Shakespeare and Human Character

Classroom Activities

Engel Film Summary Video Quiz

While watching the video (Engel), complete all of the following questions. Be very

specific in your responses. All answers must be written in complete sentences.

1. 1How does Professor Engel describe William Shakespeare as a writer?
2. Why is Shakespeare's writing different from that of other authors? What is the "problem" with Shakespeare's works?
3. What was it like to attend the theater in Shakespeare's day? Be detailed in your response.
4. Define the origin of the term "box office".
5. What three items were sold at the theater's refreshment stands? What item was most popular? Why?
6. What determined whether or not the play was bad and if the audience got a refund?
7. Why did actors think it was dangerous to be down stage if there were a lot of groundlings in the audience?
8. What is the origin of the phrase "break a leg"?
9. What did Shakespeare change in Macbeth when he rewrote the script? Why?
10. Explain why a pig was killed before each performance of Julius Caesar.
11. What is Shakespeare's best-loved play? Why?
12. What are the three "opening scene promises" in all of Shakespeare's plays?
13. What is Shakespeare's most difficult play? Why?
14. Cite two reasons why the study of Shakespeare's work is difficult today.
15. Explain the "fairy tale motif" used in the plots of Shakespearean tragedies.
16. Cite two reasons that let you know when you are reading a tragedy.
17. How does "Humpty Dumpty" teach even the most ignorant people like the groundlings the basic principle of great tragedy?
18. How did Shakespeare use characters' words to allow all people to understand his plays?
19. Shakespeare was a master of language and coined hundreds of words and phrases that are still used today. List ten that are mentioned in the film.
20. Vocabulary: Write a connotative definition of the following terms as they are explained in the film:

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Choose ONE of the following characters with which you most identify. List the character's traits; list your traits that most closely mirror this character. Construct an essay in which you compare your life today with the life of this character as he/she is portrayed in King Lear, detailing why you chose this character and how he/she most represents your place in your family. Be sure to cite evidence to defend your stance.

Timed Writing

(40 minutes)

This writing assignment will be completed during a single class period. Students will read their essays aloud for peer review.

Read the following passage, and write a clear, cohesive essay in which you fully explain Lear's emotions and why he is railing against Goneril and Regan. Be sure to cite evidence to defend your response. You must show your pre-writing preparation.

      II, iv, 259-281
      O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars
      Are in the poorest thing superfluous.
      Allow not nature more than nature needs,
      Man's life's as cheap as beast's ...
      You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!
      If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts
      Against their father, fool me not so much
      To hear it tamely; touch me with noble anger,
      And let not women's weapons, water-drops,
      Stain my man's cheeks! No, you unnatural hags,
      No, I'll not weep,
      I have full cause of weeping, but this heart
      Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,
      Or ere I'll weep, O fool, I shall go mad!
  

Culminating Project

Complete ONE of the following options as a culminating project for the study of WilliamShakespeare and King Lear.

1. Write a one-act play - SATIRE/PARODY - about King Lear. The work will have a maximum of five characters. You will design the setting, write stage directions for the actors, design costumes, cast your play, and direct it. The work may be in a contemporary setting. You have two options for presenting your play to the class:
2. Film the production on a DVD to show to the class, or
3. Present a live performance in class (mini-theater)
4. ur final presentation/production must be very well prepared and show effort and professionalism. You will give the instructor a copy of your script before you present.
5. Construct a model of The Globe. Your model must be to scale of the current Globe in London. You will illustrate a scene from King Lear on the jutting stage of your theater. You will write a paper (minimum FIVE pages, typed, double-spaced, 12-pt. Times font, 1" margins, separate page listing references in MLA format) about the history of the theater in Elizabethan/Shakespearean times. Be sure to label all parts of your model appropriately. You are required to make an oral presentation - minimum five minutes - and have a handout to distribute to your classmates.
6. Write a research paper about the life and times of William Shakespeare and the history of King Lear. The paper will be a minimum of 15 pages long; you must have a minimum of six verifiable references, at least three of which will be from books; you may have a maximum of three internet sources.

The paper will be typed, double spaced, 12 pt. Times font, 1" margins. References should be cited appropriately in the text and listed in MLA format on the "References" page.

You will include a poster depicting a time line of Shakespeare's life, including when he penned King Lear. You are required to make an oral presentation - minimum five minutes - and have a handout prepared to distribute to your classmates.