Discovering Shakespeare


Adapted from an English 10 Assignment by K. Cordiner

E. Zimmaro
June 19, 2003
for
EDCI 396C

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page



Introduction

You are an explorer and researcher who has been catapulted back into the Elizabethan Era. Your time there will be short and intense. You will be wearing a cloak, a mantle, that makes you invisible. It also endows you with expertise. You have been hired by a university "think tank"overseen by a panel of historians and Shakespearean academics who need to know the Truth. You will be given a journal and a pen to record your sightings and experiences. Nothing more! You have three weeks to submit your report. Now begone and God Speed!

The Task

Your task, as an explorer-researcher, is to wear the MANTLE OF THE EXPERT and collect information about what you have seen and heard in the Elizabethan Era to include:

Your focus will be on ELIZABETH I who defined the era and on SHAKESPEARE, the theatres and his plays as well as his contemporaries who were important participants.

Tools: Books and Websites 
 
 

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page




The Process

To accomplish this task, you must follow these steps:

ACTIVITY 1: The Elizabethan Era

1. Collection of Biographical Information: 

            a. Elizabeth I (4 marks)

            b. Two of Shakespeare's contemporaries in Literature (4 marks)

            c. Two Elizabethans from other fields (i.e. Science, Military, Art) (4 marks)

2. What entertainment did the Elizabethans participate in besides theatre? Make notes on a least 2 activities. (4 marks)
 

You must take notes and then reframe them into your own sentences.

Guidelines on Notetaking for ESL Students
 

    Step 1: Copy the bibiographic information (see your course planners) or PW Library
 

    Step 2: Write a HEADING (this is a subject: usually a noun) to the left of the page
 

    Step 3: On the right side of the page, using bullets, take notes written in PHRASES

Example:

Heading:
Mr. Brilliant

Information:

Links For Activity 1:

The Drama and Shakespeare:

Blackmask Online: Elizabethans  Eras of Elegance


Elizabethan England-British and World


Shakespeare Resource Center-An Encapsulated Biography


 

ACTIVITY 2: 

Your next objective focuses on:

SHAKESPEARE AND HIS THEATRE

1. Collect biographical information about William Shakespeare. Some depth is expected. Go beyond when he married or died. (4 marks)

2. Describe the GLOBE THEATRE. Include:

a.a sketch of the theatre: labelling the parts; include terms/names (3 marks)

b.a description of the audience: who sat where, what they did, why they came, what they paid; what they expected; how they behaved. (2 marks)

c.a description of how the play was staged: rules, use of the space, props, costumes, illusions, tricks.(3 marks) 

Links For Activity 2:

The Old Globe


The Story of the Globe Theatre

Shakespeare Sites on Shakespeare and the Renaissance A Level Introductory Notes: Introduction to Shakespeare 1564-1616 Shakespeare Resource Center-An Encapsulated Biography ACTIVITY 3:

You will now proceed to the next task that requires great skill and ingenuity. You must find some of Shakespeare's plays. (perhaps the director will have a manuscript)

You must tell us the true story of THREE characters in three different plays and describe them by attibutes. Also, tell us what happened to them by the end of the plays ( 6 marks)

Links for Activity 3: 

Blackmask Online

  • Click on to William Shakespeare and then link to his plays. Read William Hazlitt's description of the characters.


    • The Man and His Work

    English Resources ACTIVITY 4: 

    Your final task is an extension of the previous one:

    1. Of the plays you have investigated, CHOOSE ONE and describe the plot IN YOUR OWN WORDS ( 4 marks)

    Remember your notetaking guide.

    2. Find at least 5 famous lines from any of Shakespeare's plays and say what they mean as well as who said them and from what play, act and scene they were taken. One of them should be an insult. (10 marks)

    Links for Activity 4: 

    Quotations from Shakespeare


    Shakespeare's Language


    English Resources

    Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page




    Conclusion

    You have now completed a most trying task, but we are pleased that you, as the expert will unveil all that has been a mystery to us.

    You will give us a true picture of Elizabeth, her era and the people who defined the times through your reportage of the observations you have made. We shall be seeking your counsel further as we study one play in particular.
     

    Evaluation

    Research Report: Shakespeare

    TEACHER:Ms. Zimmaro

    STUDENT NAME________________
     

    Excellent
    Good
    Fair

    Fail


    Quality of Information
    Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.
    Information clearly relates to the main topic.It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.
    Information clearly relates to the main topic. Not details and/or examples are given.
    Information has little or nothing to do with the required task.
     

    Mechanics 

    No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.
    Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.
    A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.
    Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
     
    Diagrams and Illustrations
    Diagrams and illustrations are neat, labelled, accurate and add to the reader’s understanding of the topic.
    Diagrams and illustrations are accurately labelled and add to the reader’s understanding of the topic.
    Diagrams and illustrations are neat and accurate but not labelled and do not help to explain the topic. 
    Diagrams not completed nor labelled . Most of the parts were not included.
     
