Erica Zane
Kayla Everson
Sarah Freeman
Arianna Drossopoulos
Rob Freyer
Shakespeare and His Continuing Effect on the Modern World
Course Description
This course will focus on several of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, while simultaneously
examining Shakespeare’s continuing effect on the modern world and on modern literature. The
course will encourage students to critically assess the universality of Shakespeare’s themes and
subject matter, while also expressing their own personal opinions on Shakespeare’s writings
through critical readings, writing assignments, film viewing, debates, small group discussions,
and performance. Students will be expected to develop a thorough, multi-dimensional
perspective on Shakespeare’s texts as they carefully read and analyze his plays and sonnets.
Students will also explore how modern culture effects the way in which Shakespeare is read,
while analyzing how different cultures/eras/time periods read Shakespeare.
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions:
1. Students will examine Shakespeare’s language and style.
- What is Shakespeare’s style and what makes it so unique?
- How does Shakespeare’s language and style impact how he is read in the modern world?
2. Students will learn the three main types of genres that Shakespeare worked with (Comedy,
Tragedy, and History).
- Is it always easy to determine which genre Shakespeare’s plays fall into?
- In what ways does Shakespeare blend genres?
3. Students will be able to identify the influence Shakespeare has had on modern culture, as well
as the influence that modern culture has on how Shakespeare is interpreted.
- How does the perception of the current culture/era/time period influence how we read
Shakespeare?
- Where do you find examples of Shakespeare’s influence on modern society?
4. Students will be able to identify major themes in Shakespeare and determine their relevance to
today’s society.
- Many people claim that Shakespeare’s writing is universal and eternal. In what ways can you
argue that his themes are universal?
- Can you argue that Shakespeare’s themes may be outdated and longer relevant in the modern
world?
- Where do you see instances of Shakespeare borrowing themes from before his time?
5. Students will use historical and biographical criticism to determine who Shakespeare is as a
person, writer, and businessman.
- How did Shakespeare make his way to the top of the literary and acting worlds?
- How does the “authorship controversy” affect our reading of Shakespeare?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will write an original sonnet using Shakespearean sonnet form.
2. Students will recognize different themes of Shakespeare’s work.
3. Students will critically analyze the universality of Shakespeare.
4. Students will identify and analyze the different genres that Shakespeare used.
5. Students will identify how Shakespeare reflected, as well as affected, his society.
6. Students will identify how modern/contemporary society reflects, as well as affects,
Shakespearean literature.
Learning Activities:
1. Students will do independent reading of several of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets.
2. Students will view several film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays.
3. Students will perform different scenes from various plays.
4. Students will engage in debates during class (i.e. Marlowe vs. Shakespeare, sexism in The
Taming of the Shrew, etc.)
5. Students will engage in small group discussions.
Assessment:
1. After each unit, students will either write a reflective/analytical essay, perform a scene from
a play, write their own adaptation of a scene for a play, write a sonnet, write a research
paper, make a film, write a rap using the Shakespearean text, make a research-oriented
power point presentation, or do some form of creative response to each play in the unit.
The teacher must approve ideas. Students will submit these assessments for a grade,
which can be edited and resubmitted if the student desires.
2. Students will choose three of their best reflections and put these assessments into a
portfolio.
3. Students will write a 5-6 page reflective essay, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of
their portfolio. Students will then submit this portfolio for grading.
4. Students will also receive quizzes (announced and unannounced) on basic plots, characters,
and settings throughout the semester.
Unit 1:
Shakespeare’s Rise to Notoriety in Elizabethan England
Texts:
1. “Richard Burbage: Shakespeare’s Other Half” by Robert Freyer, 2009
2. Selected chapters from A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro,
2006.
3. The “Reading Shakespeare in the twenty-first century,” “Life in Shakespeare’s England,” and
“Shakespeare’s Life and Work” sections of the “General Introduction” to David
Bevington’s The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Sixth Edition, 2008.
Unit Description:
This unit will offer a condensed history of the life and work of William Shakespeare and trace
his collaboration with the Burbage family as key players in the growth of the acting profession.
Students will learn of the influences on Shakespeare’s writing, including popular authors,
political climate, and the talents and abilities of his actors. Specifically, this unit will focus on the
tumultuous year of 1599 when many of Shakespeare’s most popular plays were performed,
England was at war with Ireland, and Elizabeth’s reign was nearing its end. Students will gain an
understanding of Shakespeare as an actor, playwright, and businessman, framing his career in the
cultural, historical, and political context of Elizabethan England and the early years under the
reign of James I.
