Focus: Introduction to Shakespeare YR 8 Duration: 5 Weeks Stage 4

Focus: Introduction to Shakespeare YR 8 Duration: 5 weeks Stage 4

Karen Yager Richmond River Focus: Introduction to Shakespeare YR 8 Duration: 5 weeks Stage 4

Concept: Craft Cross Curricular Outcomes Why is Shakespeare still able to Literacy 1. A student responds to and composes texts for reach a modern audience? ICT understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and Key learning ideas Language modes pleasure.  Richness of Shakespeare’s Reading/writing/speaking/listening language and stories 2. A student uses a range of processes for responding  How language features to and composing texts. convey tone, attitudes and Literacy feelings and shape dramatic Scaffolded critical response 5. A student makes informed language choices to delivery Spelling & Vocabulary shape meaning with accuracy, clarity and coherence  The features of an effective dramatic performance Texts 11. A student uses, reflects on and assesses individual Assessment Tasks Extracts and soliloquies from a range and collaborative skills for learning Task 1: Critical Response: 1 & 2 of Shakespeare’s plays such as: Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Othello & Task 2: Performance of Hamlet Shakespeare: 1, 2 & 5 Bell Shakespeare website: Task 3: Composing a Drama Text: http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/e 1, 2, 5 & 11 ducation2006/ Rationale “Shakespeare's timeless and universal appeal lies in the breadth of his creative vision and the depth of his humanity” John Bell.

John Bell encapsulates why it is important that all students are exposed to Shakespeare. This stage 4 introductory unit uses Shakespeare’s universal characters and their stories, as well as the richness of Shakespeare’s language to engage students. Thus the unit begins with the students acting as sleuths using images, clues and quotes to investigate Shakespeare’s stories. They then closely examine the key ideas, language features and form and construction of soliloquies and a variety of extracts. They will be required to perform one of the extracts or one they have selected to fully appreciate the power of the language. Finally they will compose and analyse their own soliloquy or play extract inspired by one of the lines from any Shakespearean play.

Syllabus Learning content and activities Quality teaching content Students learn to: 1.1  Respond to imaginative texts through wide and close listening, reading and viewing Deep understanding 1.2  Respond to and compose texts intended to inform, persuade and entertain Deep understanding 1.5  Interpret, question and challenge information and ideas through close study Higher-order thinking 1.8  Graphically represent aspects of text – set of a play, makeup and costume design Connectedness 1.9  Demonstrate understanding of the complexity of meaning in texts Higher-order thinking 1.10  Describe and explain qualities of language in their own and others’ texts that contribute to the enjoyment … Metalanguage 2.1  Use a range of listening & reading strategies, reading in depth & rereading … Deep understanding 2.4  Use processes of planning, including investigating, selecting ideas and information for specific purposes Student direction 2.6  Respond to their own and others’ compositions… Deep understanding 2.7  Discuss and explain the processes of responding and composing, and identify personal pleasures and difficulties experienced Connectedness 5.2  Make oral presentations that demonstrate a personal point of view, including speeches and drama performances Connectedness 5.4  Compose personal texts in literary forms such as a monologue Student direction 11.3  Ask questions, listen and negotiate to clarify an extended group task with teachers and peers Engagement 11.4  Use the language of the subject when engaging in learning Metalanguage 11.9  Perform an allocated role of responsibility in a group and assess the collaborative processes Student direction Students learn about: 1.11  The ideas, information, perspectives and points of view in imaginative texts Deep knowledge 1.12  Links between the ideas, information, perspectives & points of view presented in texts and their own background/experiences Connectedness 1.14  Their emerging sense of personal style and taste in composition and response Connectedness 1.18  Inference, figurative language and alternative readings as strategies for responding Higher-order thinking 1.20  The complexity of meaning in texts Deep understanding 2.9  Techniques for planning, rehearsing including role-play and performance of a scene Deep knowledge 2.13  Alternative ways of expressing ideas – directorial vision and perspectives Higher-order thinking 5.8  Techniques for effective speaking in formal and informal contexts Connectedness 5.9  The ways in which purpose, audience and context affect a composer’s choices of content, language forms & features … Deep knowledge 5.12  Ways to engage an audience and sustain interest and involvement Connectedness 11.15  Roles and responsibilities of individuals in groups Connectedness 11.20  Reflection strategies such as learning logs and guided discussion Deep understanding

