Christine Kvachkoff
EDCI 270- Lab 02
Professor Newby
Click here to
continue…
In order to navigate your way through the lesson, you
must first learn about the comedy and tragedy faces.

If you are ready to move on to the next slide, click
on the comedy face:

If you need to return to the previous slide, click on
the tragedy face:

If you need to return to the home slide, click on the
movie camera:
 9th-12th
Grade Students
 Middle Class Suburban Community
 Children interested in theatre but have
trouble applying that interest to other school
subjects, especially English
 Students involved with their school’s theatre
group or choral ensemble
 Students
work alone or in pairs of two
 In a large classroom with plenty of easily
accessible space
 In a classroom located in an isolated part of
the building where loud talking will not
disrupt other classes’ learning
Lesson #1: Famous Playwrights
After completing this activity, students will be
able to correctly identify and distinguish famous
historical playwrights, as well as discuss the
most well-known play written by each author.
 Students will critique each play with 100%
accuracy by answering all five questions
correctly on the evaluation quiz at the end of
the lesson.

Lesson #2: Character Analysis
By acting out various scenes from selected plays,
students will be able to express and analyze
different characters within the play.
 While working separately or in pairs, students
will demonstrate retention as they perform a
prepared scene from memory.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYZ6rbP
U2M
 Watch
this video entitled, “Food Court
Musical” of an acting group called
“Improv Everywhere” performing in the
food court of a shopping mall.
Select which lesson you would like to study:
Famous Playwrights
Character Analysis
 If
this is your first time learning, click here:
Start at Beginning
 If
you have already begun this lesson, click
on a specific playwright to learn about:
Shakespeare
Moliere
Poe
 In
this lesson, you will learn all about three
famous playwrights:



1. William Shakespeare
2. Moliere
3. Edgar Allen Poe
 After
reading the information provided for
each playwright, you will learn about one
major play written by that author.
 1.
Read through the information about each
playwright including the date of birth, family
members, and date of death.
 2. Next, read through the information
regarding the playwright’s most well-known
play.
 3. Then, review the information and prepare
for the evaluation quiz.
 4. Finally, take the quiz at the end of the
lesson to ensure your total learning potential.
 William
Shakespeare was born in April of 1564.
 Throughout his life, he wrote over 50 plays.
 Many of Shakespeare’s plays are studied in
countries all over the world in several
languages.
 Shakespeare had a wife named Anne, and
three children: Susanna, Hamlet, and Judith.
 Considered to be his most famous play, Hamlet
was named after his only son.
 William Shakespeare died in April of 1616.
 The
Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or
more simply titled, Hamlet is believed to have
been written between 1599-1601.
 “The play vividly charts the course of real and
feigned madness,”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet)
 The play explores themes such as:


Treachery
Revenge
 The

play Hamlet is full of symbols such as:
Skulls
 Jean-Baptiste
Poquelin was best known by his
stage name, Moliere.
 Moliere was born in January of 1622.
 Throughout his life, he wrote over 35 plays.
 Moliere had a wife named Armande Béjart,
and co-directed with his sister-in-law,
Madeleine Béjart.
 Considered to be his most famous play,
Tartuffe literally means, “The Imposter.”
 Moliere died in February of 1673.
 Tartuffe
was written and first performed in 1664.
 The play is centered on the main character
Tartuffe, who is a hypocritical clergy man. He
invites himself to an extended stay in the house
of Orgon and his wife, Elmire.
 As a result of Moliere's play, the word "tartuffe" is
used in contemporary French and English to
designate a hypocrite who ostensibly and
exaggeratedly feigns virtue, especially religious
virtue,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartuffe).
 Edgar
Allen Poe was born in January of 1809.
 Throughout his life, he wrote over 30 plays.
 Unlike Shakespeare and Moliere, Poe also wrote
many short stories in addition to plays and poetry.
 Shakespeare had a wife named Virginia Eliza
Clemm Poe, but he never had any children.
 Considered to be his most famous work, “The TellTale Heart” was written in the Gothic fiction genre.
 Edgar Allen Poe died in October of 1849.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” was first published in 1843.
 The short story follows an unnamed narrator who
insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with
a "vulture eye,”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tell-Tale_Heart).