Enduring Understanding and Essential Questions:
1. Elizabethan politics and culture influenced Shakespeare’s career.
- What was the popular opinion of the acting profession at the time James Burbage began
establishing playhouses?
- What laws were in existence that made playing and establishing playhouses difficult for the
Burbage family?
- How did religious, cultural, and political values determine where Shakespeare and his men
could play?
2. Shakespeare and Richard Burbage are not only writers and players, but businessmen as well.
- How did the patronage of the Earl of Southampton benefit Shakespeare, his acting troupe, and
eventually the acting profession as a whole?
- How did the Burbages’ ownership of three playhouses allow for Shakespeare’s troupe to play
continuously, despite weather, fire, or legal matters?
- What economic interdependencies existed between the players in The Lord Chamberlain’s
Men/ The King’s Men?
- How did the brilliant business minds of Shakespeare and the Burbages keep their acting troupe
alive?
3. Shakespeare wrote plays specifically for the time they were performed in, and parts
specifically for his players to play.
- In what ways did the decade’s problems of Elizabeth’s failing health, death threats against the
queen, and the plague show themselves in Shakespeare’s plays?
- What effect did the war in Ireland have on the play Julius Caesar?
- How did Shakespeare write plays that would build on and best utilize Richard Burbage’s
talents? (Pay special attention to Richard III and Hamlet)
- What effect did the separation of Will Kempe from the Lord Chamberlain’s Men have on the
genre and content of works Shakespeare produced afterward? (Pay special attention to Julius
Caesar.)
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will have knowledge of the timeline of Shakespeare’s career in the political
setting of Elizabethan England.
2. Students will understand the importance of royal support for Shakespeare’s troupe.
3. Students will understand how the popular and royal opinion of the acting profession
changed throughout Shakespeare’s career.
4. Students will understand the social and economic co-dependency between Shakespeare and
the Burbage family.
5. Students will understand that plays were written to be performed (not read) and how crucial
actors’ abilities were to the performing and composing processes.
6. Students will understand how the business-class of a player was essential to the success of the
play industry as a whole.
7. Students will understand why Shakespeare was not mourned until Richard Burbage died.
Learning Activities:
1. Before beginning the unit, students will conduct a 15-minute free-write in their journals
documenting what they already know about Shakespeare.
2. Students will read each of the three sections of Bevington’s introduction and write a summary
of each in their journals. The readings will be discussed in class to ensure students’
understanding of the setting Shakespeare wrote in.
3. After reading “Richard Burbage: Shakespeare’s Other Half” for homework, students will
create a timeline of Shakespeare’s career as a player, writer, and businessman.
4. The selected chapters in the book 1599 encompass 200 pages. The book is divided into four
parts, corresponding to each season of that year, which are about 50 pages each. Students
will be responsible for reading 10 pages per night.
5. Students will break into four groups, one group for each season. Groups will read their
seasons, create a presentation on what they learned happened during that season, and
deliver it to the class at the end of the week. Groups will go in order of season, starting
with winter and ending with autumn. One group will present each Friday for the four
weeks of the unit.
Assessment:
1. Students will collaborate with their season groups to create and present to the class a project
summarizing and elaborating on what happened during their season.
2. Students will take one in class quiz on the content covered by student season presentations and
the unit texts.
3. Students will turn in for a grade a detailed timeline of Shakespeare’s career, including events
of his personal life, developments in his career, and any major events involving Queen
Elizabeth, James or Richard Burbage, or other people or events connected with
Shakespeare. Timelines may be created using whatever supplies or media students
choose, including paper, PowerPoint, video, etc.
Unit 2
The Comedy in “The Comedy of Errors”
Text: “The Comedy of Errors” by William Shakespeare
Unit Description:
This unit will serve as an introduction to the genre of comedies written by Shakespeare through
close examination of “The Comedy of Errors.” Students will understand the important elements
that characterize a play as a comedy and be able to apply these specific patterns during
discussion of “The Comedy of Errors.” This unit will also provide a context for students to
compare other Shakespearean plays to.
Enduring Understanding and Essential Questions:
1. This play features humor as a key component in creating the genre of comedy.
- What are the elements of this play that make it humorous?
