Shakespeare's life, plays, sonnets and Macbeth

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 5

SHAKESPEARE - STILL COOL TODAY?

      MACBETH 

           & 

SOME SONNETS

You are going to start with a video presentation on Shakespeare's life, his plays and the sonnets. While watching you will need to answer a few questions. GOOD LUCK!

Public acceptance to spelling reform has been consistently low, at least since the early 19th century, when spelling was codified by the influential English dictionaries of Samuel Johnson (1755) and Noah Webster (1806). The irregular spelling of very common words, such as is, are, have, done and of makes it difficult to fix them without introducing a noticeable change to the appearance of English text.

01:12

What town do you need to visit if you want to learn more about Shakespeare?

1. London
2. Stratford Upon Avon
3. Newquay

01:31

Which play belongs in the 'niche' category?

1. King Lear
2. Othello
3. Hamlet
4. Julius Caesar

01:51

In what century did they fix the spelling? (So one common spelling everyone had to stick to?)

1. 16th
2. 17th
3. 18th
4. 19th

Public acceptance to spelling reform has been consistently low, at least since the early 19th century, when spelling was codified by the influential English dictionaries of Samuel Johnson (1755) and Noah Webster (1806). The irregular spelling of very common words, such as is, are, have, done and of makes it difficult to fix them without introducing a noticeable change to the appearance of English text.

02:17

Why would people
assume Shakespeare was rich?

02:56

Shakespeare was not very rich and yet he obviously knew a lot about the world. How come people believe he must have been really smart?

1. He disappeared for a few years and people supposed he travelled around the world.
2. He was booksmart. An unusual trait for a 'simple' writer.
3. He had friends from all walks of life and learned a great deal from them.

03:39

What dynasty did Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots descend from?

1. House of Tudor
2. House of Lancaster
3. House of York
4. House of Stuart

04:19

Which is a bloody mary?

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

04:57

Which pastime was a favourite in Shakespeare's day?

05:55

How come young men and not older men tended to play the female roles?

1. They were smaller.
2. They had enough spare time.
3. Their voices were higher.
4. The boys' schools performed the plays.

06:50

What 3 genres did Shakespeare write?

07:34

The people with the cheapest tickets were seriously out of luck sometimes: not only did they have to stand but ...

1. sometimes the play took hours
2. they were required to participate in the play
3. they were sometimes used as props

08:51

If modern English is the English used from 1500 up to now ... then what were the previous periods called?

1. Gaelic and Chaucer
2. ScanEnglish and Frenglish
3. Old Norse and Old French
4. Old English and Middle English

09:21

What does the expression 'the lady doth protest too much, methinks' mean?

1. The character is too cheeky.
2. The character is making up a weak excuse.
3. The character speaks too gravely.
4. The character is talking out of turn.

10:03

Make a sentence with as many Shakespearean lines or words as you can.

10:03

https:

10:13

What does the quote 'If it's a square, it's a sonnet' refer to?

11:49

The sonnet can also be divided in half. The first two quatrains are called ...

1. stanza
2. octet
3. verse
4. sestet

11:49

The final six lines in a sonnet are called ...

1. stanza
2. octet
3. verse
4. sestet

13:02

If that sonnet had been written about you ... would you have been flattered? Explain.

NOW YOU TRY

* can you recognise a sonnet?

* can you make your own sonnet?

Watch the video and determine whether it is a sonnet.

This is one of Shakespeare's sonnets turned into a rap. 

Watch and learn.

CHALLENGE
Option 1) Turn a sonnet into a rap. Record it.
Option 2) Write a dialogue that conveys the same as the sonnet.
Read out the dialogue and record it.
Option 3) Write your own sonnet and record it.

Shakespeare's Macbeth is also referred to as:

1. His BEST play
2. The one where everyone gets killed
3. The Scottish play
4. The Bloody Play

Scottish play = because it was cursed

 John Green will briefly explain the plot and will provide some interesting details on Macbeth.

00:12

What? Wait a minute ... the Bard's play?

1. Yup, more superstition
2. Ah ... the bearded guy you mean ...
3. Right ... wasn't he a member of the Bard?
4. Yes, the Bard ... i.e. Shakespeare, duh

00:24

In one word this play is ...

1. sad
2. violent
3. exciting
4. comic

02:40

Event 1

Event 2

Event 3

Event 4

Event 5

Event 6

3 Witches say: MacBeth will become Thane of Cawdor 

MacDuff made the woods come alive and wasn't born out of a woman

Lady MacBeth went insane and killed herself

Banquo and Macbeth talk to 3 witches

Banquo's sons are in danger

Macbeth fails kills Duncan.

12:04

TRUE

FALSE

The witches are out to cause trouble.

Supernatural elements were put in the play to flatter king James.

The killing of kings is always a touchy subject - goes against divine rights etc. 

Macbeth is based on historical events.

Macbeth  is a Tragedy + History play.

Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare

MacDuff was not born of a woman and made the woods come alive

This play was the start of reallife witchhunts.

The dagger symbolises divine permission.

The play explores the difficulty of fate vs choice.

A = false: it's the belief in the prophecies that did the damage - Macbeth acting on it. His actions are his choice, not the witches'. 

D = there are historical elements but he took quite a few liberties (partly to appease his patron).

F = that's like an ongoing debate. Perhaps Middleton helped write Macbeth. (Max. 100 lines if that were indeed the case.)

Do you want or need to know more about Macbeth? Check out the next two slides.

https:

Macbeth plot overview

Are you up for some questions about two sonnets? Answer the questions on the next slide. 

Extra challenge

Take a picture of your answers to the six questions. a) Read sonnet 116 and paraphrase.
b) Do the same with sonnet 147.
c) Why would these sonnets often be linked?
d) What are the main differences between these sonnets? (quote lines)
e) What are the similarities? (illustrate)
f) Which sonnet do you prefer? Why?

Want to watch the first video without all those questions? Be my guest: 

You are an editor or producer. How do you keep a genius writer from becoming boring and too extensive? Watch the video and find out.

1. How does the director try to convince Shakespeare that it really is for the best to start cutting? 
2. What does he call Shakespeare?
3. What quote does Atkinson ridicule? Why would he say that it is 'jibberish'?
4. What 'helpful' suggestions does he make?
5. In which of the three categories would you put Hamlet?

Dissing your English teacher by throwing Shakespeare at him. Watch and learn.

On the next slide, you can find a link to the google form with sentences coined by Shakespeare.

https:

Remember:
Do one
of the
tasks.

On the next slide you can find some Shakespeare trivia quizzes.

https: