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.

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Exposition - writing a prequel

An exposition is when the scene is set at the beginning of a play.  There weren't opportunities for expensive sets so the scene had to be set in the audience's mind at the start of the play.  Another reason for exposition is to provide some back plot so that the audience can understand the relationship between the characters that has led to the point where they are viewing events.

Ask students to create mind maps or posters in small groups identifying exposition.  Encourage them to quote from the play as well as to explain.  Help them to identify themes and images that recur.

When they have produced their mind map/poster and fed back they should write the prequel.  It can either be prose or dialogue.

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