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III. Fiction and Drama B. Drama

At a Glance The most important ideas for you are: ◗ Drama is a form of literature that is intended to be performed by actors for an audience in a theater. ◗ Plays are divided into acts and scenes. The Romans were the first to divide their plays into acts, and the Roman poet Horace set the number at five. Until the 19th century, the ideal number of acts in a play was five. ◗ Drama includes comedies and tragedies. ◗ William Shakespeare was one of the finest playwrights of the Elizabethan Age (1558–1603). ◗ If possible, students should have an opportunity to participate in and/or attend grade-appropriate dramatic performances as well as study them.

What Teachers Need to Know B. Drama Background: Why Study Shakespearean Drama? In Grade 5, students will be introduced to the dramatic works of William Shakespeare. One of the world’s greatest playwrights, Shakespeare wrote comedies and tragedies during the Renaissance that are still performed today. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a fanciful comedy in which love and magic triumph over adversity. The title alludes to the summer solstice, Midsummer Eve (June 23), which in Shakespeare’s time was marked by holiday parties and tales of fairies. When choosing an edition of the play, you’ll find there are many options: full-length, well-annotated versions, adapted or shortened versions, and mod- ern retellings in prose. You’ll find some of these options listed in the More Resources list at the end of this section. Before reading, be sure to introduce and define the terms tragedy, come- dy, act, and scene. Also, show students pictures of the Globe Theater so that they can visualize where Shakespeare’s plays were performed. Explain that theater was very popular with people of the Elizabethan Age, and, although many theaters at that time allowed only the upper classes to attend, the Globe let in people of all classes. The people who paid the lowest entrance fee stood directly in front of the stage. They were often very boisterous and sometimes Globe Theater threw rotten vegetables at the actors. Studying Shakespearean drama helps students experience the pleasure of reading great works of literature and understand how the plays come to life when performed on stage. Students at this level should be able to read and gen- erally understand condensed or adapted versions of Shakespeare. However, they may need assistance with understanding difficult vocabulary, following a complicated plot with several twists, comprehending stage directions, and keeping track of many different characters. 76 Grade 5 Handbook CK_5_TH_LA_P001_103.QXD 2/6/06 11:27 AM Page 77

Teaching Shakespearean Drama Teaching Shakespeare in Grade 5 is a challenge, but it can be done. Below, we outline a series of steps that may help you teach A Midsummer Night’s Dream with success. This is, of course, only one way of approaching the task. You may wish to use some of these ideas but not others. • Before turning to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, make sure students understand that a drama, or play, is a work of literature that is intended to be performed for an audience. Introduce the distinction between comedy and tragedy. • You might want to begin this unit with a very short and simple play—perhaps a modern, one-act play, and preferably a comedy. While teaching the modern play, you can explain about plays, characters, scenes, dialogue, etc. Then, when you turn to Shakespeare, students will already be familiar with the basic conventions of drama and will not have to learn those while wrestling with Shakespeare’s language. • Before attempting to teach A Midsummer Night’s Dream, read the play at least twice yourself. Get a good school edition, such as the Oxford School Shakespeare edition, and use the glosses and footnotes to help you understand difficult parts. If possible, watch a videotape or two of a performance. You want to be teaching with a solid knowledge base. • Before introducing students to Shakespeare’s text, preview A Midsummer Night’s Dream by reading a short summary of what happens in the play—a prose version like the one in the Text Resources or the one in Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb. Discuss whether the play is a comedy or a tragedy. How can students tell? Once students have a general sense of where the play is going, they can devote more attention to the language and the speeches. • Before turning to the text itself, make sure students understand that Shakespeare wrote about 400 years ago. The English language has changed con- siderably since Shakespeare’s time. Therefore, there will be some passages that are hard to understand. Students shouldn’t worry about not understanding every sin- gle word. Encourage them to raise their hands when they get confused. Tell them that even adults sometimes get confused when watching or listening to Shakespeare. • Instead of asking students to read the play themselves at first, have them lis- ten to the play on audiotapes and follow along in a printed version. This is much easier than reading Elizabethan language from the page. Audiotapes are widely available in bookstores and online. As you listen, stop every so often to make sure students are following the plot and getting the gist of the speeches. Explain diffi- cult passages as needed. • If you don’t have time to study the whole play, do just selected scenes. • Don’t try to do too much in a given day. Divide the play into chunks and lis- ten to one or two scenes each day to avoid overwhelming students. Allow plenty of class time in which to discuss each section. Encourage students to ask ques- tions about what they do not understand, and have them answer specific ques- tions about plot, setting, and characters. • Assist students with difficult vocabulary. Using an edition that has glosses and annotations (such as the Oxford School Shakespeare edition) will reduce prob- lems with difficult vocabulary. Language Arts 77 CK_5_TH_LA_P001_103.QXD 2/6/06 11:27 AM Page 78