Week 1: Introduction to Shakespearean Drama “Torment, trouble, wonder and amazement inhabits here” The Tempest. Content: Learning and teaching activities Quality teaching Learn to: Spelling – look, cover and write. Metalanguage: 11.4 Find 15-20 words related to Drama. Short quiz on Use the the drama terms at the end of the week. dramatic terms. Learn to: Lessons 1 - 2: Brainstorming of Archetypal Substantive 1.1 Stories Communication: 2.1  Discuss and take notes on common features Extended of stories discussion  Discuss and take notes on the flaws of humanity that stories usually focus on Cultural  Examine in groups of three the pictures of knowledge: Shakespeare’s characters from different archetypal Learn productions. You will be given clues and stories about: quotes from the plays. Predict what the story 1.11 will be about and what flaws will be exposed. Background (See work sheet provided) knowledge:  Present findings to the class assessing prior  Teacher to share the stories of the plays that knowledge of the pictures are from and to provide brief Shakespeare notes on Shakespeare’s time. and his plays Learn to: Introduction to Shakespeare through Deep 1.1 Soliloquies knowledge: 1.5 1. The Story & the Characters focus on key 1.9 2. The Ideas and Issues ideas and 2.1 3. The language and dramatic features textual features 11.4 Lesson 3: Hamlet - As a class read and discuss and analyse the above three points. Brainstorm ideas and record information. Metalanguage: - Using the information you discovered as Analysing and sleuths discuss what would have motivated discussing the Hamlet to make this soliloquy. language Learn - Now view the delivery of this soliloquy on film features of the about: and make notes and discuss your soliloquies 1.11 understanding of this soliloquy after seeing it 1.12 performed. 1.20 Lesson 4: Macbeth – “Is this a dagger…” Substantive - Read, discuss and make notes in pairs communication: Macbeth’s two soliloquies using the same class discussing three points. Draw on the information you at length the gleaned from the first two lessons. soliloquies - Share your findings with the class. Learn Journal: Background about:  Compose a reflection in your journal of knowledge: prior 11.20 approximately 50 words in length about what knowledge of you already knew about Shakespeare, and Shakespeare the knowledge you have gained this week.

Week 2: Introduction to Shakespearean Drama

“We defy augury: there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” Content: Learning and teaching activities Quality teaching 11.4 Spelling – look, cover and write. Metalanguage Select your own words based on the extracts. Learn to: Introduction to Shakespeare through Deep 1.1 Soliloquies knowledge: How 1.5 Lesson 1: Macbeth interpretation 1.9 - Teacher to introduce iambic pentameter and can alter 2.1 how significant words are meant to be meaning 11.4 stressed such as the verbs. - In pairs read and analyse Macbeth’s second soliloquy. Substantive - Practise performing it, discussing how you communication: think it was meant to be said. Class orally - Present performance to the class justifying discussing how you delivered it. substantive - Now view the soliloquy being delivered by an issues actor. Lesson 2: Othello Metalanguage: - Discuss as a class the prior knowledge Analysing and Learn gained after the sleuth investigations about discussing the about: Othello. language 1.11 - View a film extract of an actor delivering the features of the 1.12 soliloquy. soliloquies 1.18 - Discuss as a class the meaning of these 1.20 lines and what motivated Othello to kill his 2.13 wife. 5.9 - Individually analyse the language features of the first 15 lines using the work sheet provided. Lesson 3: Romeo & Juliet View these two soliloquies being delivered by actors in Zepherreill’s film and discuss and make notes as a class the following: - The state of mind of the characters - The tone - The use of language features - Why this play is so popular Learn to: Assessment task 1: Critical response Higher-order 1.5 Select one of the soliloquies and compose a critical thinking: Higher- 1.9 response analysing the character’s motivation and order thinking: Learn state of mind, the ideas and themes, and the use of the task about: language and dramatic features. requires 1.11 students to 1.20 (See scaffold, assessment sheet and marking analyse, 5.9. guidelines) evaluate and synthesise

Stage 4 Assessment Task 1: Critical Response

Outcome to be assessed: 1. A student responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and pleasure.

