Strategies
Approaching and teaching two of Shakespeare’s plays will seem like a daunting task to many teachers, but I believe the goals of this unit can be met through gradual increases in difficulty of text. For this reason as well as to set a thematic “hook”, I encourage the teacher to present Sonnet 130 (“My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun”). This sonnet questions the aesthetic basis of desire and serves as a simple 14-line introduction to both Shakespeare’s language and style, most importantly the question of what beauty is and what it is that we desire. In approaching the first text to be taught, Romeo and Juliet, for the purposes of this unit I believe only a handful of scenes are necessary: when Romeo and Juliet meet (Act I, Scene 5), when they profess their love for one another (Act II, Scene 2) and finally the death of both characters (Act V, Scene 3). While one could expand upon this, this “edit” allows readers (or viewers) to only focus on the characterization and words of two characters. Two scenes that can naturally be included in addition are their wedding vows (Act 2, Scene 6) and the consummation of their marriage (Act 3, Scene 5).
These texts naturally lend themselves to being acted out, but the language can often be intimidating enough that some students may find themselves overwhelmed and not feel as willing to read aloud. If technology allows, the instructor can copy any amount of text into a GoogleDoc (I recommend A Midsummer Night’s Dream). It can be exciting and educational to then have each student take a number of lines from the play (perhaps linked to the same character) and examine those lines closely, attempting to modify these words to modern English. The teacher serves in the role of editor, examining these thoughts and using the comment feature to offer suggestions where there might have been misinterpretation. This text, even if it is only one act of the sum, can successfully introduce students to interpreting Shakespeare's words while also allowing them to express their own creativity. Additionally, the modified text can be used for read-alouds.
As there exist many adaptations of these two plays, it might be worthwhile to use film to help scaffold student understanding of the events and characters in these plays. Selecting scenes both before and after readings can greatly add to student comprehension of the texts, characters, motives and dramatic differences. Using multiple adaptations is also helpful and allows students to compare two different adaptations, noting the director’s decisions in each.
For students who struggle with keeping track of the character actions and attractions (especially in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) a character map on which they can keep track of what each character desires at different points within the play is a good idea. This can be done in a PowerPoint or Google Slides, but is also simple enough (and ever-changing enough) that it is possible to use dry-erase board to track the events and characters.
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