The case for the defence...

Hold a trial for the main character of the play if he is a tragic hero or the antagonist.  In the case of Romeo and Juliet an inquest could be held.

Students take on the parts of the judge, lawyers for the defence and prosecution  (a coroner is required for Romeo and Juliet) and also the parts of the surviving characters.  Each one prepares their role.  Teachers may wish to create a set of cue cards and prompts to help students prepare.  When they have done this they can then hold the trial to explore the guilt of the characters involved and the way each character has their own part to play in the outcome.

Encourage learners to use quotes from the play.

Antagonist Cleudo

In drama an antagonist is the chief opponent of the hero. 

Just like the game Cleudo identify the antagonist in the play that is being studied by saying who the antagonist is, where they appear in the play and how they work against the main character. 

Students should also list the reasons why they think the antagonist behaves against the main character of the play.  They could rank these in order of priority.

Character questions

Divide learners into small groups or pairs.  Each group is to answer the four questions below about a specific character in the play that they are studying.  This information should be recorded as a poster.

1. What function does the character have in the plot?
2. What beliefs and values do you associate with this character?
3.  How do you, the audience, respond to this character and why?
4.  How does Shakespeare create the character?  You should prompt learners by running through the questions before starting them off on the task to give them a chance to understand the importance of inter-relationships (what other characters say), what the character says, what the character does, themes and imagery etc.

Feed back. 

Then each student should write a paragraph about their character beginning I sympathise with....because or I do not sympathise with.... because....

Remind students to use PEA or PQD to structure their paragraph - PEA - point, evidence, assessment.
                                                                                                   - PQD -point, quote, development

Parallel plots

Often the principle characters have a parallel in one or more of the minor characters. 

Create a chart identifying any parallels of plot or situation between the major and minor characters in the play that your students are studying- having first checked that there are parallels to be explored.  Identify key relationships, events and interactions.  This could be done as a flow diagram or as a series of story boards.

Once learners have done this ask them to consider how it helps them to understand the principle characters better?  Why do they think that Shakespeare has these parallels?

Unauthorised biography

Write an unauthorised biography of the principle character of the play being studied.  As a preliminary discuss the sorts of things that sell newspapers and unauthorised biographies.  Talk also about the sort of information that appears on the web about celebrities.  Then ask students to think about the things they could write about the principle character and the slant that it could be given.  This could be done as a mind map exercise or a snowball exercise (1 minute working solo, 2 minutes in pairs to compare and five minutes in small groups to check responses, build and feedback to one another).  Ask them to consider language, include quotes to make it more persuasive etc.


It should take at least a session because the biography will need to be drafted, edited and polished.

Then ask them to write a letter from the principle character responding to the unauthorised autobiography- this should present their viewpoint and also demonstrate an understanding of their character.

Ana what? A look at anagnorisis

Anagnorisis is a Greek word meaning recognition.  It refers to a moment in a play when truth is discovered by the characters.  Anagnorisis means that characters are forced to look at events in new and uncomfortable ways.  The audience, of course, has known the truth all along so they can sit and watch the reactions of the character.  Anagnorisis occurs towards the end of act 5.

Explain what anagnorisis is.  Ask students if the play they have been studying has such a moment?  What is the impact on the characters and on the audience reaction to them.  For example there is a moment in Othello when Othello realises that he has been spurred by jealousy and killed Desdemona- who is innocent and the love of his life.  Despite the fact that he has killed her the audience still feels some sympathy.  The same moment of truth can occur in comedy.  For example when Viola, in Twelfth Night, removes her disguise Orsino has a rather unexpected new understanding of events.

In pairs ask them to think of an event that they are happy to discuss in their own lives where a new piece of information or turn of events has revealed a truth.  How did they feel about discovering this truth?  How did their perceptions change and the way they related to the people involved.  Briefly feedback the emotions of shock etc- then ask how Shakespeare shows this in the play they are studying.

Now ask students to write two or three paragraphs about the character(s) to whom the truth has been revealed.  The first paragraphs should be a summary of the character's thoughts and emotions to the moment of anagnorisis and the final paragraph should be about the moment of revelation and how the character's view of events and themselves changes and also about the way that the audience then feels about the character (s).

Remind them to use PEA- point, evidence and assessment or if you prefer PQD point, quote, development.

Allusion

An allusion is a passing reference in a work of literature to other works of literature, myth, legend- even history.  This introduces comparisons, contrasts, parallels and widens the frame of reference- readers or viewers can make links so that the thing that they are reading or watching becomes more easily placed or readily understood.

Shakespeare makes use of history, the Bible, classical legends and gods etc.  This will need to be explained to the learners.  Take them through a scene that makes use of allusion.  Discuss in detail or do a jigsaw exercise providing an explanation for the allusion and how it fits to the plot, the character and the themes.

Ask them to discuss the kind of books, papers, stories, films that everyone knows about these days.  Mind map the results.  Ask students to consider how topical and cultural references that they understand make books, films etc easier to understand.  Then ask them to change the Shakespearean scene so that it contains modern allusions with which a modern audience would immediately engage.

Shakespeare abridged

During the Victorian period Shakespeare plays were abridged by Thomas Bowdler ( he gave the English language the verb to bowdlerise meaning to abridge. This verb is often not used in a very positive way) so that the content would be suitable for children and respectable women.  Which bits of the Shakespeare play you are studying do you think Bowdler edited out?  And why? 

What do you think the consequences of this abridgement would be on the play?


Create a version of the story suitable for children.  It is up to the student to decide on the best way to present the story- in prose, as a graphic novel, cartoon or even animated film.  Talk about language change and what the important themes might be. 

Shakespearian superinjunctions

Identify the characters who have secrets in the play your students are studying?  What would their injunction forbid the world from finding out?

Who would out them and why?

Create a news broadcast for the radio revealing the above facts with discussion as to the consequences.

Discuss why its important for the audience of a Shakespeare play to have an overview and insight into why characters behave the way that they do.

Minor character viewpoint

Tell the story from the point of view of a minor character.

First to find...

Draw up a list of language based questions- these could be themes, similes, metaphors, alliteration etc.  Divide the class into teams and then provide them with one question at a time.  The team who finds an example first and is able to explain how their example demonstrates the use of language you have requested gets the point.  First team to ten points wins.

Magazine article.

Identify a theme that runs through the Shakespeare play that your students are studying.  Ask them to write a magazine article on that particular theme that would be of use to one of the characters in the play if they were to read the article e.g. an article entitled 'Guilt, how to spot and manage it' would probably be a useful article for Lady Macbeth to read or 'What role does fate play in your life' would probably be an interesting article for Juliet.

More able students will be able to discuss the theme and include appropriate quotes from the text as well as writing in the style of a magazine article. 

Persuasive writing from magazines to speeches

Use an assortment of materials including one of Shakespeare's persuasive speeches (e.g. Mark Antony's speech beginning 'Friends, Romans...'), an article in a magazine that seems to entertain but which has a secondary persuasive purpose, Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream speech' and adverts for example.

Explain that we often communicate to persuade people.  Some persuasive writing is very obvious e.g. the advertisement but sometimes persuasive writing can be more subtle.  The primary purpose may be to entertain and the secondary purpose is to persuade. 

Ask students to make a mind map or list the ways in which writers persuade their readers or listeners that their viewpoint is the right one.  The information can be presented as a table if you wish so that students can then see that although the forms may be different that the techniques remain the same e.g. lists of three, rhetorical questions, involving the audience, quotations from authority figures, statistics, repetition, alliteration etc.

Agony Aunt

Select the appropriate pages from assorted magazines.  Discuss the way that people write about their problems and the kind of responses given by the agony aunt or uncle.  This could be done as a traditional comprehension followed by a discussion.

Look also at the format of letters and their layout.

Ask students to write a letter to an agony aunt from a character of their choice.

Once they have completed their letters, redistribute them around the class room.  Students must now take on the role of the agony aunt or uncle and write a response giving their opinions and advice.

Headline events

Explore the language of headlines in tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. Discuss also the way in which electronic media is changing the way that we get news (e.g. tweets and newsfeeds.)

Provide students with an assortment of headlines. Ask students to identify the way headlines are composed to draw attention to stories, consider also font and layout. What do the different forms have in common, how are they different.  This can be done as a table.  Time may need to be spent looking at the tabloid use of plays on words and puns.

Now divide the students into groups.  Give each group a key incident from the play that they are studying.  Each group must now produce a head line for that particular story in each of the different formats they have investigated.

Soap rewrite

Rewrite a key scene as though it was a scene for a soap opera.  Students must make sure that they understand the meaning of the words in the scene beforehand.

Twitter Debate

Identify a topic where there are two sides of an argument eg. Is Macbeth a tragic hero?  (This will be the first 'twitter' so must be 140 characters or fewer.)

Divide the class into two groups.  Half the class to find and present arguments for and half to find and present arguments against.  Allow 15 mins to prepare arguments, research and question teacher.

The twist is that students must present their arguments in 140 characters or fewer and there must be an ongoing exchange. Although students can prepare in advance, they must decide on the best response and may need to amend their preparations so that it follows on from the other side's 'twitter'.  Usual texting language is acceptable- so abbreviations etc.

Best done on an interactive whiteboard or with two white boards- the students do the writing.

Feedback - review the debate and a class vote as to whether they find in favour or against the argument that has been proposed.  Also dicuss the way in which it is acceptable to use abbreviations etc in electronic literacy practices but that 140 characters is limiting where the argument is complicated or where PEA( point evidence and assessment) is required.

Context Jigsaw

Shakespeare's plays are written in the context of his cultural and social beliefs.  The way that his characters react and the words that they use reflect this.

One theme that regularly occurs, for example, is the idea of Natural Order. In this theory everyone has their place in the world as ordained by God. Imagine a step ladder.  All of creation is allotted its correct place on this ladder.  God is at the top of the ladder, then the angels and then kings.  Then come men, followed by women and then animals. 

Briefly present some different cultural and social values that are demonstrated in the play that your students are studying.  Provide an example of each.  You may wish to have prepared a set of prompt cards to help students conduct their research.

Now divide the class into groups.  Each group researches their allocated topic in more detail and produces a poster on their topic which they must present to the rest of the class.

Swap topics between the groups and now ask each group to find quotes in the play that they are studying that support these social and cultural views.

Discuss how these social and cultural values have changed today and which are still relevant.

Figurative language an introduction.

Choose similes and metaphors from within the play that your students are studying.  List the phrases on a worksheet.  Ask the students to identify the two elements in the phrase that are being compared.

Now ask them to identify the characteristics that the elements in each phrase share.  They could do this as a snowball exercise or in small groups.  Model the first set of elements with a groups discussion and feedback- many of the linking characteristics will be adjectives.

Ask students to choose one example of figurative language which they like and write a paragraph explaining how the simile or metaphor adds to their understanding of the character or situation being described.

Shakespeare's English today

Ask students to list or create a mind map expressing their opinions and what they know about Shakespeare's use of English.

During feedback reveal that Shakespeare has provided many everyday words and expressions that we take for granted.

Students should now use the library/the Internet to find some of the words and phrases that Shakespeare has given the English language (or at the very least were first recorded by him).  This can be done as a limited number e.g. ten or else if set as a homework offer a small reward for the person who finds the most.

Share the best of these- as chosen by the students- on a display or on flip chart paper.

Discuss why Shakespeare's language has found its way into everyday English and how some of the meanings may have changed over time.

Soliloquy tone

Create a series of mood cards- e.g. happy, sad, thoughtful, angry.

Discuss how we express emotions in the way that we speak.

Now give each student a mood card and a soliloquy.  Ask them to speak the words in an appropriate tone to their mood card.  They will need time to rehearse this.  You may wish to allow them to do the activity in small groups depending on the size of the class.

When the individuals/groups have had enough time to practise ask them to do their readings for the rest of the class who must guess the mood that they have been given.

The next stage is to identify what frame of mind the character really is in during their soliloquy and how the students known this- dialogue, plot development, lexis, pace provided by punctuation etc.  How do they think it should really be spoken.  Make notes of the kind that a director/actor might make before a production of the play.  Ask them also to consider the kinds of gestures and facial expressions that the actors might make and use so that their non verbal communication add to the words.

Show students a video clip containing the soliloquy. 

Students ipsatively assess how similar or different their 'take' on the soliloquy was from the performed version.

Bingo quotations

Create bingo cards. You could use characters names or if you are working on language elements terms such as simile, metaphor, alliteration etc.  Provide each student with a bingo card.

Give students quotes.  They can then cross off the character or the literary terminology.  The student who gets four in a row or on a diagonal wins.

