Shakespeare Timeline

As you take on the task of exploring Shakespeare’s plays, there are some decisions that your group must make including how you will read, summarize, and analyze the Acts, how you will check for understanding, and how members of your group will be graded. A schedule has been provided for you below with assignment due dates. It will be up to your groups to regulate your time. You may turn in any portion of the work early; however, late work will not be accepted.

Suggested Tasks:

Elect a leader. This person will be in charge of delegating tasks, ensuring that everyone is participating, and regulating time and due dates.

Delegate roles. Find out what each person in your group is best at and determine which role each member should play.

Decide how you best learn. Do you want to read and discuss the play in class and work outside or vice versa.

Utilize the group grading sheet and grade each other accurately. Each week, members of the groups will be graded by each other ranked out of 10.

Groups:

Othello-

Macbeth-

Taming of the Shrew-

Due Dates:

Act 1: Summary and Analysis March 7

Act 1 should be divided by scene and summarized and analyzed. Each character should be fully described and analyzed. Answer: why did Shakespeare create these characters? What purpose does he have for their existence in the play? What predictions can you make from the play’s exposition? Describe the setting. Include any background information that a reader would need to know before reading your play (THIS MEANS YOU HAVE TO DO SOME RESEARCH). Summarize and ANALYZE each scene. If you are struggling, think about the questions we asked during The Canterbury Tales (how and why?)

Act 2: Connection and Conflict March 14

Create a summary scene by scene for Act 2. In each scene label and explain the type of conflict: Internal (man v self) or External (man v man, man v society, man v nature…). In addition, connect each scene to the life of Shakespeare. What aspects of his own life did he include in these scenes? (YOU WILL HAVE TO RESEARCH SHAKESPEARE TO DO SO). Lastly,

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utilize your vocabulary definitions and examples to find examples within Shakespeare’s text. You should find one example of each vocabulary term. Label, quote, and cite the example from the text and fully translate the example as well.

Act 3: Translation March 20

Summarize the climax of the play.

Consider changing times from Elizabethan England to 2013. Choose at least five times periods throughout history. Discuss how the changing times would change the text. How would setting, characters, events, and style change based on the time period. How would events in history change or add to the events that occur in Act III. How would the climax differ?

After this, fully analyze the decisions of each character. How are their actions a form of reciprocal cause and effect? What tragic flaws does each character have? What positives do the characters have that they may see in each other but not in themselves?

Meet with other Groups: March 21

Act 4: Foils and Shakespeare’s Questions March 27

Summarize each scene in this Act. Then create a list of character foils. Why does Shakespeare create these opposites? Does his purpose differ per foil?

Answer Shakespeare’s questions based on these scenes. What is the difference between good and evil? Analyze each character. Who is evil; who is good? Why do people do the things they do?

Act 5: Drama April 10, 11, 12

Your group will combine with the other group of five reading your play and will put on rendition of Act 5 of the play. First, you should prepare a summary of the events that have transpired thus far in Acts 1-4 to deliver to the class. You should then choose a theme from pop culture to turn Shakespeare’s play into. You should translate the entire scene into language based on the genre you choose. Remember the more creative you are the better. Your group should be fully dressed in costumes that represent the characters they are playing. Create a script, assign parts, and PRACTICE. PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! Though your lines do not have to be fully memorized, you will not be allowed to use a script on stage. You can utilize notes on the back of prompts or note cards to assist you. Any long pause or missed line will greatly hurt your group’s grade. Your drama should include sound effects and all prompts needed to showcase the scene effectively. This Act will be performed for the class and is worth 30% of your Shakespeare grade.

Meet with other groups: April 15

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Things to consider:

They deserve a 1:

Group member was present at least one day. They did not complete their assigned task. They did not add to discussion, and they talked about other things when the group was

attempting to work. They were off task during class and then did not have assigned work completed. They did not add to my learning in any way because they did not complete assigned work.

They deserve a 3 or 4:

Group member was present at least three days. Group member completed their summaries and analysis. Group member seemed on task, although they did not add to the discussion. Group member struggled to get things done on time and needed assistance from other

members. Group member did not keep up with reading but was able to complete it by the due date of the

Act.

