Easy tricks to help me memorize?

DarwinsFavoriteTortoise

Hey all, just a quick question.

In English class my professor has given me the option to memorize 8 lines of literature from a play or something like that instead of writing a paper. I just don't have time to write the kind of papers she wants me to write, so I've decided to memorize the lines instead.

The eight lines I did a few days ago as an example (still from memory, oh snap!):

Come, just because one rascal made you swallow,
A show of zeal which turned out to be hollow,
Shall you conclude that all men are deceivers,
And that, today, there are no true believers?
Let atheists make that foolish inference,
Learn to distinguish virtue from pretense,
Be cautious in bestowing admiration,
And cultivate a sober moderation.

Any tips on how to make any eight lines I decide to memorize get in my head faster and stay in there longer?

I will do this twice a week, so if you have any recommendations for easy literature to quote, just tell me. The only requirements are that it has to be roughly between the years 1300 to 1800ish (i'm taking world lit).

Thanks!

Oh, and if you recommend anything, I would prefer that it rhymed :P

Chanus

Make it into a song.

rfalias

You can memorize just about anything if you read it constantly, record your self saying the lines, listen to it all day, while you sleep, etc...

That's about all I can think of right off the bat for it.
Sear those eight lines between your synapses!

Nappuccino

The way that works best for me is to either write the first line over and over until I have it memorized, then add the second line and so on. Whenever I mess up, I write out all the lines up to the line i messed up 2 or 3 times until I have it memorized again and continue on.

It sounds like a lot of work but it has personally saved me a lot of time

another way to do it is to make a note card for each line, put them in order, and use them to teach yourself. You could also make a couple sets, Each one with less "hint" words then the last.

So, one version of it might be "Come, ____ _______ one rascal made you swallow,"

The next version "Come, ____ ______ one ______ made you ______,"

And so on until every line has all blanks.

TheGreat2nd

Read it and recite it. A lot.
Emphasis on a lot.