5. A student makes informed language choices to shape meaning with accuracy, clarity and coherence.

Nature of task: We have been examining a range of soliloquies in class, now it is your turn to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of ONE of these soliloquies.

You will need to discuss the following: . The reasons why this soliloquy was spoken by the character . The content of the soliloquy . The tone of the soliloquy . The language features: word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, and so on and how these features help to convey how the character is feeling and shape the way the soliloquy is delivered . Your personal response to the soliloquy

Deep knowledge: . The power and richness of language . How language choice conveys tone, attitudes and feelings and shapes dramatic delivery

You will be assessed on how well you: . Demonstrate understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquies . Compose a coherent and clear critical response . Demonstrate appreciation of the language features and forms

Please note: . You will have some time in class to work on the response. . Drafts can be submitted to your teacher prior to the due date.

A suggested scaffold has been included.

Critical Response – Suggested Scaffold

Select ONE of the soliloquies and critically analyse the content, ideas and language features.

Paragraph 1: Introduce the soliloquy and its focus, and state why you selected it.

Paragraph 2: Discuss the context of the soliloquy and what motivated the character to say these words. E.g. In Macbeth’s soliloquy he has just heard of the death of his wife. He realises that by giving into vaulting ambition he has lost so much: love, friends and respect. The fleeting nature of life is acknowledged.

Paragraph 3: State how the character feels about what her or she is discussing, and refer to the word choice and language features that convey these feelings. E.g. Hamlet in his soliloquy has been told by his father’s ghost to avenge his death. In this soliloquy he contemplates his own death and expresses concern and fear about what taking his own life would mean. The absence of knowledge about what comes after death creates fear and doubt.

Paragraph 4: Discuss what the soliloquy reveals about the character. In your discussion refer to examples and language features that reveal his or her motives and personality. E.g. Juliet’s soliloquy reveals how impatient she is to be with her new love Romeo. She repeatedly uses the imperative voice and personification to convey her desire.

Paragraphs 5 - 8: Discuss the key ideas/issues that are raised in this soliloquy and how the language features convey these ideas. E.g. Macbeth’s soliloquy in response to the death of his wife conveys the brevity of life and how it should not be wasted on blind ambition though the metaphor of a candle that can so easily be snuffed.

Paragraph 9: Conclude by stating your opinion of the soliloquy and what it reveals about human nature.

Assessment Task 1: Critical Response Student’s name: …………………………………………….

Achievement: Please Circle: E H S WT ND

Comment: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Performance Descriptor Marking Guidelines Excellent  Composes a sophisticated, coherent and clear critical response  Sophisticated understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquy  Sophisticated appreciation of the language features High  Composes an effective, coherent and clear critical response  Effective understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquy  Effective appreciation of the language features Satisfactory  Composes a sound and clear critical response  Sound understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquy  Sound appreciation of the language features Working towards  Composes a limited critical response  Limited understanding of the of the soliloquy  Limited reference to the language features Not demonstrated  Little or no attempt to compose a critical response  Little or no understanding of the of the soliloquy  Elementary or no reference to

the language features

Week 1: Drama terms Select 15 or 20 challenging drama words from the glossary. Word Look Cover Write

Total Correct:

