This blog has come about because of a chance comment by one of my students. He said that he wished that there was somewhere he could go for ideas on how to teach Shakespeare to his class. I'm going to attempt one idea each day.

Friday, 27 May 2011

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.

No comments:

Post a Comment