Language choice

Choose a soliloquy.

Explain to the cast that a soliloquy is where the character is on his or her own on stage thinking out loud.

On own: underline words that they don't understand.
In pairs: try to work out meanings- you could do a dictionary matching exercise either on paper or as a sort activity if you preferred and depending upon the level of your students.
Feedback. Discuss language change and the way that we all shift the way we use language depending on audience, context and purpose.

In pairs or small groups, look at the soliloquy - and then up-date it into modern English.  This can be adapted if you come from a region with a strong dialect so that it's written for a particular region or even situated literacy such as the language of teenagers for example.

Diaries

Write diary entries for two of the key characters to present different views of events.

If you have completed the key quote activity ask students to include between ten and twenty key quotes in their diary entries.  If not you could provide students with a list of key quotes.  Students can then choose the ones that they feel best display character motivation and attitude.

Key quotes

Provide students with post-it notes and place flip chart 'character sheets' around the classroom.  Ask each student to identify three key quotes per character.  Students place their post-it notes on the character sheets.  Where there are duplicate quotes, these should be placed on top of one another.

The plenary of the activity should include an investigation of what the students have identified as being of significance.  This could be recorded on a tally chart. 

Pass the question.

Rather than the teacher asking questions about plot and character use a bean bag or soft ball for the following.
Ask students to write down ten questions that they could ask about plot, character or language in the play that they are studying.  They should also provide the answers.

Explain that only the person holding the ball or bean bag may answer a question and that once that person has answered their question, they can then choose a question from their list, passing the ball or bean bag to another person before they ask it.

Your role is to facilitate this process by discussing the kinds of questions that they could ask, by modelling the way in which the game works and by ensuring that everyone gets a turn.  Remind students about health and safety issues.

Guess who I am? Character recognition in Shakespeare.

Provide everyone in the class with 'About My Character' sheets.  You may want students to work in pairs or small groups depending on the size of the class.

The questions on the sheets should be:
I first appear in Act ___, scene ____.
I am a major/minor character.
I add to the plot by __________________.
I add to the audience's understanding of the major characters by  _____________________.
My best quote is _____________________________.
Another character describes me as ___________________________________.
One more important piece of information about me is __________________________________.

Everyone fills in a sheet for the character they have been allocated.

Students should then write five clues to help the rest of the class guess which character they are representing.
The students must then present their clues to the rest of the class who must deduce which character is being talked about.

You should provide an example as a model so that students are clear about what they need to do.

Plot Spikes and Pulses

Explain to students that an exposition sets the scene; complication is where the life or lives of the principle characters are complicated in some way; climax is where things are at their most difficult, dangerous or threatening.  The resolution is the way that the story ends.  This can be shown on a diagram as an inverted V- The exposition is in the bottom left hand corner of the page and builds to the apex of the inverted V with the climax.  Ask students to identify these key features of plot.  They should identify the acts and scenes in which these events occur and be prepared to say why they are key to the plot.

Develop the thread with a plot pulse.  Discuss the ways in which soap operas keep their audiences by ensuring that there are cliffhangers leaving the audience wanting more- the points where the pulse races.  Model this with a diagram of your own to illustrate the point. You can also use films such as Harry Potter and Twilight where there is a gap between films- what makes the audience come back for more? Discuss also the way in which Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed in front of the kind of audeinces who threw things if they got bored.

Either ask the students to draw and label their own pulse line for the play they are studying showing the key events in the plot- or provide them with a pre-printed pulse line and ask them to identify the key events indicated by the different rates of pulse.  Again, it is useful if they identify event, act and scene.  You may wish students to supply an appropriate quote from the text. 

An alternative is to provide a group of students with a pre-printed pulse line and a set of post-it notes.  Each note contains an event from the play.  Students have to sort them into the right order and then decide where they fit onto the plot pulse.  More able students should be supplied with red herrings and choices to encourage discussion.