Week 3: Performing Shakespeare “A poor player that frets and struts his hour upon the stage…” Content: Learning and teaching activities Quality teaching Learn to: Spelling – look, cover and write. Select synonyms Metalanguage 11.4 for the words you selected in week 2 from the soliloquies. Learn to: Lesson 1: The World of Theatre Connectedness: 2.4 In pairs, navigate through the Bell Shakespeare Connecting to the website. Read the notes on different productions of world of theatre Shakespearean plays, the role of a director, staging and performance a play, acting, costumes, make up and stage through a website design. As you will be performing a soliloquy make relevant notes from the website. Learn to: Lesson 2: Assessment Task 2: Performing a Deep knowledge: 2.6 Soliloquy The features of Select one of the soliloquies or a soliloquy from effective another Shakespearean play that you will be performance Learn performing for the class. We will be viewing the about: following performances and discussing and making 2.9 notes on what makes an effective performance: 5.8 - Brannagh as Iago: “I hate the Moor…” - Taylor as Cleopatra - Laurence Olivier as King Lear Learn to: Lessons 3 - 4: Assessment Task 2: Rehearsal of Student direction: 2.7 Soliloquy students selecting 5.2 Now that you have selected the soliloquy you will be soliloquy and the performing work with a partner. Try saying the style of words a number of ways paying close attention to performance the stresses in the lines and the purpose of the soliloquy. Deep understanding: Plan and discuss: demonstration of Learn - The character’s mood and intention appreciation how about: - Voice: pitch, pace and intonation language features 2.9 - Facial expressions and movement shape 5.8 - Props such as mood music, symbols, etc performance 5.12 - Costumes and make-up Connectedness: (See assessment task sheet and marking performing for an guidelines) audience

Learn Journal: Deep about: understanding: 11.20 Reflect on the soliloquy you have selected: reflection on the - Reasons for choosing it features of a - What motivates the character soliloquy

- The main ideas - How you will perform the soliloquy - Why you chose to perform it this way Assessment task 2: Performance of a Soliloquy

Outcomes: 1. A student responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and pleasure.

5. A student makes informed language choices to shape meaning with accuracy, clarity and coherence

Language modes: Reading & speaking

Nature of task: Select one of the soliloquies or a soliloquy from another Shakespearean play that you will be performing for the class. You will have two lessons in class for rehearsals – working on capturing the meaning of the words and how best to deliver the soliloquy.  Make sure that you have an understanding of the character’s personality, attitudes and motives, and try to capture these in your performance.  Your own interpretation of the how the soliloquy should be performed is valued. You do not have to mimic the traditional performance.  Use your voice and let it be heard! Stress the key words words, modulate your voice and convey a range of emotions.  Use facial expressions and body language to reinforce the emotions.  You could use music, props, costume or make-up.

Deep knowledge:  How language features convey tone, attitudes and feelings and shape dramatic delivery  The features of an effective dramatic performance

You will be assessed on how well you:  Demonstrate understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquies  Demonstrate appreciation of the language features and forms through performance  Perform for an audience  Interpret the feelings, ideas and attitude of the character

Date due: To be performed at the start of week 4

Assessment Task 2: Performance of a Soliloquy Student’s name: …………………………………………….

Comment: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Performance Descriptor Marking Guidelines Excellent  Sophisticated understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquies  Sophisticated appreciation of the language features and forms through performance  Sophisticated performance for an audience  Sophisticated interpretation of the feelings, ideas and attitude of the character High  Effective understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquies  Effective appreciation of the language features and forms through performance  Effective performance for an audience  Effective interpretation of the feelings, ideas and attitude of the character Satisfactory  Sound understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquies  Sound appreciation of the language features and forms through performance  Sound performance for an audience  Sound interpretation of the feelings, ideas and attitude of the character Working towards  Limited understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquies  Limited appreciation of the language features and forms through performance  Limited performance for an audience  Limited interpretation of the feelings, ideas and attitude of the character Not demonstrated  Elementary understanding of the key ideas of the soliloquies

 Little or no appreciation of the language features and forms through performance  Little or no evidence of an interpretation of the feelings, ideas and attitude of the character  Little or no evidence of performance 

Week 2: Spelling Select 15 or 20 challenging words from the Bell website. Word Look Cover Write

Total Correct:

