The Character Box:
Objectives
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to construct vivid images of the lives of characters in The Merchant of Venice
to explore a character's world through the use of all five senses (sight, touch, scent,
hearing, taste)
to identify with the character and understand more deeply how they feel and how
they see the world.
to encourage students to interpret texts imaginatively.
Each student needs a box with a lid - shoe boxes are ideal.
Activity
1.
Before starting work on the play, ask each student to choose a character to follow
through the play. It doesn't matter if several students choose the same one.
2.
Everyone's goal is to build up a more complete picture of their character by gathering
(small) objects that tell us something about that character's life. They keep these in their
box. Encourage students to decorate their boxes appropriately and make them
personal.
3.
Ask students to think about the five senses and to find something for each of the senses:
sight; touch; scent; hearing; taste.
4.
At the end of the unit student present their character box to the class
For example, for Juliet's box (from Romeo and Juliet) there might be:
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a photograph of Romeo (sight/seeing)
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or lock of Romeo's hair, a necklace given to her by her father on the night of the
Capulet ball (Act 1 scene 5) or a piece of fabric from her ball gown
(touch/feeling)
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the little bouquet of flowers gathered from her garden, which she took to her
wedding (scent/smelling)
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a score of music played at the ball, a CD of love songs or a book of sonnets to
read out loud (sound/hearing)
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the phial of magic potion given to her by Friar Laurence in Act 4 scene 1
(taste/tasting)
In Friar Lawrence's box there might be:
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A candle from his church (sight/seeing)
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A rosary (touch/feeling)
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Some herbs from his garden (scent/smelling)
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A hymnal so that he can sing praises to God or a book of prayers to read out loud
(sound/hearing)
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A communion wafer (taste/tasting)
http://www.rsc.org.uk/romeo/teachers/character.html
Ways this activity can be adjusted:
 Students could work in pairs to create their character box
 Once their boxes are completed, students would get together with other students
who have chosen the same character and create a final character box, using the
best element/s from each individual student’s box.
 Students could be allocated characters and the boxes could be used as an
introduction to in depth character study.
 Have each pair or individual presents their finished life box to class. Presenters should
show the five selected props, drawings, or costume pieces of their character. Have
the class guess the identity of the character presented.
 Students display their character boxes. Each student chooses a box that they have
not created themselves. They must look at the items and decide which character
they represent and then write about each item and how it represents the character.
In other subjects:
 Create a topic box – as student are studying a topic they can collect any items
which relate to the topic which they find out in the world around them e.g global
climate change – photo of the effects of global warming, article from the newspaper
about global warming, a container of water to represent rising sea levels, sound
effect of a hurricane …
 Students can create a character box for a Scientist, Mathematician (general or
specific famous person), Artist, Musician …
 Culture box
 Perspectives box
 Genre box
 …