- How does Shakespeare establish the situation of his characters to generate a comedic setting?
- How does Shakespeare use all the varying styles of slapstick, puns, dry humor, witty banter,
and practical jokes in the play?
- Which style is most effective in this play?
- Is there a happy ending?
- How important is having a happy ending to the genre of comedy?
2. The time period Shakespeare lived in held a great amount of power over the plays he was able
to produce on stage for the public. The influence the Elizabethan government held over
their society is evident through scenarios in Shakespeare’s plays.
- How does Shakespeare’s audience influence his writing?
- What are some precautions Shakespeare had to take in portraying different classes in his plays?
- How could society serve as a motivating factor for Shakespeare to create this play?
- Does Shakespeare poke fun at society through “The Comedy of Errors?”
- How does he criticize society in the lighthearted nature of a comedy?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will be able to identify the many different and specific elements of a comedy through
using the text “The Comedy of Errors” as a reference point to show examples of this
knowledge.
2. Students will personally reflect on how effective the elements of comedy are in “The Comedy
of Errors” and discuss in class, using quotes, where comedic elements are particularly
powerful.
3. Students will be able to recognize how the audience’s influences help shape the plays
Shakespeare produces.
4. Students will identify moments in “The Comedy of Errors” where consideration of the
audience has particular influence on the jargon and actions of the characters.
5. Students will be able to identify themes within the play that coincide with the genre of
comedy. (ex. love, gender, family, and mistaken identity).
Learning Activities:
1. Students will research the genre of comedy as homework and come to class prepared to
discuss their findings.
2. Students will use journals to write down quotes that exemplify humorous tactics used in “The
Comedy of Errors” and in their journal they will reflect on if they personally find the
quote funny/witty/clever.
3. Students will read the play outside of class and come prepared to read acts out loud in class
and analyze the text in classroom discussions.
4. Students will participate in small group discussions during class time to discuss their written
journal entries with their peers.
Assessment:
1. Students will produce a final portfolio. They will collect the quotes they have written in their
journals over the unit into a project where they choose their most powerful quotes to
feature. Alongside those quotes will be an analysis of the elements of comedy woven
throughout the quote and how these elements connect to the overall genre of comedy.
2. Students will work in small groups to produce a creative project of their choice to
demonstrate their understanding of themes within “The Comedy of Errors.” Choices
could include re-adapting and performing the text with a modern day twist, leading a
classroom discussion, or creating a blog for one of the characters chronicling their
reaction to majors events in the play.
Unit 3
It’s All About the Word Play
Text: “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare
Unit Description:
This unit will build on students’ knowledge about Shakespeare’s comedic plays. Students will
continue their practice with identifying the characteristics of the genre. However, students will
also address other major tropes of Shakespearean literature including marriage, love, family, and
word play. Students will express their interpretation of the play’s events, as well as look
critically at a film adaptation.
Enduring Understanding and Essential Questions:
1. Comedy is used to comment on serious themes that exist in the play.
- How is the violence of male dominance downplayed by comedy?
- What do the comedic aspects of the play say about the act of marriage?
- Even though this play is a comedy, can you find any tragedy in it?
2. Viewers in Shakespeare’s time reacted differently to the play than modern readers react to it
today.
- Is the male dominance (namely in regards to Petruchio and Baptista) acceptable?
- Is this play sexist? Why or why not?
- Is Kate tamed?
- Where do we find the story line of this play in modern culture?
- What themes in the play are universal? What ideas are outdated?
3. Love and marriage
- How do you view the roles of men and women in marriage?
- Do your parents have a right to choose whom you marry?
- Is love necessary for marriage?
4. Word Play
- How is language used to create comedy in the play?
- How does Petruchio manipulate Kate’s words? What is the effect of that manipulation?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will acquire knowledge on the stylistic techniques used in the genre of Comedy.
2. Students will be able to recognize how the time period of the both the author and the reader
affects individual interpretation of the play.
3. Students will engage in film analysis in which they will take a critical look at one particular
director’s vision of the play.
4. Students will be able to understand Shakespeare’s use of word play. They will also be able
to identify what effect such a technique has on characterization, plot, etc.
5. Students will be able to analyze the roles that women and men have played in society dating
from Shakespeare’s time to the present. Specifically, for each gender students will be
able to identify which roles have not changed since Shakespeare’s time.