Week 4 - 5: Performing Shakespeare “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.” The Tempest Content: Learning and teaching activities Quality teaching Learn to: Spelling – look, cover and write. Find 15-20 Metalanguage 11.4 adjectives that describe the feelings of the character whose soliloquy you are delivering. Learn to: Lessons 1 – 3: Assessment task 2: High expectations 2.7 Performance of Soliloquies 5.2 Learn Performances to commence at the start of the Connectedness: about: week. Students will be peer assessing performing for an 2.9 performances using the marking guidelines. audience 5.8 5.12 Learn to: Week 4 Lesson 4 – Week 5 lessons 1- 3: Deep 1.2 Assessment task 3: Composing a Soliloquy or understanding: 1.10 a short play extract demonstration of 2.4 Now that you have performed one of knowledge of the 2.6 Shakespeare’s soliloquies it is your turn to features of effective 2.7 compose an original drama text such as a drama 5.4 soliloquy or an extract from a play. The challenge 11.3 for this task is that you have to incorporate a line 11.9 from one of the soliloquies and/or a similar Higher-order situation and/or one of the characters in your thinking: modern text. Synthesising a variety of features We will be reading a script entitled to create an original “Shakespeare’s Whingers” that features a number script of his characters as inspiration and for fun.

Your script will be modernized with a modern Student direction: Learn setting targeting a teenage audience. choice of text and about: alternative task 1.12 You could work individually or with others. When offered 1.14 you have composed the soliloquy of play extract 5.9 you are required to explain in a 250-word 5.12 reflection what you were trying to achieve. 11.15

11.20 You have three lessons to work on this task in class. You can negotiate an alternative task.

(See marking guidelines and assessment sheet) Learn to: Week 5: Lesson 4 Background 11.11 Sharing of the original scripts, and class knowledge: Learn discussion about what we have learned about the revisiting key about: use of language in drama, and how language can concepts of the five 11.20 richly convey emotion and meaning. week unit

Assessment Task 3: Composing a Drama Text Outcomes to be assessed: 1. A student responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and pleasure. 2. A student uses a range of processes for responding to and composing texts. 5. A student makes informed language choices to shape meaning with accuracy, clarity and coherence 11. A student uses, reflects on and assesses individual and collaborative skills for learning

Nature of task: It is your turn to compose an original drama text such as a soliloquy or an extract from a play. The challenge for this task is that you have to incorporate a line from one of the soliloquies and/or a similar situation and/or one of the characters in your modern text. You could use Macbeth’s famous line “Out, out brief candle…” or transport Juliet to a school setting. The possibilities are endless and the genre is up to you: a comedy, a tragedy – you are the composer!

You will need to complete a CRITICAL REFLECTION in approximately 250 words that explains what you were aiming to achieve. Your reflection should include:  A description of the setting and the situation  A description of the character/s: personality, attitudes, relationships, etc  A discussion of the key issues or ideas you were trying to convey  A discussion of what you were trying to achieve with the choice of your language and dramatic features  The strengths and weaknesses of the text.

Deep knowledge:  How language features convey tone, attitudes, feelings and ideas  The features of an effective drama text

You will be assessed on how well you:  Compose a drama text for a modern teenage audience  Integrate the Shakespearian aspect into the drama text  Reflect on and assess your drama text

Alternative tasks: Instead of composing a drama text you could:  Sketch the costume/s for a drama text linking the design to the Shakespearean aspect you are including  Design a stage setting: backdrops, props, etc linking it to the Shakespearean aspect you are including  Free choice negotiated with the teacher.

Assessment Task 3: Composing a Drama Text

Student Name: ………………………………………

Comment: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………

Performance Descriptor Marking Guidelines Excellent  Sophisticated use of language to engage a teenage audience  Sophisticated integration of the Shakespearian aspect  Sophisticated and perceptive reflection on and assessment of the drama text High  Effective use of language to engage a teenage audience  Effective integration of the Shakespearian aspect  Effective and thoughtful reflection on and assessment of the drama text Satisfactory  Sound use of language to engage a teenage audience  Sound integration of the Shakespearian aspect  Sound reflection on and assessment of the drama text Working towards  Limited use of language to engage a teenage audience

 Limited integration of the Shakespearian aspect  Limited reflection on and assessment of the drama text Not demonstrated  Little or no attempt to compose a script that would engage an audience

Shakespeare’s Soliloquies Hamlet To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin1? who would fardels2 bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. - Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons3 Be all my sins remember'd. Act III, Scene i

Macbeth

Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee:-- I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going; And such an instrument I was to use. Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, Or else worth all the rest: I see thee still; And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before.--There's no such thing: It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes.--Now o'er the one half-world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtain'd sleep; now witchcraft celebrates

1 A dagger with a slender blade 2 burdens 3 prayers

Pale Hecate4's offerings; and wither'd murder, Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, With Tarquin's5 ravishing strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost.--Thou sure and firm-set earth, Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear Thy very stones prate of my whereabout, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it.--Whiles I threat, he lives; Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.

