Background Information for Literacy
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in a small market town in 1564 called Stratford-upon-Avon. His parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. They took him to be baptized at Holy Trinity Church on Wednesday, April 16th. Churches required that baptisms be held within a few days after birth so historians have assigned April 23rd as Shakespeare's birth date, although no one knows this for certain. Shakespeare died on April 23rd, 1616, so he lived 52 years. Shakespeare had a brother two years younger than he, Gilbert, and a sister five years younger, Mary. Their father was a whittawer, someone who transforms hides into white leather, and a glover, someone who makes gloves, and he also dealt in timber, barley, and wool. On Thursdays, John Shakespeare would take his gloves, purses, aprons and belts to sell at the market. He also served on the town council and rose to the highest elected office, bailiff (which is like our mayor). Shakespeare attended petty school and probably grammar school, but it is unclear exactly where he went to school. However, when Shakespeare was about 14 his father began having money troubles so he was unable to send Shakespeare on to Cambridge or Oxford. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and they had Susanna in 1583 and twins, Hamnet and Judith, in 1585. Shakespeare left his family and went to London in 1586 and began writing plays, continuing until 1610. When the theater closed due to plaque he wrote sonnets and longs poems until they reopened. In 1594 he was an actor and a playwright with The Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company. In 1603, Shakespeare's company was given a royal patent and renamed The Kings' Man and performed regularly at the court of King James I. Shakespeare left London around 1610 and returned to Stratford a wealthy man. He lived there until his death. A plaque on his grave reads, "Good friend, for Jesus sake forbear/To dig the dust enclosed here./Blessed be the man that spares these stones/And cursed be he that moves my bones." Shakespeare wrote 36 plays, 154 sonnets, and two narrative poems. William Shakespeare invented many new words that have endured, such as alligator, anchovy, critic, embrace, varied, gossip, and puke.
Witchcraft
People believed in witchcraft in the 16th century. Many women and a few men were put to death because they were suspected of committing evil deeds in complicity with demonic forces. Suspects were tortured in quest of confessions. If they confessed they were guilty and if they didn't confess they must be guilty and be using witchcraft to keep from confessing. One witch hunter used to tie people's thumbs and toes together and throw them in the pond. If they floated they were guilty. If the suspect sank, they were innocent and the witch hunter would try to rescue the suspect and resuscitate them if possible, but the suspect often died.
Arts Education
I will teach theater arts through acting out Macbeth. The class will actually participate in a presentation of Macbeth for their parents. Students will learn about developing a character and playing a role, with blocking and movement, as well as scenery development. Students will create costumes and props such as goblets and swords out of swimming pool "noodles" to stage a sword fight. Students will participate in several improvisation activities. In one activity they will form a circle and pass an object around the circle such as a magic marker. The teacher will call out what students are to pretend the object is to be as they pass it and the teacher changes what the object is every three or four people. For example, as students are passing it the teacher calls, "It's fragile. It's sticky. It makes you sick. It's fragrant. It makes you itch. It's cold." The students are to treat the object as such. Another activity they will participate in is to create a setting. The teachers will tell the students where they are — for example, the beach. Students will then close their eyes and if the teacher touches their shoulder they should make a sound that they hear at the beach and keep making it until the end of the activity. Each student selected should make a different sound. When it has ended those that were not selected should describe what they heard. Eventually, these two activities should help students create the stage environment for Macbeth and give them some ideas about how to treat props and what to say in the street if they are part of a crowd scene.
I will teach an authentic dance from the 16th century for dance education. I ordered the 2003 edition of the DVD HOW TO DANCE THROUGH TIME, Volume III to learn how to do Renaissance dance. It contains authentic music and fashions from the era with step by step instructions and demonstrations on how to dance an Italian dance, which very likely might have made its way to the English court. I will attempt to use this to instruct myself in a dance as well as the students, and we will also use this information to perform a dance. However, this dance is quite complicated and I am continuing to look for other possibilities for dances. It's no wonder that the nobility had to take dancing their entire lives to learn how to do these things.
Students will listen to music from the 16th century. They will listen to the lute, virginal, spinet, harpsichord, and other brass and string instruments by composers William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Morley, and John Dowland on CD. One activity that I will use with the students is a questioning activity. I will play a selection and ask the students to listen and while they are listening to write down what they hear. I will then play the song again and ask the students to this time write down what they think. Finally, I will play the song a third time and ask the students what they wonder. Then we will have a class discussion.
Students will look at visual art from the 16th century in the form of portraits by artists such as Hans Holbein, and learn the purpose of these portraits. These portraits were used to transmit and record history, to proclaim status, and for religious purposes. I will ask students to create a self portrait in Renaissance style. Students will also identify the three main purposes for art in any society. First, that it was functional, such as in a quilt, furniture, goblets, altar pieces, and in jewelry. Second, that it was cultural, such as religious jewelry, and jewelry to reflect social status. Last, that art is personal, an outlet for emotion, enjoyment, or to make money. A possible homework assignment for the purpose of art will be for students to go home and identify any art and its purpose(s) in their home.
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