Considered to be Poe’s most famous short story, “The
Tell-Tale Heart” focuses on themes such as:



Betrayal
Revenge
Guilt
 If
this is your first time learning, click here:
Start at Beginning
 If
you have already begun this lesson, click
on a specific play to select a passage from:
Hamlet
Tartuffe
“The Tell-Tale
Heart”
 In
this lesson, you will read excerpts from
the three plays you have just learned about:



1. Hamlet
2. Tartuffe
3. “The Tell-Tale Heart”
 After
reading the passages provided from
each play, you will learn how to analyze the
characters, scene, and overall plot.
 1.
Read through the information about each
play, and then select a scene to complete
the lesson activity.
 2. First, read through the scene quietly to
yourself.
 3. Next, read through the scene alone or
with your partner and select characters to
portray.
 4. Then, watch the video of the scene being
performed by professional actors.
 5.
Work alone or together with your partner
to conduct an accurate analysis of the scene,
plot, and characters.
 6. Once you have finished your analysis, act
out the scene alone or with your partner.
 7. Practice performing the scene and try to
develop in-depth characters.
 8. Perform your scene for your teacher and
classmates from memory.
 After
reading the short biography of both the
playwright, Shakespeare, and the play,
Hamlet, select a scene from the play to
complete the activity:
 Act 1, Scene 1: The Ghost Appears
 Act 2, Scene 1: Polonius and His Servant
 Act 3, Scene 1: Hamlet’s Monologue
 Act 4, Scene 1: The King and Queen
 Act 5, Scene 1: In the Graveyard









HAMLET
1 The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold.
HORATIO
2 It is a nipping and an eager air.
HAMLET
3 What hour now?
HORATIO
3 I think it lacks of twelve.
HAMLET
4 No, it is struck.
HORATIO
5 Indeed? I heard it not: then it draws near the season
6 Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk.
A flourish of trumpets,
*
and two pieces go off [within].
7 What does this mean, my lord?
HAMLET
8 The king doth wake tonight and takes his rouse,
9 Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring reels;
10 And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down,
11 The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out
12 The triumph of his pledge.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-
NLnsq3P7Y&feature=PlayList&p=BA5AF82197EF
7358&index=0&playnext=1
 In
this video the ghost of King Hamlet,
Hamlet’s dead father, reappears to the guards
at Elsinore. King Hamlet refuses to speak to the
guards, but appears twice in one night.
 Pay close attention to the articulate nature in
which the actor who plays Horatio speaks.
POLONIUS









Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
61 And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
62 With windlasses and with assays of bias,
63 By indirections find directions out:
64 So by my former lecture and advice,
65 Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?
REYNALDO
66 My lord, I have.
POLONIUS
66 God buy you; fare ye well.
REYNALDO
67 Good my lord!
POLONIUS
68 Observe his inclination in yourself.
REYNALDO
69 I shall, my lord.
POLONIUS
70 And let him ply his music.
REYNALDO
70 Well, my lord.
POLONIUS
71 Farewell!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN0DAxj
w0z0
 In
this video, the King’s right-hand man
Polonius imparts words of wisdom upon his
servant Reynaldo, who is departing for
France to keep an eye on Polonius’s son.
 Take note of the humor in which the actor
who plays Polonius delivers his lines. Some of
these quotes have become quite famous!







OPHELIA
93 My lord, I have remembrances of yours,
94 That I have longed long to re-deliver;
95 I pray you, now receive them.
HAMLET
95 No, not I;
96 I never gave you aught.
OPHELIA
97 My honor'd lord, you know right well you did;
98 And, with them, words of so sweet breath composed
99 As made the things more rich. Their perfume lost,
100 Take these again; for to the noble mind
101 Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
102 There, my lord.
HAMLET
103 Ha, ha! are you honest?
OPHELIA
104 My lord?
HAMLET
105 Are you fair?
OPHELIA
106 What means your lordship?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY-
QL_HJBCc
 In
this video, Hamlet performs the famous,
“To be or not to be…” speech. He is debating
whether or not to kill his uncle, King Claudius.
 Pay attention to the vast array of emotions
that the actor who plays Hamlet explores by
using his facial expressions alone.






KING
1 There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves:
2 You must translate: 'tis fit we understand them.
3 Where is your son?
QUEEN
4 Bestow this place on us a little while.
5 Ah, mine own lord, what have I seen tonight!
KING
6 What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?
QUEEN
7 Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend
8 Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit,
9 Behind the arras hearing something stir,
10 Whips out his rapier, cries, "A rat, a rat!"
11 And, in this brainish apprehension, kills
12 The unseen good old man.
KING
12 O heavy deed!
13 It had been so with us, had we been there:
14 His liberty is full of threats to all—
15 To you yourself, to us, to everyone.
16 Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?
17 It will be laid to us, whose providence
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a1ks-
S4UNU
 In
this video, King Claudius questions Queen
Gertrude about Ophelia’s sanity. Claudius is
concerned that while grieving her father’s
death, Ophelia will become dangerous.
 Observe the chemistry that exists between the
two actors playing the King and Queen. Try to
imitate this emotion in your own scene.