[A bell rings.]

I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell. (2.1)

Macbeth

She should have died hereafter;

There would have been a time for such a word,

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more; it is a tale

4 Greek Goddess of the crossroads and later referred to as goddess of the dead and queen of the witches. 5 Estruscan king who killed to be ruler of Rome.

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing. (5.5.16)

Othello

It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,-- Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!-- It is the cause. Yet I'll not shed her blood; Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men. Put out the light, and then put out the light: If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore, Should I repent me: but once put out thy light, Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature, I know not where is that Promethean6 heat That can thy light relume. When I have pluck'd the rose, 6 Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to mortals

I cannot give it vital growth again. It must needs wither: I'll smell it on the tree.

Kissing her

Ah balmy breath, that dost almost persuade Justice to break her sword! One more, one more. Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee, And love thee after. One more, and this the last: So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep, But they are cruel tears: this sorrow's heavenly; It strikes where it doth love. She wakes. (5.2)

Romeo & Juliet

JULIET Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, Towards Phoebus7' lodging: such a wagoner As Phaethon8 would whip you to the west, And bring in cloudy night immediately. Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, That runaway's eyes may wink and Romeo Leap to these arms, untalk'd of and unseen. Lovers can see to do their amorous rites By their own beauties; or, if love be blind, It best agrees with night. Come, civil night, Thou sober-suited matron, all in black, And learn me how to lose a winning match, Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods: Hood my unmann'd blood, bating in my cheeks, With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown bold, Think true love acted simple modesty. Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night; For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night Whiter than new snow on a raven's back. Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow'd night, Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars,

7 Lived near the sun – associated with Apollo 8 Drove his father’s chariot across the sky and fell

And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun. O, I have bought the mansion of a love, But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold, Not yet enjoy'd: so tedious is this day As is the night before some festival To an impatient child that hath new robes And may not wear them. O, here comes my nurse, And she brings news; and every tongue that speaks But Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence. (3.2)

ROMEO In faith, I will. Let me peruse this face. Mercutio's kinsman, noble County Paris! What said my man, when my betossed soul Did not attend him as we rode? I think He told me Paris should have married Juliet: Said he not so? or did I dream it so? Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet, To think it was so? O, give me thy hand, One writ with me in sour misfortune's book! I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave; A grave? O no! a lantern, slaughter'd youth, For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes This vault a feasting presence full of light. Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd.

Laying PARIS in the tomb

How oft when men are at the point of death Have they been merry! which their keepers call A lightning before death: O, how may I Call this a lightning? O my love! my wife! Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty: Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, And death's pale flag is not advanced there. Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet? O, what more favour can I do to thee, Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain To sunder his that was thine enemy? Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet, Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe That unsubstantial death is amorous, And that the lean abhorred monster keeps Thee here in dark to be his paramour? For fear of that, I still will stay with thee; And never from this palace of dim night

Depart again: here, here will I remain With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here Will I set up my everlasting rest, And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss A dateless bargain to engrossing death! Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide! Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark! Here's to my love! O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. (5.3)

Shakespearean Sleuths

Using the images, the three clues and the three to four quotes from the original play see if your group can predict the following information:  The story-line of the play  A description of the character and his or her motivations, attitudes, personality, and strengths and weaknesses.

Suspect 1: Macbeth

Clues: 1. A brave, ambitious warrior 2. Three witches and an equally ambitious wife 3. A trusting, noble king

Quotes: 1. “All hail Macbeth, that shall be king hereafter” 2. “Fair and noble hostess we are your guests tonight.” 3. “Is this a dagger I see before me?”

Suspect 2: Hamlet

Clues: 1. Young prince returns from university to find his father has died and his mother has married his uncle. 2. Ghost appears before Hamlet. 3. Hamlet is rude and offensive to girlfriend Ophelia.