Learning Activities:
1. Students will complete two journal entries prior to starting to read the play:
a. What are your views on marriage? Is love necessary for marriage? Who decides
whom you should marry? How do you think the tradition of marriage has changed over
time?
b. What is sexism? First write what you think it is, then research for a definition on the
Internet. Cite your source(s).
After completing these journals for homework, they will work in small discussion groups to
share their responses.
2. Certain scenes in the play will be read aloud in class, with students volunteering to be specific
characters. Pauses in reading will allow the teacher, or a student volunteer, to summarize
what has occurred so far in the text.
3. Students will choose one quote from each scene that stands out to them and record it in their
journal. The record must include the act, scene, and lines of the quote, as well as why the
quote resonated with the student. At the end of each act, students will get into small
groups to share some of their favorite quotes.
4. Students will watch the movie “Ten Things I Hate About You” and engage in a class
discussion about what stayed the same or changed from Shakespeare’s original play.
5. Students will engage in a class debate in which they will argue whether or not The Taming
of the Shrew is a sexist play.
Assessment:
1. Students will complete content quizzes on each act of the play. The answers to the quizzes will
be reviewed in the following class. These quizzes may include simple character
identification, brief plot summary, or providing the answer to a specific question related
to an event in the assigned reading.
2. Students will have the option to complete one of the following three essay prompts:
a. In a 3-5 page paper, use textual evidence as well as at least two outside sources to
support your opinion as to whether or not Kate was tamed by the end of the play.
b. In a 3-5 page paper, use textual evidence as well as at least two outside sources to
detail how Shakespeare used comedy to lighten the seriousness of some of the
play’s themes (i.e. marriage, family relationships, abuse, etc.).
c. In a 3-5 page paper, use textual evidence as well as at least two outside sources to
compare and contrast the roles of men and women in Shakespeare’s time vs. the
present.
Unit Four:
The Wicked History of Richard III
Text: Richard III by William Shakespeare
Unit Description:
This unit will serve as an introduction to the (often forgotten) genre of history, written by
Shakespeare. Students will understand the political background of Shakespeare’s lifetime
(particularly the Tudor Period) and critically analyze Shakespeare’s literary approach to the
decline of the medieval era and the rise of Machiavellianism in England.
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions:
1. At the onset of this play, England’s royalty is in the midst of The War of the Roses, or a civil
war between the Houses of York and Lancaster.
- What were the underlying causes of the War of the Roses?
- Does Shakespeare exhibit a political bias through his characters and their actions?
- Where does fact separate from fiction in Shakespeare’s depiction of events?
2. Richard III is often described as a Machiavellian character.
- How does Shakespeare establish/describe the character of Richard III?
- How does Richard III manipulate and control others for his own gain?
- In what ways does Richard’s personality evolve over the course of the play?
- What are Richard’s motivations for his series of malevolent actions?
3. Ideas of the “ideal” political leadership differ from person to person, state-to-state, and
country-to-country.
- How does the play portray the relationship between those who have power, and the general
population who are subjected to the royal reign?
- Do political decisions seem to be based on principle or made for pragmatic, expedient means?
- Are there any benefits and/or advantages to Richard III’s style of political rise and leadership?
- How are the concepts of politics that Shakespeare portrays still universally applicable today?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will understand the history of the War of the Roses and the Tudor Reign during the
life of Shakespeare.
2. Students will identify and describe the “Machiavellian” character type in both historical fiction
and contemporary society
3. Using specific textual support, students will explain how “moral righteousness” is necessary
for a successful political government.
4. Students will consider and describe the impact that the decade/century the author lived in had
on his literary viewpoints/writing.
5. Students will recognize in contemporary society how those in power (i.e. political leaders,
media) have the ability to shape and control the distribution of information and truth.
6. Students will analyze Shakespeare’s political affiliations, and recognize the advantages and
disadvantages of writing a historical production during the civil war.
Learning Activities:
1. Students will read at home and then come to class with thematic/open-ended questions to
will participate in a whole class, “fish-bowl” discussion, using their prepared questions to
begin the conversation.
2. Students will keep a response journal, where they will respond to open-ended questions given
by the teacher, and write about their own thoughts/personal connections to the readings.
Students will then share their responses with small groups and from there, move into a
large, classroom discussion. The main ideas from these discussions will be continually
posted on a “Thematic Chart” for everyone to see.
3. Students will view short film clips of other infamous “villains” in literature, adapted to screen,
and have a small group discussion where students will compare and contrast Richard III’s
villainous actions with others.