HAMLET
65 Has this fellow no feeling of his business, that he
66 sings at grave-making?
HORATIO
67 Custom hath made it in him a property of
68 easiness.
HAMLET
69 'Tis e'en so: the hand of little employment hath
70 the daintier sense.
HORATIO
Song.
71
But age, with his stealing steps,
72
Hath claw'd me in his clutch,
73
And hath shipped me into the land,
74
As if I had never been such.
[Shovels up a skull.]
HAMLET
75 That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once:
76 how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were
77 Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder! It
78 might be the pate of a politician, which this ass
79 now o'er-reaches; one that would circumvent God,
80 might it not?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLO5IdAl
-q8
 In
this video, Hamlet visits the graveyard to
mourn the loss of his ex-girlfriend, Ophelia.
While there, he encounters a man digging
her grave and begins a discussion with him.
 During the video, take note of the emotional
connection the actor who plays Hamlet has
with his dead jester, Yourik.
 After
reading the short biography of both the
playwright, Moliere, and the play, Tartuffe,
select a scene from the play to complete the
activity:
 Act 4, Scene 4: Tartuffe and Elmire
 Act 4, Scene 5: Tartuffe and Elmire
 Act 4, Scene 6: Orgon and Elmire





TARTUFFE
Well, if you are, as you say, strongly moved,
Your ardor, certainly, is simply proved?
ELMIRE
But how can my quick acquiescence jive,
With God's dictates for which you ever strive?
TARTUFFE
Is that what bothers you? A churchish fear?
If that is all, then we are free and clear!
You need not fret yourself about God's laws.
ELMIRE
Won't holy retribution give you pause?
TARTUFFE
I'll teach you, Ma'am, that Heaven's contradictions,
Give latitude to men of pure convictions.
It's true that Heaven frowns on some dark acts,
Though with great men, our Lord makes higher pacts.
A pious man made study of a science.




TARTUFFE
I'll deal with that, Madame, should it be dealt.
For now ...
ELMIRE
Would you just look about once more? Make sure my husband's nowhere
near the door.
TARTUFFE
Your husband? Why concern about that rube?
He drinks in every story like a boob!
If he caught us, en flagrante, that dull lout,
He'd offer up to God a joyful shout!
And even when he realized, that clown,
He'd chastise you, be careful of your gown!
ELMIRE
But yet, for sake of my unbridled passion,
Please look to see that no one waits to dash in.

ORGON
(Coming out from beneath the table:)
A total monster; he's an utter cad!
He's diabolical ... completely bad!

ELMIRE
Oh, coming out already? No, not yet!
Why not wait for some more certain threat?
Make sure you watch until you're satisfied,
At least till his entreaty's gratified.

ORGON
Could hell contain so dreadful of a beast?

ELMIRE
Why stop him now? My dress is scarcely creased!
This saint of yours, Orgon, our dear Tartuffe,
Can hardly be indicted with such proof!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFsPMY5BsV
M&p=F574D2090089946A&index=8&feature=BF
 In this scene, Tartuffe tries to seduce Elmire
while her husband Orgon hides under the table
to eavesdrop on their conversation. While
Tartuffe has no idea that Orgon is listening in,
Elmire devised the plan in an attempt to trap
Tartuffe in one of his lies.
 Pay close attention to the physical comedy
displayed by the actors throughout the scene.
 After
reading the short biography of both the
playwright, Poe, and the play, “The Tell-Tale
Heart,” select a passage from the story to
complete the activity:
 Passage #1
 Passage #2
 Passage #3
 Passage #4

“TRUE! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been,
and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had
sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them. Above
all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the
heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then,
am I mad? Harken! and observe how healthily — how calmly I can
tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea
entered my brain; but, once conceived, it haunted me day and
night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved
the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me
insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! — yes, it
was this! He had the eye of a vulture — a pale blue eye, with a
film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and
so, by degrees — very gradually — I made up my mind to take the
life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.”

“Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing.
But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I
proceeded — with what caution — with what foresight — with
what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old
man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every
night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened
it — oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening
sufficient for my head, I first put in a dark lantern, all closed,
closed, so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head.
Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I
moved it slowly — very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb
the old man’s sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head
within the opening so far that I could see the old man as he lay
upon his bed.”

“Ha! — would a madman have been so wise as this? And then,
when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern
cautiously — oh, so cautiously (for the hinges creaked) — I undid
it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.
And this I did for seven long nights — every night just at midnight
— but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to
do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his
Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly
into his chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by
name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the
night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man,
indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in
upon him while he slept.”

“Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in
opening the door. A watch’s minute-hand moves more quickly
than did mine. Never, before that night, had I felt the extent of
my own powers — of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my
feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door,
little by little, and the old man not even to dream of my secret
deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea. And perhaps the
old man heard me; for he moved in the bed suddenly, as if
startled. Now you may think that I drew back — but no. His room
was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters
were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that
he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept on pushing it
steadily, steadily.”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LNjgv5p
3Ek
 In this video, the un-named Narrator begins
his soliloquy with all the reasons for which
he committed the murder of the old man
with the vulture eye, which are completely
justified in his own mind.
 While watching the scene, take careful
notice of the actor’s movements as he
delivers the opening monologue.
 Now
that you have read through your
selected scene, answer the following
questions to perform your analysis:




1. What motives do the characters have for
feeling the way they do?
2. What events in the characters’ past lead to
the development of their personalities?
3. What context clues can you find within the
text that point to how the plot unfolds?
4. How do you see the plot unfolding after your
selected scene ends?
 After





you have finished the following tasks:
Read through your scene
Acted out the scene alone or with your partner
Performed a character and plot analysis
Practiced your scene separately or with your
partner
Committed the scene to memory
 You
are now ready to perform the scene for
your teacher and other classmates. Don’t be
nervous and have fun! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartuffe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tell-Tale_Heart
Read the question and select the best answer:
 1. Which of the following plays was written
by William Shakespeare?



A. “The Tell-Tale Heart”
B. Hamlet
C. Tartuffe
 You
have successfully completed this
question. 
 Way
to go!
 You
did not successfully complete this
question. 
 Please
try again!
 William
Shakespeare was born in April of 1564.
 Throughout his life, he wrote over 50 plays.
 Many of Shakespeare’s plays are studied in
countries all over the world in several
languages.
 Shakespeare had a wife named Anne, and
three children: Susanna, Hamlet, and Judith.
 Considered to be his most famous play, Hamlet
was named after his only son.
 William Shakespeare died in April of 1616.
Read the question and select the best answer:
 2. Which of the following is used as a symbol
throughout the play Hamlet?



A. Skull
B. Sword
C. Blood
 You
have successfully completed this
question. 
 Way
to go!
 You
did not successfully complete this
question. 
 Please
try again!
 The
Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or
more simply titled, Hamlet is believed to have
been written between 1599-1601.
 “The play vividly charts the course of real and
feigned madness,”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet)
 The play explores themes such as:


Treachery
Revenge
 The

play Hamlet is full of uses symbols such as:
Skulls
Read the question and select the best answer:
 3. What is the name of the female character in
the play Tartuffe?



A. Orgon
B. Tartuffe
C. Elmire
 You
have successfully completed this
question. 
 Way
to go!
 You
did not successfully complete this
question. 
 Please
try again!
 Tartuffe
was written and first performed in 1664.
 The play is centered on the main character
Tartuffe, who is a hypocritical clergy man. He
invites himself to an extended stay in the house
of Orgon and his wife, Elmire.
 As a result of Moliere's play, the word "tartuffe" is
used in contemporary French and English to
designate a hypocrite who ostensibly and
exaggeratedly feigns virtue, especially religious
virtue,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartuffe).
Read the question and select the best answer:
 4. What animal is used to personify the old
man’s glass eye in “The Tell-Tale Heart?”



A. Eagle
B. Vulture
C. Snake
 You
have successfully completed this
question. 
 Way
to go!
 You
did not successfully complete this
question. 
 Please
try again!
“The Tell-Tale Heart” was first published in 1843.
 The short story follows an unnamed narrator who
insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with
a "vulture eye,”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tell-Tale_Heart).


Considered as Poe’s most famous short story, “The
Tell-Tale Heart” focuses on themes such as:



Betrayal
Revenge
Guilt
Read the question and select the best answer:
 5. What is the main character’s profession in
the play Tartuffe?



A. Clergy man
B. Salesman
C. Lawyer
 You
have successfully completed this
question. 
 Way
to go!
 You
did not successfully complete this
question. 
 Please
try again!
 Tartuffe
was written and first performed in 1664.
 The play is centered on the main character
Tartuffe, who is a hypocritical clergy man. He
invites himself to an extended stay in the house
of Orgon and his wife, Elmire.
 As a result of Moliere's play, the word "tartuffe" is
used in contemporary French and English to
designate a hypocrite who ostensibly and
exaggeratedly feigns virtue, especially religious
virtue,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartuffe).
 You
have successfully completed the quiz! 
 You
are now finished with this lesson.
 Please
return to the menu page to review the
lesson or start learning all over again!

http://www.eapoe.org/works/tales/thearta.htm

http://moliere-in-english.com/tartuffe.html

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html