Quotes: 1. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” 2. “The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown.” 3. “Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” 4. “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince…”

Suspect 3: Othello

Clues: 1. Highly decorated black soldier marries young, white Venetian 2. Young, inexperienced noble soldier made lieutenant over older, more experienced, merchant class Venetian. 3. Isolated setting on the island of Cyprus – a military outpost.

Quotes: 1. “She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd, And I loved her that she did pity them.” 2. “The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so…” 3. “Work on, My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught…” 4. “then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely but too well…”

Suspects 4 & 5: Romeo & Juliet

Clues: 1. Love at first sight for two young lovers. 2. Family feuds and love do not mix. 3. Passion and acting without thinking can have grave consequences.

Quotes: 1. “A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life...” 2. “Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night…” 3. “These violent delights have violent ends..”

Shakespeare’s Whingers

Set in a bar with a piano man FESTE Come away, come away, death, And in sad cypress let me be laid; Fly away, fly away breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, O, prepare it! My part of death, no one so true Did share it. Not a flower, not a flower sweet

On my black coffin let there be strown; Not a friend, not a friend greet My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown: A thousand thousand sighs to save, Lay me, O, where Sad true lover never find my grave, To weep there!

JAQUES Sing it: 'tis no matter how it be in tune, so it make noise enough. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. O that I were a fool! I am ambitious for a motley coat. Even by the squandering glances of the fool. Invest me in my motley; give me leave To speak my mind, and I will through and through Cleanse the foul body of the infected world, If they will patiently receive my medicine.

ANTONIO Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue!

JAQUES A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' the forest, A motley fool; a miserable world! As I do live by food, I met a fool Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun, And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms, In good set terms and yet a motley fool.

'Good morrow, fool,' quoth I. 'No, sir,' quoth he, 'Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me fortune:'

ANTONIO He misses not much.

JAQUES Here comes a pair of very strange beasts, which in all tongues are called fools.

MALVOLIO Fool, there was never a man so notoriously abused: I am as well in my wits, fool, as thou art.

IAGO O, sir, content you; I follow him to serve my turn upon him: We cannot all be masters, nor all masters Cannot be truly follow'd. You shall mark Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave, That, doting on his own obsequious bondage, Wears out his time, much like his master's ass, For nought but provender, and when he's old, cashier'd: Whip me such honest knaves.

MALVOLIO I say, this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell; and I say, there was never man thus abused. I am no more mad than you are: make the trial of it in any constant question.

IAGO Despise me, if I do not. Three great ones of the city, In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,

Off-capp'd to him: and, by the faith of man, I know my price, I am worth no worse a place: But he; as loving his own pride and purposes, Evades them, with a bombast circumstance Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war; And, in conclusion, Nonsuits my mediators; for, 'Certes,' says he, 'I have already chose my officer.' I hate the Moor: And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets He has done my office: I know not if't be true; But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, Will do as if for surety. He holds me well; The better shall my purpose work on him.

ANTONIO My strong imagination sees a crown Dropping upon thy head.

MALVOLIO Go, hang yourselves all! you are idle shallow things: I am not of your element: you shall know more hereafter. I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you.

IAGO Demand me nothing: what you know, you know: From this time forth I never will speak word.

PROSPERO Silence! one word more Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. I will plague them all, Even to roaring.

JAQUES I prithee, pretty youth, let me be better acquainted with thee.

PROSPERO The hour's now come; The very minute bids thee ope thine ear; Obey and be attentive. My brother, call'd Antonio-- I pray thee, mark me--that a brother should Be so perfidious!--he whom next thyself Of all the world I loved and to him put The manage of my state He being thus lorded, Not only with what my revenue yielded, But what my power might else exact.

JAQUES You have a nimble wit: I think 'twas made of Atalanta's heels. Will you sit down with me? and we two will rail against our mistress the world and all our misery.

