Renaissance lesson7: A Midsummer Night's dream

What do you know about
William Shakespeare?
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Slide 1: Woordweb
EngelsMiddelbare schoolvwoLeerjaar 5

In deze les zitten 22 slides, met interactieve quizzen, tekstslides en 3 videos.

time-iconLesduur is: 45 min

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What do you know about
William Shakespeare?

Slide 1 - Woordweb

Shakespeare's Comedies (p. 30)
  • comic reversal (omkering): the characters are placed in circumstances where they have to reverse social roles. 
  • all characters have (minor) faults
  • Prominent themes: love, sex, relationships between man and wife
  • they usually end in a wedding
  • Best known comedy: A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Slide 2 - Tekstslide

Slide 3 - Tekstslide

Slide 4 - Video

Slide 5 - Tekstslide

Magical creatures
  • Trolls, Witches, Fairies - 16th-century lore (overlevering)

  • They can be the object of mischief (ellende) or they can sometimes be helpful

  • At the beginning of the play, Titania and Oberon are fighting over a changeling boy. This might remind you of stories about fairies kidnapping babies

  • Fairy folk and woodland creatures exist in many stories around the world.  

Slide 6 - Tekstslide

Plot summary

Slide 7 - Tekstslide

The end of the story
  • This play is full of couples - and some of them are not very happy.
  • However, in the end, with a bit of help from the fairies, everything is sorted out.
  • If you are thinking of pretty creatures with wings and magic wands, think again. Shakespeare's fairies argue and fight as much, if not more than human beings - and they are not above playing some nasty tricks. 
  • But as Puck says when he apologizes to the audience at the end, it is probably best not to take all this too seriously. Perhaps it was all a dream...

Slide 8 - Tekstslide

Puck changes the actor Bottom's head in that of a:
A
dog
B
cat
C
horse
D
donkey

Slide 9 - Quizvraag

How does the play end?
A
Everybody loves the right person
B
Everybody loves the wrong person
C
Oberon falls in love with Helena
D
Oberon falls in love with Hermia

Slide 10 - Quizvraag

A Midsummer Night's Dream is
A
a sonnet
B
a comedy
C
a historical play
D
a tragedy

Slide 11 - Quizvraag

Alquin questions page 32

Slide 12 - Tekstslide

Question 1 
You don't have to answer this one because the answer is right here!
Why are the violets described as 'nodding'? 
answer: the nodding violets create a picture of them being disturbed by a gentle summer breeze and thus helps to make the spot sound idyllic.



Slide 13 - Tekstslide

Question 2: In this short passage Shakespeare appeals to various senses. Which?
  • Sight: you will see all the beautiful things described. Smell and possibly taste: you can smell the wild thyme, and you may wish to taste some; the other wild flowers all have strong and attractive scents.
  • Touch: there is a gentle summer breeze that you will feel; the bank will be like a soft warm bed, and you are likely to feel snug under the covering of plants.
  • Hearing: under the canopy, it is likely to be sheltered and quiet, but you will presumably hear the breeze

Slide 14 - Tekstslide

3. If you could choose to play a part in this play, which one would it be, and why?

Slide 15 - Open vraag

4. Name the three different storylines in the play.
A
The Athenians, the craftsmen, the fairies
B
The musicians, the gods, the lovers
C
The people of Crete, the craftsmen, the magicians
D
The Athenians, the gods, the fairies

Slide 16 - Quizvraag

Question 4 explained
The three worlds that meet in the wood are: 
  • The world of the Athenian aristocracy, involving Theseus, king of Athens, and his courtiers
  • The world of the fairies, represented by Oberon, Titania, Puck and the others
  • The world of the ordinary working people, in the form of Bottom (the weaver) and his friends rehearsing their play.

Slide 17 - Tekstslide

5. What is the significance of the setting in terms of facilitating the events portrayed? 
  • The play is set outside the city in a large wood. 
  • As such, it is outside the rules and laws of ordered society, in a wild environment where nature (and its magic) prevails, rather than mankind.

Slide 18 - Tekstslide

6. What is the basis of the three marriages that take place at the end?
A
Lust
B
True love
C
Money
D
Power

Slide 19 - Quizvraag



The end, thank you for your answers!

Slide 20 - Tekstslide

Slide 21 - Video

Slide 22 - Video