Who was Shakespeare and why should I care?
Each person will need to answer the questions on the first two pages individually. It is best if
you copy and paste this assignment into your own Word document before moving on. You
can answer the questions on the Word document and then you will save it in the shared
folder with your name as the document title.
William Shakespeare
1. When was he born?
2. Where was he born?
3. Who was Shakespeare's wife?
4. How many children did they have?
5. When did he die?
6. Why is the World Book Day celebrated on April 23rd -except for the UK and Ireland?
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm
http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk
http://www.stratford.co.uk/index.asp
The Globe
6. What is The Globe?
7. When was The Globe built?
8. What happened to the theatre in 1.613?
9. Name three other theatres in London in 16th century.
http://www.bardweb.net/globe.html
Shakespeare's works
10. Name three of Shakespeare's comedies.
11. Name three of Shakespeare's tragedies.
12. Name three of Shakespeare's histories.
13. When was Much Ado about Nothing written?
14. Write three Shakespearean insults here:
15. Why did Shakespeare not write “In English”?
http://www.ipl.org/div/shakespeare/shakespeare.html
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-plays.htm
Many scholars question whether Shakespeare really wrote everything attributed to him.
Answer the following questions to understand more about this issue.
1. What is the Shakespeare authorship problem?
2. What literary, cultural, and political figures doubt that Shakespeare was the sole author of
the work?
3. Make a chronological history of the doubts that surround the authorship of the
Shakespearean canon.
4. Now do the same for the doubts surrounding the Stratfordian attribution.
5. Make a list of the six contenders for the authorship question. Then add to each as much
significant evidence that is presented.
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A Beginners guide to the Shakespeare Authorship Question
The Mystery of Shakespeare’s Authorship
The Shakespeare Fellowship
Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable
The Monument- Shakespeare's Sonnets by Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford
Now, you will do a little more research to find out who really wrote this stuff. Looking at the
diagram below you will know which topic you need to research. This diagram is of the desk
groupings from the room. Remember where you sit and you will know what you are
researching.
Who Wrote Shakespeare?
Marlowe
De Vere
Shakespeare
This is the front of the room for the purposes of this drawing.
WHO WROTE SHAKESPEARE?:
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The Shakespeare Resource Center
Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to
WHO WROTE SHAKESPEARE?:
1. Find other candidates not already discovered in the background section and list why they
should be considered as contenders.
2. What is the controversy that surrounds Shakespeare's bust and its inscription as it applies to
Sir Francis Bacon?
3. What did Mark Twain have to say about the debate issue?
4. Why should the Marlowe spy theory be reviewed?
5. How has technology, most notably the computer, made its presence known in this
controversy?
MARLOWE WROTE SHAKESPEARE:

The Marlowe Society
Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to
MARLOWE WROTE SHAKESPEARE:
1. What association to Shakespeare is presented by the Marlowe Society that leads one to
believe that Christopher Marlowe's death is associated with Shakespeare's writings?
2. What role did the British government play in Marlowe's death?
3. Was Marlowe really a heretic?
4. What similarities exist between Marlowe's writing and Shakespeare's writing?
DE VERE WROTE SHAKESPEARE:
Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to
DEVERE WROTE SHAKESPEARE:
De Vere is really Shakespeare
1. Many authorities have made claims that De Vere more than anyone is most closely
related to being the author of the Shakespearean collection. Why?
2. What are some of the coincidental connections between the Earl of Oxford and
Shakespeare?
3. What problems exist between the authorship of the Shakespearean poems and plays?
4. What is the real story behind SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE?
SHAKESPEARE WROTE SHAKESPEARE:

The Shakespeare Authorship Page
Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to
SHAKESPEARE WROTE SHAKESPEARE:
1. How is the spelling and pronunciation of Shakespeare's name imporatnt to investigate?
2. What are the Oxfordian claims that Shakespeare is responsible for everything he
produced?
3. Why is it important to preserve the authorship status of William Shakespeare?
4. What is the most convincing evidence that leads us to believe that Shakespeare, did in
fact, wrote Shakespeare?
Phase 3 - Reaching Consensus
On Thursday in class you will have 20 minutes as a group to decide on your answer and write
a short paragraph explaining your answer.
You have all learned about a different part of Shakespeare Authorship Controversy. Now
group members come back to the larger WebQuest team with expertise gained by
searching from one perspective. You must all now answer the Task / Quest(ion) as a group.
Each of you will bring a certain viewpoint to the answer: some of you will agree and others
disagree. Use information, pictures, movies, facts, opinions, etc. from the Webpages you
explored to convince your teammates that your viewpoint is important and should be part
of your team's answer to the Task / Quest(ion). Your WebQuest team should write out an
answer that everyone on the team can live with.
This webquest was taken and slightly modified from the following source:
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/webshakespera.html