Week 4 - Soliloquy Assignment - Background work for plays

I am a bit behind in postings - - we've had a very busy yet productive holiday. I am separating the posts so that you can see how we worked it out.

We discussed what a soliloquy is and read through Jacques' soliloquy on the Seven Ages of Man. It was an interesting read, since Jacques is a bit of a pessimist. The students will rewrite parts of the soliloquy and it will be posted under the "worksheet" on the Soliloquy tab.

After reading through Jacques' soliloquy, we also read through one of Romeo's soliloquy - specifically the balcony scene. The reaction of the kids was both interesting and fun. They felt that he was one step below a stalker!

The essays from the sonnet assignment are also posted under the essays tab. They have turned out well.

To prepare for the next class, we started talking about Shakespeare's plays. I will post questions under the plays tab that can be printed so that the students can find the answers. We used Usborne's World of Shakespeare book to answer them, but any good book on Shakespeare's works should be able to provide the answers.

Also to prepare for reading A Midsummer Night's Dream, I suggest reading an abridged version or children's version. This will give the students an idea of the play, perhaps making it a little easier to follow. It is not necessary, as this play is one of the easier ones.