HI FRIENDS !! WELCOME TO THE SECTION “WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE” . As we all know , reading Shakespeare can sometimes seem tough especially when it is being taught to students for whom English is a second language. At that time reading, understanding , retaining and recalling dramas of Shakespeare can be a hard task to master. Today we will learn some methods by which reading and teaching Shakespeare will become interesting and great lot of fun. The following activities can be done by English Teachers for the students of middle school, secondary or senior secondary schools.
- CREATING WORDLES–— Create wordles of Shakespearean dramas and characters using sites like http://worditout.com or http://www.wordle.net or by creating accounts on infogram. This is easy, interesting and requires knowledge of just essential keywords . But it really helps you to memorize the characters, theme, important setting of drama in the most colourful way. Besides creating Word clouds you may also generate pictographs and bargraphs on these sites.
2) SHAKESPEARE LIBRIVOX RECORDINGS AUDIO BOOKS—- Listening to Shakespeare Librivox recordings audio books online can be a fun filled activity for students and learners . This website helps to listen and download Shakespearean sonnets, plays, characters and many articles written about Shakespeare. The link is available here. http://librivox.org
3) CREATING SHAKESPEAREAN DICTIONARY — After teaching a Shakespearean play like ‘Macbeth’ or ‘Merchant of Venice’ or ‘All’s well that ends well’ etc. the teacher can give an interesting task to the students. Students can be told to create a Shakespearean dictionary using word and meanings given in the play book. If two or three Shakespearean plays have been taught the students can be instructed to prepare a dictionary using words from all the plays taught. This can be complex and time taking but is absolutely worth it and enriching. The Shakespearean dictionary can be colorful and full of pictures and images too.
4) CREATING A QUIZ WITH SHAKESPEAREAN CHARACTERS–– To increase interest in Shakespearean dramas, the teacher can create mind-boggling quizzes based on Shakespearean characters. I had created crossword puzzle for the drama ‘Merchant of Venice’ in this blog. Please click on this link to see the quiz.
5) SCAFFOLDING-– The term ‘Scaffolding’ actually means helping a student to attain his goal. This activity includes the reading of a long speech of a Shakespearean drama. The teacher helps the student to pronounce and read a long speech and thereafter there is a whole class choral reading of a long speech. The teacher should teach correct pronunciation, intonation, stress and pauses to the students.
‘The Quality of mercy is not strained’ ( LONG SPEECH BY PORTIA from “The Merchant of Venice”.)
“The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
’Tis mightiest in the mightiest:
it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.”
( Portia, ‘The quality of mercy is not strained’ speech from The Merchant of Venice).
LONG SPEECH FROM SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA ‘HAMLET’
‘To be, or not to be’ soliloquy.
“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…”
6) PHRASES COINED BY SHAKESPEARE— One of the interesting ways to teach Shakespearean dramas is to make students learn various precious phrases of dramas. It can be done by flash card methods or icecream sticks method . A phrase can be written on one side of flash card and on the other side the name of the play is written. Students can be told to identify the drama in which a phrase has been used. Students can also be given the task to prepare a chart paper of different phrases in a particular drama or 2-3 dramas. There are a number of precious phrases given by Shakespeare that are still popular and in vogue.
EXAMPLES–
(i) Wear my heart upon my sleeve
To expose my feelings, be vulnerable
(OTHELLO)
(ii) Jealousy is the green-eyed monster
Envy is so strong that it makes the envious person sick
(OTHELLO)
(iii) Good riddance–
Happy to get rid of someone or something
(Troilus and Cressida)
(iv) Heart of gold
A person who has a generous and kind heart
( Henry V)
(v) All that glitters is not gold –
Everything that looks shiny and bright is not precious
(The Merchant of Venice )
(vi) Love is blind –
This phrase was coined by Shakespeare to mean that lovers tend to overlook follies when they are in love with each other.
(Merchant of Venice)
7) SHOWING CLIPS FROM MOVIES BASED ON SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA-– There are a number of movies available on internet that is based on popular Shakespearean dramas– Shakespeare in love, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Taming of shrew, She’s the man, Much Ado about nothing, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night etc. Some clips from these movies can be shown to the students while teaching the drama to them. It will both entertain as well as educate them.
8) Multiple characters scaffolding — The teacher can make students work with partners to rehearse dialogues and to create small scenes from the play in small groups . The teacher can scaffold them to deliver and learn dialogues and enact.
9) ROLE ENACTION BY TEACHER-– The teacher can also teach and entertain students by enacting different roles in Shakespearean dramas .Also take care of the correct pronunciation, gestures and voice modulation while reading out the dialogues from the dramas.
10) LAURA BATES – SHAKESPEARE SAVED MY LIFE--For more than 25 years, Laura Bates (A female Professor ) has worked in Indiana state prisons as a volunteer and as a professor of English literature. She created the world’s first Shakespeare program in Supermax—the long-term solitary confinement unit. Her work has been featured in local and national media, including two segments on MSNBC-TV’s Lock Up. She is the author of “Shakespeare Saved My Life”: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard (Sourcebooks, 2013).(TEDx UCLA)
Laura Bates offered to teach Shakespeare in Indiana prison to prisoners. She says that Shakespearean dramas have transformative powers and deep effect on prisoners .
Laura Bates talks about her experience in her new book Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard. She speaks with host Michel Martin.
‘Shakespeare Saved My Life’ tries to search for meaning in life, the struggles that complicate the path to triumph and the salvation that can be found in Shakespearean literature’s great works.
Shakespeare professor and prison volunteer Laura found that Shakespearean literature, life lessons, characters and its moral values were in deep touch with real life incidents and people and it had profound effect on the prisoners .
Students can be told to read about Laura Bates and her book ‘ Shakespeare saved my life’ to understand the importance of Shakespearean literature.