Quality of Mercy

Introduction

"The Quality of Mercy" refers to a quote by Portia in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice; it occurs during Act IV, Scene 1, set in a Venetian Court of Justice. It is the speech in which Portia begs Shylock for mercy. Some sources set apart the first four lines of the speech or refer only to the first four lines as the subject of "The Quality of Mercy".

Source: Click hee

Text of the poem

To access the text of the poem, click here

Idea of the poem

Context of the poem

About the Author

Transacting the text

Meaning making

Pictures/ video clips are an interesting way of assisting students to comprehend a poem. A picture helps in creating a visual memory and can also help in understanding new words.

To access the audio recital of the poem, please click here

Figures of speech

A figure of speech is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or personification. Figures of speech often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However, clarity may also suffer from their use, as any figure of speech introduces an ambiguity between literal and figurative interpretation. A figure of speech is sometimes called a rhetorical figure or a locution. To know more click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech

Assessment

Ask the learners to write a short paragraph using the hints given below.

Hints:

• What is the poem about?
• Which is the most striking image and why?