tales 'Wepyng and waylyng, care and oothersorwe I knoweynogh, on even and a-morwe,' Quod the Marchant, 'and so doonoother mo That wedded been.'[11] 'Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow I know enough, in the evening and in the morning,’ said the Merchant, 'and so does many another who has been married.

5. EARLY MODERN ENGLISH: Used from the latter half of the 15th century to 1650. All the works of William Shakespeare belong to the late phase of Early Modern English. This period brought on the standardization of English spelling and explains a lot of the non-phonetic spellings of contemporary modern English.

6. Modern English: completed in roughly 1550. ""The Professor and the Madman" deals with the lives of two men who came together through their work on the Oxford English Dictionary: James Murray, the professor, who was the first editor of the dictionary, and Dr. William Chester Minor, the madman, who was a contributor of material. Winchester describes how James Murray chose to use lay readers to help compile the information for the dictionary based on their reading. They would search out words and send him slips with the lexicographical information on them. He would compose the entries based on that information. One of the readers who contributed nearly 10,000 words to the project was Dr. William Chester Minor. Murray never had any contact with him except through the mail. Then, in 1896, he set out to meet his contributor and discovered that he was an insane murderer imprisoned in Broadmoor, an asylum. Winchester spends a large part of the book describing the details of Minot's murder of a man on his way home from work, his earlier life in America where he worked as a doctor during the Civil War, as well as his work on the dictionary. Winchester's book is primarily concerned with describing the unusual relationship between two such different men. " Jack Goodstein, Resident Scholar