4. Groups of students will take turns reading/acting out particularly important scenes to improve
their understanding of the text as a performance on a regular basis.
Assessment:
1. Students will take the political themes of Richard III and in pairs, research and make
connections to modern day political events, using articles from magazines/newspapers,
(reputable) Internet sources, etc., and explain how the story is shaped by either the
writer/publisher of the piece in a 1-2 page response.
2. Students will be given three choices for a final project; they must choose and complete one of
the following:
a) The Standard Literary Analysis Paper - In the opening line of the play, Richard
declares that he is a villain: “I am determined to prove a villain/And hate the idle
pleasures of these days.” Compare and contrast the factual/historical evidence of
Richard’s rise to power against Shakespeare’s dramatic narrative, and formulate an
educated theory on what truly happened (5 pages, double-spaced).
b) In Their Shoes - choose a significant action/occurrence in the play, and write a journal
entry from the perspective of a character who is involved in the event. Since this is
a first-person narrative, actual quotes are not necessary; however, your writing
should still be based off the text, and therefore be descriptive and convincing (5
pages).
c) Performance - In a group of 3-4 students, choose a specific scene from the play to
re-enact. The performance must be approximately 10 minutes; it may be live, or
videotaped. Props, costumes and “fitting” settings are strongly encouraged. Each student
must also write a 2-page paper, reflecting on the significance of their particular scene.
Unit 5
Experiencing Sonnets
Text: “Shakespeare’s Sonnets” by William Shakespeare, Barbara Mowat, Paul Werstine.
2004 edition. Selected readings.
Unit Description:
This unit will serve as a continuing reminder of the power behind Shakespeare’s words shown
through his plays and his sonnets. The careful consideration Shakespeare takes into composing
his sonnets through word choice, rhyme and meter will be examined to expose the rich meaning
behind the poetry. The themes of love and pain will be explored as the students are challenged to
make personal connections to the passion driving Shakespeare’s pen. Students will be able to
replicate the sonnet form in a production of an original sonnet of their own, which will mimic
one of the themes looked at during this unit. Students will identify all the important elements of a
sonnet through exemplar sonnets of Shakespeare’s.
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions
1. The Shakespearean sonnet form is purposeful and essential in creating meaning behind the
poem.
- What is the structure of Shakespeare’s sonnets?
- What is the rhyme scheme?
- What is the meter?
- What is iambic pentameter?
- How does Shakespeare manipulate his word choice to fit this form?
- How does Shakespeare portray tone throughout his sonnets?
- Why does Shakespeare conform to this structure through his sonnets? What is the purpose?
- Why is the “volta” set between the octave and sestet?
2. The themes of love and pain are prevalent in a majority of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
- What are some common symbols used to represent love?
- Who is Shakespeare addressing in his sonnets?
- Is there is a gender in the sonnets?
- How does Shakespeare make his sonnets relatable to a modern day reader?
- Why are love and pain such inspiring topics to write about?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will be able to identify the Shakespearean sonnet form and all of the parts that
comprise a sonnet.
2. Students will be able to analyze a sonnet and delve into finding the theme intertwined in the
text.
3. Students will be able to replicate the sonnet form, with all its proper conventions, in a work of
their own based off of common themes discussed in class.
4. Students will be able to recognize the deliberate word choice of Shakespeare and how word
choice influences the tone of the poem.
5. Students will be able to make connections between Shakespearean sonnets and modern day
through finding common themes.
Learning Activities:
1. Students will use sticky notes to mark the text of the assigned sonnets with questions, analysis,
and notes of rhetoric devices.
2. Students will come to class prepared with the assigned reading and participate in classroom
readings of the sonnets out loud.
3. Students will break into small groups and develop a method for teaching the rest of the class
about an assigned element of the sonnet.
4. Students will participate in “free writing time,” where they will start practicing composing
rough drafts of their own sonnets.
5. Students will view short film clips where Shakespearean sonnets are being performed in some
of his plays.
Assessment:
1. Students will be placed in groups of 3-4 to research a structural component of Shakespeare’s
sonnets they have been assigned. Examples would be the octave, sestet, couplet, volta,
rhyme scheme, and iambic pentameter. They will produce a creative way to present their
acquired knowledge to the rest of the class. During each presentation they must explain
how their component is essential to the Shakespearean sonnet form and use examples
from Shakespeare’s sonnets to strengthen their point.