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Name Date • If students have problems with the word order of Elizabethan English, show The Globe Theater them how to rephrase a sentence in subject-verb-object order. Here is an exam- Study the diagram. It shows you what the inside of the old Globe Theater probably looked like long ago. Use the diagram to complete the statements below. ple: original wording: “Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung with feign- ing voice verses of feigning love.” reordered: “Thou hast sung verses of feigning love, with feigning voice, at her window by moonlight.” • Explain to students that Shakespeare sometimes wrote in verse and some- times in prose, and that he did this to show differences in class. Usually, charac- ters speaking in verse have a high social status. • While discussing the play, briefly introduce students to iambic pentameter, 1. Like most theaters of the time, the Globe Theater had three levels and was open at the top. which was the rhythm typically used by Shakespeare. Each line generally has 10 2. At each level was agallery , where spectators sat on benches to watch the show. syllables made up of five clusters of two syllables each. In each cluster, the stress 3. Actors performed on themain stage , a large platform that jutted out into the pit. is on the second syllable, like a heartbeat (da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM). Read a 4. On the theater’s narrow rooftop was a hut , where machines were used to produce sound effects.

e Knowledge Foundation line aloud as students beat out the rhythm on their desks.

Purpose: To view and interpret a diagram of the old Globe Theater Copyright ©Cor • Once students have listened to the play read by actors and studied it a little, Master 10 Grade 5: Language Arts choose one or more scenes and assign students roles. Have students read aloud Use Instructional Master 10. and/or act out these scenes using simple props. • To help students visualize the Globe Theater where Shakespeare’s plays were performed, use Instructional Master 10, The Globe Theater, and show them pic-

Name Date tures. Explain that this Elizabethan playhouse was built in London in 1599 by The Language of Shakespeare Richard and Cuthbert Burbage. The permanent home of Shakespeare’s company, Read the sentences from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Rephrase each sentence in subject-verb-object order. the Globe became London’s most popular theater. 1. Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung with feigning voice verses of feigning love. Thou hast sung verses of feigning love, with feigning A Midsummer voice, at her window by moonlight. • After studying the play, play a recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s

2. From Athens is her house removed seven leagues. Night’s Dream. Ask students whether they think the music suits the mood or tone Her house is removed seven leagues from Athens. of the play, and why. 3. In that same place thou hast appointed me, tomorrow truly will I meet with thee. I will meet with thee, truly, tomorrow in that same place thou hast appointed me. • If possible, have students view a live performance of Shakespeare or show

4. In the wood, where often you and I upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie, emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet, there my Lysander and myself shall meet. them a film adaptation of the play (Warner Home Video, 1935). Again, if you My Lysander and myself shall meet in the wood, where you and I were often wont to lie upon faint primrose don’t have time to watch the whole play, consider watching selected scenes. (The beds, emptying our bosoms of their sweet counsel. 1999 film version starring Kevin Kline is rated PG-13 and may not be suitable for 5. What thou see’st, when thou dost wake, do it for thy true love take. When thou dost wake, take what thou see’st for thy most students.) (See More Resources.) true love.

6. Tell me how it came this night, that I sleeping here was found, with these mortals on the ground. Tell me how it came that I was found tonight sleeping

e Knowledge Foundation Introducing the Play here, on the ground with these mortals.

Purpose: To practice reordering Shakespearean English for greater comprehension Copyright ©Cor Reading the retelling of the play included in the Text Resources is one way of Master 11 Grade 5: Language Arts introducing the play. Another way is to combine this pre-telling strategy with stu- Use Instructional Master 11. dent recitation of some memorable lines. First, choose a set of memorable lines from the play, including some from each act. Write the lines on slips of paper. For A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the first few slips might say, “1. Full of vexation come I, with complaint against my child, my daughter Hermia”; “2. I beseech your grace that I may know the worst that may befall me in this case, If I refuse to wed Demetrius.” “3. Either to die the death or to abjure for ever the society of men.” “4. If thou lovest me then, steal forth thy father’s house to-morrow night, and in the wood, a league without the town . . . there will I stay for thee.” Make one slip for each member of the class. Next, ask each student to choose a slip from a hat and prepare a dramatic reading of the line on the slip, guessing how it ought to sound and using his or her voice to express whatever emotions the student thinks the lines were meant to express. Encourage students to “ham it up.” After they have recited their lines, tell them these are all lines from a play they will be studying, and that you will be

