12 April 2005

Brush up your Shakespeare

From today's Writer's Almanac. And while they may be the Jeopardy! plays, I'm still glad that I recognized each of them because otherwise the Professional Organization of English Majors would rip off my epaulettes.

(Jeopardy! uses Ockham's Razor - the most obvious answer is usually the correct one. So for years some of my friends and I have referred to obvious answers as "Jeopardy! answers.")

"Shakespearean Sonnet" by R. S. Gwynn.

With a first line taken from the tv listings

A man is haunted by his father's ghost.
Boy meets girl while feuding families fight.
A Scottish king is murdered by his host.
Two couples get lost on a summer night.
A hunchback murders all who block his way.
A ruler's rivals plot against his life.
A fat man and a prince make rebels pay.
A noble Moor has doubts about his wife.
An English king decides to conquer France.
A duke learns that his best friend is a she.
A forest sets the scene for this romance.
An old man and his daughters disagree.
A Roman leader makes a big mistake.
A sexy queen is bitten by a snake.

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