They deserve a 7 or 8:

Group member was present every day. Group member contributed to my learning. Group member wrote original summaries. Group member was on time with scheduled reading and assignments. Group member often participated in learning.

They deserve a 10:

Group member went above and beyond to help me grasp the play. Group member wrote original analysis pieces. Group member had assignments done ahead of scheduled due dates. Group member was encouraging towards other members. Group member actively participated every day in the study of the play.

How to read Shakespeare

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I ate the sandwich.I the sandwich ate.Ate the sandwich I.Ate I the sandwich.The sandwich I ate.The sandwich ate I.

When you are reading Shakespeare's plays, look for this type of unusual word arrangement.  Locate the subject, verb, and the object of the sentence.  Notice that the object of the sentence is often placed at the beginning (the sandwich) in front of the verb (ate) and subject (I).  Rearrange the words in the order that makes the most sense to you (I ate the sandwich).  This will be one of your first steps in making sense of Shakespeare's language.

Again, for the sake of his poetry, Shakespeare often left out letters, syllables, and whole words.  These omissions really aren't that much different from the way we speak today.  We say:

"Been to class yet?""No.  Heard Ulen's givin' a test.""Wha'sup wi'that?"

We leave out words and parts of words to speed up our speech.  If we were speaking in complete sentences, we would say:

"Have you been to class yet?""No, I have not been to class.  I heard that Mrs. Ulen is giving a test today.""What is up with that?"

A few examples of Shakespearean omissions/contractions follow:

'tis ~ it isope ~ openo'er ~ overgi' ~ givene'er ~ never

i' ~ ine'er ~ everoft ~ oftena' ~ hee'en ~ even

Post-It the page. When you start reading Shakespeare’s plays, consider what the essay question could be. Think about the how and why questions in the scene. In this way, you will be able to anticipate important quotations throughout the text.

Read through enjambments. Shakespeare writes his sentences in a series of lines. Read to the next punctuation. Reading simply to the end of a line will not allow you to consider the full meaning of the text.

Read out loud. Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be watched or spoken. It is easier to understand his plays in context rather than pulling out one quote at a time.Translate the following quotes:

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Macbeth:

"Fair is foul and foul is fair." Macbeth--Act 1, Scene 1, Line 10

"There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face."--Act 1, Scene 4, Lines 10-11: King Duncan to Malcolm

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere wellIt were done quickly.  If th'assassinationCould trammel up the consequence, and catch,With his surcease, success; that but this blowMight be the be-all and end-all-here,But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,We'd jump the life to come."--Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 1-7: Macbeth to himself

Othello“We cannot all be masters, nor all masters cannot be truly follow’d.” Act 1 Scene 1

“You are one of those that will not serve God, if the devil bid you.” Act 1 Scene 1

“When my outward action doth demonstrateThe native act and figure of my heartIn complement extern, tis not long afterBut I will wear my heart upon my sleeveFor daws to peck at. I am not what I am.” —Iago, 1.1.60-4

“Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her!For I’ll refer me to all things of sense,If she in chains of magic were not bound,Whether a maid, so tender, fair, and happy,So opposite to marriage that she shunnedThe wealthy curled darlings of our nation,Would ever have, t’incur a general mock,Run from her guardage to the sooty bosomOf such a thing as thou—to fear, not to delight.” —Brabantio, 1.2.62-71

The Taming of the Shrew:

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“There’s small choice in rotten apples.”  Act 1 Scene 1

“Thus it stands:Her elder sister is so curst and shrewdThat till the father rid his hands of her,Master, your love must live a maid at home,And therefore has he closely mewed her up,Because she will not be annoyed with suitors.” Act 1 Scene 1

“Why came I hither but to that intent?Think you a little din can daunt mine ears?Have I not in my time heard lions road?Have I not heard the sea, puffed up with winds,Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?Have I not heard great ordnance in the field And heaven’s artillery thunder in the skies?Have I not in a pitched batter heard Loud larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets’ clang?And do you tell me of a woman’s tongue,That gives not half so great a blow to hearAs will a chestnut in a farmer’s fire?Tush, tush! Fear boys with bugs. “ Act 1 Scene 2

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Name: __________________________________________________________

William Shakespeare Web Quest:You are about to embark upon a web quest to discover new and exciting information about William Shakespeare and his plays

Utilizing the sheet provided, record your findings.