    Internet Use
    Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.
    Sites are properly cited.
    Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.Sites are properly cited.
    Occasionally able to use suggested internetlinks to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.Sites are provided but not correctly configured.
    Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internetlinks and/or to navigate within these sites. No sites are cited.Plagerism is in evidence.
     
    Creation of Journal
    Authentic and historically true to times. Log is hand-written and carefully crafted (evidence of hand-made work)
    Authenticity clear and historically correct. Craftmanship is attempted but not consistent.
    Attempts to be authentic and some effort to create a bound book, but not always true.
    Student uses a computer, book is bought and no evidence of hand craftsmanship.Book looks new instead of“antiqued”.
     


    Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page




    Teacher Notes

    This webquest was tailored to Senior ESL students (grades 10, 11, 12) whose level of English is at a grade 2-4 level.

    The critical factor in executing this assignment successfully is having resources to suit the reading level of the students and by giving them the time to read and translate what vocabulary is new to them. They understand the concepts; it is just understanding them in English and understanding the form that their presentation must take in order to demonstrate this understanding.

    Clearly Activity 4  is the most difficult in that students might not find parallel texts to translate the meanings of the language, but it is a good exercise in providing them with insight into the demands of regular English and what they have to strive for; the challenge must be balanced by providing them with enough tools to empower rather than daunt or defeat them in pursuing their tasks.

    The MANTLE OF THE EXPERT is a concept developed by DOROTHY HEATHCOTE, who is no longer practicing as a trainer in Drama-in-Education, but whose innovative approach to learning which she developed thirty years ago is being packaged and reframed today, but in the opinion of this teacher, not half as well.
     

    Reference to Curriculum IRP: ESL does not have specific IRPs; however the PW ESL Department has developed a curriculum that parallels the regular English curriculum.  This project satisfies the following outcomes from the  English 8-10 IRPs:
     

    This project also addresses the Information Literacy Skills found in Appendix C  of each IRP.

    Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page


    Credits & References

    Best, Micheal. “Shakespeare Life and Times".<http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLT/intro/introcite.html> June 19,2003.

    “Blackmask Online: Elizabethan”. Blackmask  Online <http://www.blackmask.com/page.php?do=page&cat_id=112> June 19,  2003.

    Cordiner, Karen. "Background to Shakespeare". 2003 Rev.

    Cordiner, Karen. Personal Lessons in Netscape Composer.  Including creating links, finding, editing and inserting images. Karen posted this website because I do not have access to the server.

    "Design Gallery Live" Microsoft Office <http://dgl.microsoft.com/> June 19, 2003.

    "English 8-10 IRP.Ministry of Education, Province of British Columbia, l999. <http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/ela810/elacurri.htm> June 20, 2003.

    “Eras of Elegance:Elizabethan Era” The Elizabethan Era  <http://ww.eraofelegance.com/elizabethan.html> June 19, 2003.

    Field, Mr. “Life in Elizabethan England” <http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/gcselinks/britishworld/elizengland.html>  June 19,2003.

    Gurr, Andrew. “The Globe Plans and Dimensions”.
    <http://www.rdg.ac.uk/AcaDepts/ln/Globe/siteinfo/faq.htm> June 19, 2003.

    Hastings and Teresa. “ English Resources”.< http://www.englishresources.co.uk >June 19, 2003.

     Hill, Wayne and Cynthia Ottchen “Shakespeare’s Insults:Educating Your Wit by William Shakespeare". <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517885395/ref=lib_dp_TFCV/102-6748585 9936161?v=glance&s=books&vi=reader#reader-link> June 19, 2003.

     Knox, J. "Shakespeare's Language". March 98<http://users.erols.com/bmaloney/shakes/lang.htm>June 19,2003.

    “A Level Introductory Notes: Introduction to Shakespeare 1564-1616”.
    <http://www.englishresources.co.uk/workunits/alevel/shakes/shakyintro.html> June 19, 2003.

    Mabillard, Amanda.  “Shakespeare”< Shakespeare.about.com/cs/sources>  @About, Inc.2003, June 19, 2003.

    Mabillard, Amanda.  "Quotations from Shakespeare" .1999-2003<www.shakespeare-online.com/quotes/default.asp> June 19,2003.

    “The Man and his Work”. <http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/homepage> Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
     June 19, 2003.

    Pressley, J. M. "An Encapsulated Biography". Shakespeare Resource Center, Online September 12, 2001. October 11, 2001. <http://www.bardweb.net/man.html>. June 19, 2003.

    Ressel, Alissa.  “The Story of the Globe Theatre”.  The WWW Globe Theatre, <http://www.aressel.com/globe/ aressel.com>: 1998.  June 19, 2003.

    “Shakespeare's contemporaries” Shakespeare's Life and Times Online<http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLTnoframes/drama/contemporaries.html#bk1>(June 19,2003)
    “Sites on Shakespeare and the Renaissance”< http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Annex/ShakSites1.html >June 19,2003).
     
     

    Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page