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.

Thursday, 1 September 2011

Specific plays_ Romeo and Juliet

"A pair of star crossed lovers."

Ask students to explain what they think this quote means.

Do they believe in fate?

Queen Elizabeth I believed in astrology.  John Dee drew up her astrological chart.

Where do we find astrology today?  Ask students to shower this- magazines, radio, phone lines etc.

1.  Literature- ask students to find other references to the stars.  Draw a flow chart for the plot and fit these references to the stars and fate to the plot.  How closely does Shakespeare link events to fate and how much does the plot have to do with chance and poor communication.  This could be an academic essay.

2.  creative writing- Ask students to write a brief summary of Juliet's star sign for a magazine.  You may want to analyse content before setting students on with this task.  Better students should incorporate quotes.

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