2. Students will chose a partner in the class with whom they will individually write their own
sonnet, but address it to their partner. As an homage to the vows Romeo and Juliet never
got to say to each other the sonnets must be vows of some sort. Topics can range from
vows of friendship to vows to play in the same fantasy football league. They must
conform perfectly to the Shakespearean sonnet form. Students will perform these sonnets
in front of the class.
3. Students will hand in all the “free writes” they participated in over the course of the unit. They
will choose one sonnet to go through several revisions to hand in as their exemplar
sonnet. They will write a short one page reflection about the revision process relating it to
how they better understand the process Shakespeare went through with careful word
choice to produce the desired end result of the sonnet.
Unit 6
“Romeo and Juliet”: Demonized Youth or Products of Their Environment?
Text: “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
Unit Description:
This unit will explore one of the most famous of Shakespeare’s tragedies, Romeo and Juliet.
Students will come to understand the genre and what techniques Shakespeare uses to make this
particular story a tragedy. Students will also explore the many reasons why Romeo and Juliet
have become the most famous literary couple of all time. Students will critically assess the
validity of Romeo and Juliet’s love, using evidence from the text to support their opinions.
Students will also research scholarly articles on Romeo and Juliet, while debating and analyzing
how Shakespeare portrayed youth and youth culture.
Enduring Understandings (Goals) and Essential Questions:
1. Students will come to understand the genre and what techniques Shakespeare uses to
make this particular story a tragedy.
- What elements of tragedy do you see in “Romeo and Juliet”?
- Does Shakespeare use comedy as well as tragedy in this play? If so, in what ways does he blend
the genres (i.e. through the character of Mercutio)?
2. Students will explore the many reasons for why Romeo and Juliet have become the most
infamous literary couple of all time.
- Does anyone read Romeo and Juliet for the “first time” or is the story so pervasive in
contemporary society that it is impossible not to come into the story without already having
preconceived ideas and opinions about the couple?
- Why do you believe these two lovers have become the most infamous literary couple of all
time?
3. Students will critically analyze, and form their own personal opinions, on the validity of
Romeo and Juliet’s relationship.
- Do you, the reader, accept or reject the validity of their love?
- What does the text suggest about the validity of Romeo and Juliet’s love?
4. Students will critically analyze scholarly articles while exploring how Shakespeare portrays
youth and youth culture.
- How does this play portray youth and youth culture? Does it demonize youth or does
Shakespeare make the characters complex enough that we understand where they are coming
from?
- Do you think the youth are portrayed as products of their environment (i.e. their
parents/society) or do you think that the youth are responsible for their own actions?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will be able to identify different elements of tragedy that are present in Romeo and
Juliet.
2. Students will be able to analyze the text, as well as scholarly articles, in order to form their
own personal opinion on the validity of the love between Romeo and Juliet.
3. Students will be able to write a critical essay, expressing their personal opinions on how
Shakespeare portrays youth and youth culture in Romeo and Juliet, using
evidence from
scholarly articles and the actual text.
Learning Activities:
1. Students will read the text on their own, and then come to class prepared to discuss 2-3
passages that interest/confuse/excite them.
2. Students will act out several important scenes during class.
3. Students will have small group discussions about the text and their opinions on several
important themes/topics (i.e. how Shakespeare depicts youth and youth culture).
4. Students will have an in-class debate (which they prepare for ahead of time) about the
validity of the relationship between Romeo and Juliet (must use evidence from
text/scholarly articles).
Assessment:
1. Students will write a critical essay analyzing the debate surrounding the validity of the
relationship/love between Romeo and Juliet.
2. Students will write a critical essay discussing how Shakespeare portrays youth and youth
culture in Romeo and Juliet.
2. Students will be assessed on their participation in small group discussion,
acting/performances, and their participation in the debate.
Unit Seven:
Grief…Guilt…Revenge!
Text: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Unit Description:
In this unit, students will further explore the genre of tragedy, and evaluate the complexity of
Hamlet’s situation, motivation and ultimate decisions. The significance of madness and suicide
will be thoroughly analyzed, and students will understand how the idea of revenge plays a role in
both Hamlet’s actions and his mental instability. Shakespeare’s depiction of women will also be
reviewed and assessed.
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions:
1. Hamlet is perpetually in conflict over whether or not he should avenge his father’s death.
- What are the primary concerns/reasons that Hamlet prolongs his decision to seek revenge for
his father’s death?