Shakespeare in Pop Culture…1. After viewing the clips, explain how Shakespeare still exists

in modern society? Why do you think this is so? (Please don’t answer because he is the best writer ever… THINK).____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

William Shakespeare’s Bibliography:1. When and where was Shakespeare born?2. Who were his parents and what did they do for a living?3. Document Shakespeare’s family.4. What are the “lost years?”5. When did Shakespeare die?

Schooling:1. What kind of schooling did Shakespeare receive? 2. How old was he when he started school?3. How long were the school days?4. How many days a week did he attend school?5. What subjects did he study? Shakespeare asks two questions in every play:

Answer these two questions from your point of view:1. What is the difference between good and evil?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Why do people do the things they do?

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______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Globe:1. What is the name of Shakespeare’s acting troupe?2. Describe the stage.3. What are groundlings?4. How were plays announced?5. Why were theaters closed in 1603?The Globe Trivia:

1. Which three trivia facts do you find most interesting about the Globe Theater?

a. b. c.

2. What were the different color flags that Shakespeare used to represent history, comedy, and tragedy?

a. History:b. Comedy:c. Tragedy:

Terms to Know:Create an example for each term/definition. Be sure you fully understand each definition:

1. Juxtaposition: putting two unlike things together for comparisonExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Aside: a soliloquy in which there are people on stage that can't hear what the character is saying (one or more can)Example: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Soliloquy: character thinks or is alone and is talking about his feelingsExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. Simile: the comparison of two things using like or asExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Allusion: a brief reference to a person, event, place, or to a work of artExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Double Entendre: a pun or piece of wordplay in which one of the meanings is word playExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Pun: the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more meaningsExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Motif: recurrent thematic element in a literary work. Example: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Paradox: a phrase that seems contradictory but when observed reveals some truthExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Tragic Flaw : a character flaw that causes the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedyExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Monologue: a long speech spoken by a character in the presence of others Example: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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12. Dramatic Irony : the audience knows something that the character does notExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. Verbal Irony : what is said is the opposite of what is expected Example: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. Imagery : appeals to the sensesExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. Symbolism : a person, place, or thing that represents something else Example: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. Foreshadowing : to suggest that something, often something unpleasant, is going to happen Example: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. Hyperbole : obvious and intentional exaggerationExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

18. Personification : assigning human characteristics to things, animals, or ideasExample: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Approaching a literary analysis:

Hook the reader in the first sentence, just as you would in any other essay. What is something interesting about the work that you can tell the reader in the first line? The piece of interesting information must also be relevant to the topic and to the literary element being discussed.

Assume that the reader has read and is familiar with the work of literature that you are writing about. Keeping this in mind will stop you from including too much plot summary in the introduction and the rest of the essay.

Make clear what it is you are analyzing in the essay. Explain a bit about this aspect in the introduction so that the reader is clear about what is being analyzed.

Do not start analyzing the work. Acquaint the reader to what will be analyzed, but save the actual analyzing for the body.

State the thesis in the last sentence of the introduction. Use transitions throughout the introduction. Because there are so

many things that have to be included, the introduction can end up a clump of sentences stuck together. Make sure that it makes sense on its own as a paragraph.

Example Othello:

William Shakespeare wrote many plays during the Elizabethan Age, creating multi-dimensional characters who teach valuable lessons to the readers of his works. His tension filled literature often revolves around the decisions made by his male characters. However, while most of Shakespeare’s protagonists are men, he distinguishes his male characters through their female counterparts. Each female is described by her virtue or lack of virtue. The idea of virtue is emphasized in Shakespeare’s play Othello through Desdemona and her purity and Emilia and her maturity. The women in Othello, specifically Desdemona and Emilia, while converse characters, function as the demise of the men in their lives.

Example Macbeth:

William Shakespeare said, “The fault is often made worse by the excuse.” It is because people attempt to make flaws positives that they are unable to correct them. However, Shakespeare’s use of tragic flaw to not only destroy

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his protagonists but also to elevate them in the eyes of the reader is how he creates his multi-dimensional characters. Macbeth, one such character, resembles a devil and a weak lamb simultaneously. Through his contrasting characteristics, the audience is unable to decisively declare him a villain or victim. Shakespeare’s use of a protagonist as his own antagonist in Macbeth allows the audience to question their own flaws and rather than excuse the fault, remove that which antagonizes once and for all.