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reading a short story version of the play. Then read a summary of the story, adapt- ed from the one in the Text Resources. As you read the story, pause at appropri- ate points for the students to read their lines, this time in context. It should go something like this: First you read: “Once upon a time, in the city of Athens, a young man named Lysander and a young woman named Hermia were deeply in love. They wanted to get married, but Hermia’s father, Egeus, would not allow it. Egeus told Hermia it was her duty to marry the man he had chosen, whose name was Demetrius. Egeus dragged Hermia to a hearing in front of Theseus, the Duke of Athens. Egeus turned to the Duke and said . . .” Then call on the student holding slip #1 to read it, or point to #1 on the board, and the student says his or her line from slip #1: “Full of vexation come I, with complaint against my child, my daughter Hermia.” Then continue: “Egeus asked the Duke to enforce an old law that said a daughter who refused to marry the man her father had chosen could be thrown into a nunnery for the rest of her life, or even put to death. Hermia spoke to the Duke, saying . . .” Then a student reads slip #2: “I beseech your grace that I may know the worst that may befall me in this case, If I refuse to wed Demetrius.” Continue: “And the Duke replied . . .” Then a student reads slip #3: “Either to die the death or to abjure for ever the society of men.” Next: “Hermia was saddened by this announcement, but her lover Lysander had an idea. When they were out of the Duke’s hearing he whispered to her . . .” Then a student reads slip #4: “If thou lovest me then, steal forth thy father’s house to-morrow night, and in the wood, a league without the town . . . there will I stay for thee.” Continue: “That night Hermia and Lysander snuck out of town, . . .” etc. This strategy will get the children interested and involved in the play. They will learn the basic plot and be able to participate. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Teaching Idea Author Information: William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English play- You may also wish to use the biogra- wright, poet, and actor who lived during the Renaissance, specifically during the phy of William Shakespeare that is Elizabethan Age. Many people consider Shakespeare to be the greatest playwright included in the Text Resources. 25 in history. He is often called The Bard of Avon, or simply The Bard. Although Shakespeare was a talented poet, he is most well known for his 38 plays, most of which were performed at the Globe Theater in London. Background: A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy of errors set in Athens and the surrounding woods. Hermia loves Lysander, against her father’s wishes, but is engaged to marry Demetrius. Her best friend, Helena, loves Demetrius, although this love is unrequited. Oberon, the king of the fairies, decides to improve this unfortunate situation with a “love potion” derived from flowers. But he sends his fairy servant Puck to do the job, and Puck makes things worse by administering the magic potion incorrectly. In the end, Oberon resolves the situ- ation and the couples marry happily.

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Before Reading: Have you ever tried to fix a complicated problem, only to make it worse? Vocabulary: hearing: trial; vexation: irritation; hath: has; consent: permis- sion; bewitched: tricked; impression: fantasy; filched: stolen; sealing: joining; betwixt: between; pursue: chase after; steal forth: escape from; hateth: hates; fly: run away from; thence: then; tradesmen: workers who practice a specific trade; melodramatic: overly emotional or theatrical; nay: no; peach fuzz: teenage boy’s very thin facial hair; ex tempore: on the spot, as one goes along; supernatural: superhuman; liquor: liquid with special properties; meddling: annoying, nosy; tedious: repetitive and boring; raven: large black bird; mischievous: naughty; translated: changed; enamored: in love with; enthralled: spellbound; lair: den or refuge; delicacies: rare or exquisite foods; nymph: beautiful and mythical fairy- like being; divine: heavenly; professing: proclaiming; superpraise: flatter; woo- ing: courting; baffled: confused; canker-blossom: diseased flower; mortals: humans; charms: spells; antidote: remedy, cure; executed: killed; idle gaud: use- less knickknack; lamentable: regrettable; crannied: having a small nook; chink: chip or crack; loam: mud-based mixture used for walls; doth: does; sinister: rep- resentative of bad things to come; mark: take note; dole: sorrow; mantle: coat, robe, cloak; fled: gone away; newlyweds: people recently married; ministrations: rituals After Reading: Why did Hermia and Lysander have to run away? Why did Puck change Bottom’s head into that of a donkey? Many people consider Puck to be the main character in this play. Why do you think that is? Versions: The Text Resources includes a summary of the story, which you can use to introduce students to the play and its plot. This is intended to make the plot and characters clear to students and to serve as preparation for Shakespeare’s text, which will be hard for students, but not impossible. Many young students are capable of taking great delight in Shakespeare’s plots and language and are able to understand the general meaning, even when not every word is crystal clear. After reading the summary, we encourage you to spend as much time with Shakespeare’s text as you can; if you can’t read the whole play, try to read and act out selected scenes. The suggestions above provide some guidance for teaching. The bibliography for this section lists several titles that will be helpful to you in introducing students to Shakespeare, including some student-friendly editions of this play. 24

The Big Idea Review in Review Below are some ideas for ongoing assessment and review activities. These are Reading Shakespearean not meant to constitute a comprehensive list. drama helps students • As a reinforcing activity for this section, give students an opportunity to acquire reading and lan- memorize, rehearse, and perform their favorite scenes from A Midsummer Night’s guage comprehension Dream for the class. skills and gain an appre- • Have students practice writing by creating a scene with characters and an ciation for different interactive situation. Have students write the scene, practicing with dialogue, kinds of literature. quotation marks, and other grammar concepts. They may then perform their original scenes. You may also consider brainstorming a topic for an entire play 80 Grade 5 Handbook