- Does Shakespeare portray Hamlet as a “victim of circumstance,” or as an indecisive young
man, incapable of formulating and carrying out a solid plan?
- How are the most basic forms of human nature revealed in Hamlet?
2. Hamlet’s soliloquies reveal the inner-workings of his mind.
- How do Hamlet’s soliloquies work for or against the argument that he is certifiably insane?
- How does the idea of “appearance vs. reality,” coincide with Hamlet’s mental stability?
- Does the presence of the supernatural lend a sense of authenticity to Hamlet’s beliefs and
decisions, or make his character seem more insane?
- What are Hamlet’s beliefs surrounding death and suicide?
3. The naive portrayal of women is debatable.
- What does the physical description of Ophelia lead readers to believe about her mental and
emotional stability?
- Does Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia lead to her ultimate demise?
- How do men in the play exercise their power over Ophelia and Gertrude?
- Are the women in the play ignorant and naïve to their individual situations?
- What is the relationship between Hamlet & Ophelia?
- What is the relationship between Hamlet & Gertrude?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. The students will understand the major themes of Hamlet: revenge, madness and corruption.
2. Students will identify the potential “tragic flaw” in Hamlet.
3. Students will recognize and identify the tragic elements of Hamlet.
4. Students will study the soliloquies and analyze the importance of each (i.e. how a soliloquy
enhances readers understanding of the play).
5. Students will formulate an educated opinion, using textual support, on the sanity of Hamlet
and Ophelia.
6. Students will articulate a detailed character analysis of Hamlet, incorporating both his
soliloquies/speeches, and his physical actions.
7. Students will understand how the theme of revenge is still relevant in our society today.
Learning Activities:
1. Students will read the text at home, and come to class with any questions/comments on the
readings that confused or interested them; these questions will be discussed as a class.
2. Students will view different scenes from different versions of the film, Hamlet. The students
will then each write a movie review for one of the clips, comparing/contrasting the film
to the actual play.
3. After the conclusion of each act, the class will split into two debate teams. Each team will be
assigned a position on a certain event or mindset of a character that they must argue for
or against. The teacher will record the main ideas of each argument on a
compare/contrast chart that is kept on the wall for the whole class to see throughout the
unit.
4. Students will work in pairs to create a mock-dialogue between Hamlet and his psychiatrist.
The students will include detailed dialogue that is relevant to an important occurrence in
the play.
Assessment:
1. Throughout the unit, students will have mini quizzes (3-5 questions) on the readings. These
quizzes may include simple identification, brief plot summary, or providing the answer to
a specific question related to an event in the assigned reading.
2. At the end of this unit, students must contemplate all the ideas that resulted from their in-class
debates, as well as from the compare/contrast chart, and formulate their own individual
conclusion on one of the debated topics. They then must write a 5-page paper on their
outlook, using textual support.
3. The students will complete a “creative project” during the unit, where they must create a
poster collage: “Using your knowledge about character analyses, choose one character
from Hamlet to focus on. Create a poster collage for this character, which should include,
but is not limited to: a photograph/drawing/depiction of the actual character, a quote
pertinent to him or her, as well as a brief written description that appropriately
summarizes their important characteristics, and pictures/artwork that aptly relate to the
individual.”
Unit 8
The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy
Text:
1. Selected chapters from Who Wrote Shakespeare? By John Mitchell, 2006
2. “The Authorship Controversy” by Jonathon Bate, 1997.
Unit Description
This unit is designed to get students to question what they read and delve into deeper
understanding of subliminal meaning. Since the beginning of the 18th century, scholars have
questioned whether the William Shakespeare of Stratford on Avon actually wrote the plays
attached to his name. Many theories abound because original manuscripts for his plays for the
most part cannot be found. It is known that many of Shakespeare’s early plays were adaptations
of already existing plays/popular stories and that many of his later plays were co-written.
However, conspiracy theorists (known as Anti-Stratfordians) make countless claims that
Shakespeare of Stratford was not the mind behind the pen, but may have merely been the man
behind the curtain. This unit will expose students to the top four Anti-Stratfordian authorship
theories: Oxfordian Theory, Baconian Theory, Marlovian Theory, and Derbyite Theory.
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions:
1. It is questionable that William Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the sonnets and plays
commonly attributed to him.