Example Taming of the Shrew:

The persona that one chooses to reveal to society creates one’s reputation but does not embody an individual overall. In the comedic play The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare effectively tames Katherina through his transformation of her from shrew to woman. However, his “taming” is only public in that she creates the persona of a submissive wife and lady-like individual. Katherina’s flamboyant and ostentatious behavior in early scenes is quickly forgotten as she transforms. Thus, Shakespeare’s question is revealed: which is more important, reputation or self? If one’s reputation is honorable, does it matter that she has other intentions beneath the revealed outer layer? Shakespeare creates a controversial dynamic in his female protagonist as her public persona and private desires clash and yet do not inhibit each other.

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Which Play Should I Read???

Words that describe Macbeth:

Witches, Ambition, Greed, King, War, Trickery, Death, Crazy, Blood, Murder

*Write down any additional notes that you think of as we watch the clip.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Words that describe Othello:

Race, Love/Lust, Lies, Women, Death, Deceit, Power, Religion, Family, Rank

*Write down any additional notes that you think of as we watch the clip.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Worlds that describe The Taming of the Shrew:

Love/Lust, Fathers, Property, Sisters, Relationships, Reputation, Pride, Marriage, Humor, Sex

*Write down any additional notes that you think of as we watch the clip.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Name: _______________________________________________________________________

Othello:

Act 1

1. How does Shakespeare present the world of Venice in the first act, and how does he construct the interactions of his central characters (Iago, Othello, and Desdemona) with that Venetian world and with each other. How are these interactions complicated by the fact that Othello is a Moor (and we'll have to puzzle out what exactly that means) and that Desdemona is a young women (and so we'll want to remember what we learned about the relation of young women to their fathers in The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream)?

2. What sort of person is Iago, as he appears in act 1? Are you satisfied by the reasons he gives for hating Othello? What is Iago's relationship with Roderigo?

3. What sort of language does Iago use? What sort of language does Othello use? What might be the significance of this difference?

Act 2

1. What sort of person is Cassio? What happens to him, and how does Iago plan to use the situation in his plan against Othello?

2. What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in act 2? What is the effect of having him share his thoughts and plans with us through his soliloquies? Pay attention to the language used in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of descriptive language does he use? How does it contribute to the picture of Iago that Shakespeare is drawing?

Act 3

1. At the beginning of 3.3 Othello is completely in love with Desdemona. By the end of that scene, 480 lines later, Othello is ready to murder her for having an affair with Cassio. How have we gone from the first position to the second position so quickly? How does Iago plant the idea of Desdemona's infidelity in Othello's mind, and how does he make it grow?

2. What sort of person is Emilia, and what seems to be the nature of her relationship with her

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husband Iago? How does Desdemona's handkerchief come into play within that relationship between Emilia and Iago?

The Taming of the Shrew:

Act 1

1. How does such role-playing address issues of gender and class? What effects might these representations have on the play?

2. From the outset, we learn from Bianca's suitors that Katherine is the less desirable of the two sisters. Examine and question this claim. How are Bianca and Katherine different? What makes Katherine rather than Bianca the shrew?

Acts 2 and 3

1. How does Petruchio "tame" Kate? Consider how he seems to define their roles. How does his behavior relate to our other shrew texts?

2. How does Katherine act in the scenes where she says little or nothing? For example, in Act 2, scene 1, how does Katherine behave when Petruchio reports on his success in wooing Kate and in their plans for marriage? Because the text provides little explanation, you must decide how she would act based on your interpretation of her character from previous scenes.

Macbeth:

Act 1

1. What is the effect of beginning the play with the witches?

2. What is the effect of what the witches tell each other in 1.3.1-27? Are these details important to the plot of the play? Keep the line in mind; "do" is an important word in this play. How do the witches prepare for Macbeth's arrival, and what do they say?3. Has Macbeth reported accurately to his wife? How does she respond? How does she describe Macbeth? Does this match what we have seen of him?