PROSPERO That I am Prospero and that very duke Which was thrust forth of Milan We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd; Bear with my weakness; my, brain is troubled: Be not disturb'd with my infirmity

JAQUES I have neither the scholar's melancholy, which is emulation, nor the musician's, which is fantastical, nor the courtier's, which is proud, nor the soldier's, which is ambitious, nor the lawyer's, which is politic, nor the lady's, which is nice, nor the lover's, which is all these: but it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects, and indeed the sundry's contemplation of my travels, in which my often rumination wraps me m a most humorous sadness. I thank you for your company; but, good faith, I had as lief have been myself alone.

FESTE When that I was and a little tiny boy, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, A foolish thing was but a toy, For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man's estate, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain. 'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate, For the rain, it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain. By swaggering could I never thrive, For the rain, it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain. With toss-pots still had drunken heads, For the rain, it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain. But that's all one, our play is done, And we'll strive to please you every day.

Drama Glossary http://highered.mcgraw- hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/drama_glossary.html Allegory A symbolic narrative in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning. Allegory often takes the form of a story in which the characters represent moral qualities.

Alliteration The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words. Example: “Richmond River students perform to rave reviews.”

Antagonist A character or force against which another character struggles.

Aside Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play.

Assonance The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or prose, as in "I rose and told him of my woe."

Catharsis The purging of the feelings of pity and fear that, according to Aristotle, occur in the audience of tragic drama. The audience experiences catharsis at the end of the play, following the catastrophe.

Chorus A group of characters in Greek tragedy (and in later forms of drama), who comment on the action of a play without participation in it.

Climax The turning point of the action in the plot of a play. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work.

Comedy A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the better. In comedy, things work out happily in the end, such as in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Comic relief The use of a comic scene to interrupt a succession of intensely tragic dramatic moments. The comedy of scenes offering comic relief typically parallels the tragic action that the scenes interrupt.

Complication An intensification of the conflict in a story or play. Complication builds up, accumulates, and develops the primary or central conflict in a literary work.

Conflict A struggle between opposing forces in a story or play, usually resolved by the end of the work. The conflict may occur within a character as well as between characters.

Convention A customary feature of a literary work, such as the use of a chorus in Greek tragedy, the inclusion of an explicit moral in a fable.

Denouement The resolution of the plot of a literary work.

Dialogue The conversation of characters in a literary work.

Dramatic monologue The speaker addresses a silent listener.

Exposition The first stage of a fictional or dramatic plot, in which necessary background information is provided.

Foil A character who contrasts and parallels the main character in a play.

Foot A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables. For example, an iamb or iambic foot is represented by ˘', that is, an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one. Frost's line "Whose woods these are I think I know" contains four iambs, and is thus an iambic foot.

Foreshadowing Hints of what is to come in the action of a play.

Gesture The physical movement of a character during a play. Gesture is used to reveal character, and may include facial expressions as well as movements of other parts of an actor's body.

Dramatic Irony A character speaks in ignorance of a situation or event known to the audience or to the other characters.

Onomatopoeia The use of words to imitate the sounds they describe. Words such as buzz and crack are onomatopoetic.

Pathos A quality of a play's action that stimulates the audience to feel pity for a character. Pathos is always an aspect of tragedy, and may be present in comedy as well.

Props Articles or objects that appear on stage during a play.

Protagonist The main character of a literary work.

Resolution The sorting out or unraveling of a plot at the end of a play.

Rising action A set of conflicts and crises that constitute the part of a play's or story's plot leading up to the climax.

Setting The time and place of a literary work that establish its context.

Simile A figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or as though. An example: "My love is like a red, red rose."

Soliloquy A speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage. If there are no other characters present, the soliloquy represents the character thinking aloud.

Stage direction A playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers (and actors) with information about the dialogue, setting, and action of a play.

Staging The spectacle a play presents in performance, including the position of actors on stage, the scenic background, the props and costumes, and the lighting and sound effects.

Symbol An object or action in a literary work that means more than itself, that stands for something beyond itself.

Tragedy A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the worse.

Understatement A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker says less than what he or she means; the opposite of exaggeration.

Resources:

Bell Shakespeare, http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/education2006/ . Accessed November 2005.

In search of Shakespeare: Elementary, My Dear Shakespeare, PBS. www.pbs.org/ shakespeare / educators/elementary/indepth.html. Accessed November 2005.

Karen Yager Richmond River