The plenary should include a discussion about the way in which Shakespeare heightens tension by placing a relatively mundane event next to something of high drama to increase the tension or significance of the event because of what came before- the audience is either shocked by events or makes comparisons.  More able students may well spot that Shakespeare sometimes uses anticlimax to add to suspense rather than destroy it.  For example after the murder of Duncan there is the interchange with the porter- all the time this exchance is occuring the audience knows that Duncan has been murdered and that his death will soon be discovered.  Shakespeare uses anticlimax for comic purposes elsewhere.  Again, these are techniques used by film makers and the directors of soap operas.  You could ask students to give examples from films and television programmes that they have watched- so that they can begin to see the entertainment value of Shakespeare rather than simply regardng it as a text to be studied for an exam.

If you don't like the idea of a plot pulse line then change it to a 'plot rollercoaster' and use flip chart paper  or the whiteboard so that the whole class is involved in placing key events.  Ask the class to agree and make any changes to the placing of events or 'angle' of the rollercoaster.  Again, students should justify their decisions.

Showing character development as a table.

Use a table to chart character development.  The table should have four columns.

Column One: Event 
This column identifies the event where we see the character.  e.g. Desdemona has married Othello without her father's consent.

Column Two: Reference and Quote
This column provides a reference  to act, scene and lines as well as an appropriate quote "Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul." I,i 87.

Column Three:  Characterisation
Provide information about what is learnt about the character.  Desdemona is much loved by her father (Brabantio) but social and cultural values identify her as his property.  She appears an innocent who has been led astray.

Column Four: Change? 
This column should include information about how our view of the character has changed or developed.  As this is the first knowledge we have of Desdemona then we cannot make a comment here.

Using the table
It can be used by individual students, for pair work or small group work adopting a jigsaw approach to the text whereby students study different characters or if this is being used as a form of revision ask different groups to look at the same character but at different acts within the play. 

Adaptions to this activity could include providing students with a partially complete table eg. they have to find the appropriate quote, or say how the information develops character. 

If used with a whole class looking at a minor character it could be written on flipchart paper with a series of post-it notes containing quotes issued to the students.  These have to be found in the text, placed in the right place on the grid, followed by a whole class discussion about columns one, three and four.

A fifth column can be added so that students can discuss how information about minor characters informs our understanding of the major characters.

Character quote match

This revision activity is a version of pelmanism (also known as concentration).
Stage one:
Ask students to identify key quotes for each character.  This could be a poster activity.  They must discuss why the quotes are key to understanding a particular character or their role in the play.

Stage two:
The game- this can either be played after the poster activity or the following session.

Preparation
You will need to create packs of cards identifying characters and key quotes related to that character.  There should be a character card for each quote.  It is best if the character cards are one colour and the quote cards are a different colour so that the game has more momentum.

This game is best played in small groups so you will need sufficient packs for the number of small groups your class divides into.  The cards are also better laminated so that they can be used again.  Add pictures to the character cards to reinforce visual memory ie:  Juliet's card might have a bottle of poison on it to remind students about the way she feigns her own death.

You will also need a check sheet containing a list of all the quotes and the characters to whom they pertain.  Students will need to use this to check that their cards are a match.  There should be a minimum of one check sheet per group or if you wish students can each have a copy of this for the purposes of revision.

The game
Shuffle the cards.  Arrange them randomly on a table, face down.

Each player takes a turn to turn two cards face up- one character card and one quote card.  If the character and the quote match then the player keeps the pair of cards.  If not the cards are returned to the table face down in their original position.  It is a game to help memory as well as to ensure that students know key quotes.

Play continues until all the cards have been paired off.  The winner is the person with the most pairs.



Note:
When writing analytical essays students can remember one of two mnemonics to help them structure effective paragraphs:

PQD which stands for point, quote, development.

Or

PEA which stands for point,evidence, assessment of the evidence. 

Sonnet syllable count

Syllables can be counted by tapping or clapping them out.  Alternatively if you lean your elbow on your desk and put your palm on your jaw when you say a word aloud your jaw will move with each new syllable.  Students should be taught a variety of ways of identifying syllables as what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.  It also helps to tell them that there is a vowel of a letter 'y' acting as a vowel in each new syllable.  This rule has the effect of a self checking mechanism.

It may be useful to do this as a snowball exercise giving students an opportunity to work on their own, then in pairs to compare and add to what they've identified and then in groups of four before feeding back to the whole class.

 Most sonnets are composed of ten syllable lines with five stress points.

Discuss how the syllable pattern lays stress on particular sounds.  What impact does this have on the meaning of particular words, emphasis, pace and rhythm (punctuation plays its role with this)?