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Act 2

1. What is Lady Macbeth's state of mind in her soliloquy (2.2.1-13)? What has she done? What does she assume Macbeth is now doing?

2. What does the porter pretend to be doing? Notice the emphasis on equivocation in this speech and in the following dialogue with Macduff. Equivocation was a doctrine espoused by Jesuits living secretly in England (and in danger of arrest, torture, and death) that allowed them to swear oaths with double meanings in order to preserve their lives while also maintaining their faith but that looked to their opponents very much like lying under oath. Equivocation had recently been much discussed because of the trials surrounding the Gunpowder Plot of November 1605, a Catholic attempt to blow up Parliament while the members and the King were present. Watch how the idea of equivocation functions in the play.

Act 3

1. How does Banquo react to Macbeth's being King (3.1.1-10)? What does he suspect has happened to Duncan?

2. How does Macbeth get the two murderers to agree to kill Banquo? Has he told them the truth about Banquo and himself? What has brought the murderers to be willing to do a deed like this?

3. During the banquet, what does Macbeth learn from the First Murderer (3.4.11-31)? How does that affect Macbeth's participation in the banquet?

Compare and Contrast:

1. How are the plays alike thematically?

2. What motifs do the plays share?

3. How are good and evil dramatized by Shakespeare in the three plays?

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Macbeth:

Act 4

1. What messages does Macbeth get from the witches and their apparitions? Does he feel safe after the first three apparitions? Should he? How does he feel after the fourth, the line of kings?

2. What happens to Lady Macduff and her son?

3. What message does Ross bring? How long does it take for him to tell it? How does Macduff respond? Note lines 214-217: Who "has no children"? We assume he means Macbeth, but could he mean Malcolm, who is perhaps too hasty in telling him to "Be comforted"? Notice the mentions of "man;” What does it mean to be a "man" in this play?

Act 5

1. What has the gentlewoman seen Lady Macbeth do (5.1.1-15)? Why won't she tell the Doctor what Lady Macbeth said?

2. What does Lady Macbeth reveal in her sleepwalking speeches and actions (5.1.23-58)? To what does the Doctor relate this in 5.1.61-69? What is he suggesting in lines 66-67?

3. What is Macbeth's attitude at the beginning of the scene (lines 1-4)? What happens in his encounter with Young Siward?

4. What unwished-for information does Macduff have for Macbeth (lines 1-16)? How does Macbeth respond? What will happen if he doesn't fight? Why does he fight?

The Taming of the Shrew:

Act 4

1. How is Petruchio’s masculinity represented? Examine his treatment of servants and Kate.

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2. Many critics mark scene 5 as the turning pointi n the play which indicates Kate’s taming. What is different about this scene? If she is tamed, what is she submitted to? Is it really “submission,” or can it be interpreted in other ways?

Act 5

1. Is Kate’s final speech sincere or ironic? Does the context of her words change their meaning? What are different possible translations?

2. What happens to the power dynamics in this scene- between men and men, women and women, and men and women?

Othello:

Act 4

1. How does the handkerchief function in act 4? Why is it so important to Othello?

2. How is Othello changing? What is the effect of Othello’s slap/public humiliation of Desdemona?

3. What is the nature of the relationship between Emilia and Desdemona? How effectively is Shakespeare portraying this private worth of women?

Act 5

1. How does Othello approach the killing of Desdemona? What does he think he is doing and why?

2. What is the effect of having Emilia play such an important role after the murder? Why is she now standing up to Othello and her husband? What is her “reward?”

3. Does Othello justify his killing of Desdemona? What is he doing in his last long speech?

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Macbeth Foils:

Foil: A character who brings out the opposite in another character

1. Macbeth v Banquo2. Macbeth v Lady Macbeth3. Macbeth v Macduff4. Lady Macbeth v Witches5. Duncan v Macduff

Othello Foils

1. Othello v Iago2. Othello v Cassio3. Othello v Desdemona4. Desdemona v Emilia5. Iago v Emilia

Taming of the Shrew Foils

1. Katherine v Bianca2. Katherine v Petruchio3. Lucentio v Petruchio4. Hortensio v Lucentio5. Baptista v Petruchio

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