Directions: Answer the Following Questions While Reading Pages 536-541 in Your Text

Directions: Answer the Following Questions While Reading Pages 536-541 in Your Text

1

Name ______

Mr. Cecala

Eng. 10

Shakespeare- Intro. Handout

KEY

Directions: Answer the following questions while reading pages 536-541 in your text.

  1. Why is Shakespeare “regarded as the greatest writer in the English language”?
  • Richness of language
  • He understood human concerns
  • Wrote about relevant topics [timeless]
  1. List and explain THREE facts about Shakespeare.
  • Born during Renaissance
  • Married Anne Hathaway
  • Wrote 37 plays
  • Wrote 154 sonnets
  • Lord Chamberlain’s Men
  1. What historical period did Shakespeare live? Briefly explain this period.
  • Elizabethan Period or Renaissance
  • Time of rebirth/exploration (in arts, classics, ect.)
  1. Briefly describe Shakespeare’s theater.
  • Thatch roof
  • Open in the center (for sunlight)
  • Smaller circular theater
  • Orchestra pit for groundkeepers
  • 3 Levels; higher up = more money/power
  • theater was small so they could still see well, but opposite from today
  1. Who were the Groundlings? Explain.
  • Poor people who paid 1 cent to see the plays
  • Stood down by the stage
  • Uneducated & poor
  1. Looking at the picture on page 540, what do the letters B, H and M represent?
  • B = the yard or orchestra pit
  • H = stage
  • M = Entrance doors for actors
  • **had a place for everything
  1. Complete the following sentences:

A performance of Julius Caesar…included realistic sound effects for thunder and battle noises

The actor playing Caesar…would have a pig’s bladder filled with blood

  1. Explain conventionsand give an example of one.
  • Convention = accepted practices
  • Accepted agreement between artist and audience
  1. Identify two similarities and two differences between the Greek theater and the Elizabethan theater.
  • Similarities
  • Performances during day for light
  • Women not allowed to act
  • Plays in poetic form
  • Differences
  • More special effects & elaborate scenary (E)
  • Indoor theater (E)
  • Hole in roof (E)
  • No Chorus (E)
  • Had 3 actors (G)
  • No violence (G)
  1. What is an “anachronism” and give two examples Shakespeare used?
  • Anachronism = something mentioned in a play that does not fit the time period