- What was Shakespeare of Stratford’s educational background and how would it allow or
disallow him to write the texts attributed to him?
- How would Shakespeare of Stratford have acquired such intimate knowledge of the court and
other countries?
- Did Shakespeare of Stratford have the knowledge and connections to make his writings so
accurately reflect political and social circumstances all across Europe?
2. Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford; Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount Saint Alban; William
Stanley, 6th Earl of Derbey; and Christopher Marlowe are each claimed to be the actual
authors of the plays commonly attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford.
- What evidence is there to support the Oxfordian Theory?
- What evidence is there to support the Baconian Theory?
- What evidence is there to support the Marlovian Theory?
- What evidence is there to support the Derbyite Theory?
- How do these theories challenge Queen Elizabeth’s title “The Virgin Queen?”
3. Every word and line written in literature—sonnet and play—has meaning and intent: direct,
allegorical, and/or subliminal.
- For each Anti-Stratfordian theory, how does the proposed real author reveal himself through
the lines and topics of his sonnets?
- For each Anti-Stratfordian theory, how does the proposed real author reveal himself through
the lines and plots of his plays?
4. Despite the dispute of who wrote the works attributed to Shakespeare of Stratford, the effect
the literature had on modern culture remains the same.
- Does it matter who the real author was?
- Does attributing Shakespeare’s texts to a different author change the universality of his themes
and their applicability to modern culture?
- Has the authorship controversy increased or decreased modern interest in Shakespeare?
Knowledge and Skills:
1. Students will use historical contexts to analyze the question of Shakespeare’s authorship.
2. Students will understand the claims of the top four anti-Stratfordian theories: Oxfordian
Theory, Baconian Theory, Marlovian Theory, and Derbyite Theory.
3. Students will understand the counter-arguments to the four anti-Stratfordian theories (Bate,
“Authorship Controversy”)
4. Students will learn to deeply analyze a text using biographical and historical criticisms.
5. Students will recognize the existence of the subliminal and debatable message beneath a text.
Learning Activities:
1. Students will read selected chapters of John Mitchell’s Who Wrote Shakespeare for homework
and write a ½ page journal response after each night’s reading.
2. Students will read Bate’s “The Authorship Controversy” and write a 1-page response on why
and how the controversies arose.
3. Students will find one article from the Internet supporting their favorite theory and summarize
it to the class in a 3-minute presentation using two forms of media (oral and one other
form).
4. Students will divide into four teams—one for each of the Anti-Stratfordian theories—and
participate in a bracket-style debate. The teacher will judge the debates. The winning
team will then debate the teacher, who will represent the Stratfordian theory that
Shakespeare is the real deal. The rest of the class that has not made it to the final round
will judge this final debate.
Assessment:
1. Homework checks will be conducted for nightly journal responses.
2. Each group will receive a grade for their debate based on participation, research, and
performance.
3. At the end of the unit each students will analyze and support or disprove one the authorship
theories using one of Shakespeare’s plays in the form of a 5-page paper which will be
graded.
Final Course Assessment
After each unit, students will have either written a reflective/analytical essay, performed a scene
from a play, written their own adaptation of a scene for a play, written a sonnet, written a
research paper, made a film, written a rap using the Shakespearean text, made a researchoriented power point presentation, or have done some form of creative response to each play in
the unit. The teacher must approve the ideas. After each unit, students will receive grades on
their essays/presentations/etc., and will be allowed to edit and resubmit them for an improved
grade. At the end of the course, students will choose three of their best assessments and put these
assessments into a portfolio.
Students will then write a 5-6 page reflective essay, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of
the pieces in their portfolio. Students will submit this portfolio for grading on the last day of
class. In this reflection, students are expected to reflect upon:
1. How do these assessments reflect your accomplishment of the Enduring
Understandings (i.e. assess strengths)? Pick two-three of the following Enduring
Understandings:
a. Students will examine Shakespeare’s language and style
b. Students will learn the three main types of genres that Shakespeare worked
with (Comedy, Tragedy, and History).
c. Students will be able to identify the influence Shakespeare has had on Modern
culture, as well as the influence that modern culture has on Shakespeare.
2. Explore what you could have done in the three assessments to further demonstrate
your understanding of important course concepts (i.e. assess weaknesses).
Final grades for the portfolio will be based on the fulfillment of criteria mentioned on a rubric.
The rubric will be given to students to follow as they complete their reflective essays.