Exploring Shakespeare’s KS3 plays and language using three of … › wp-content › uploads › 2019 › 12 › ... · 2019-12-11 · Spring Term 1 2019/20 Drama & Theatre 1 KS3

www.dramaandtheatre.co.uk Spring Term 1 2019/20 Drama & Theatre 1

KS3

Rhianna ElsdenKS3

IntroductionThis scheme offers a wide range of activities to enable teachers to explore Shakespeare’s plays and his language with KS3 students. It offers ideas on how to work with three texts (Romeo and Juliet; Macbeth and King Lear) and several key scenes practically, deliberately not providing a depth of exploration to any one text.

There are both on and off-text ideas and activities. The activities outlined develop students’ understanding of the characters, plot and themes for key moments throughout the plays, and help them to work more confidently with sixteenth-century language. Many of the activities could be adjusted to inspire the exploration of other Shakespearean scenes or whole texts.

Learning objectivesBy the end of this scheme all students will:

§ Have developed their understanding of how to develop characterisation and realise scenes interpreting a writer’s/Shakespeare’s intentions

§ Have developed their ability to work in groups § Have developed their understanding of sixteenth-century performance conditions § Have developed their confidence to work with sixteenth-century language in performance § Have used a variety of rehearsal techniques and exploratory strategies to interpret characters, themes and plot within scenes

§ Have explored the range of themes in the texts practically and then through reflective question and answer opportunities.

By the end of this scheme some students will: § Have developed their creative writing skills and ability to write in-role.

Lesson 1: Developing confidence working with sixteenth-century language and developing an understanding of Shakespeare’s importanceLearning objectivesBy the end of this lesson students will have learnt:

§ How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work § How to begin to work with sixteenth-century language.

Starter: DiscussionThink/Pair/Share, or ask students to write responses on their own in their books:

§ List as many plays written by Shakespeare as you can think of. § ‘Shakespeare is not relevant anymore.’ Write your opinion of this statement.

PowerPoint Slides 2-4 can then come in with discussions after you have heard from the students with their own responses.

Starter: PracticalUsing PowerPoint Slide 5, each student turns to the person next to them and gives them a compliment. They start by saying ‘Good morrow thou’ and then they add one word from the first column to one from the middle and one from the third column.

Resources § Internet access § PowerPoint presentation provided

with this scheme of work.

ExtensionAsk students to shake hands, or, better yet, bow with a flourish as they walk around the room complimenting each other.

Rhianna Elsden has been a qualified teacher of Drama since graduating from Cambridge in 2002. She has worked in three state schools and extensively for Edexcel/Pearson. Having previously been a Head of Drama and Faculty, she is now a member of SLT and an SLE responsible for training and development in her school and across the Dorset County. She is also a published writer of educational books and play scripts and is currently undertaking a PhD with the University of Birmingham exploring verbatim theatre.

Exploring Shakespeare’s plays and language using three of his major tragedies


Exploring Shakespeare’s plays KS3

Main activityGive students a handout created by using free and adapted-to-suit Shakespearean insult lists from the internet.

Each student goes around the room and insults every other student in the room using different insults from the sheet each time. They must stand and say their words and stare each other out as they walk to their next person. Encourage all students to be bold and have a go, even if they are unsure of pronunciations.

The activity then extends using PowerPoint Slide 6, whereby students in pairs now create a simple scene in which they insert sixteenth-century greetings and insults from the previous activities into the current script below:

A: Good morrow thou ..........B: Hello thou ..........A: Let me by, I have to cross this road.B: No, you can’t.A: Why?B: Because I said so.

Students must work not only to use the sixteenth-century language appropriately, but they must also be encouraged to deliver it with attention to the right tone, pace, etc., and to add movement so the scene is not just static.

Students rehearse and then show their mini-scenes to the class in turn.

PlenaryUse PowerPoint Slide 7, with some top tips on working with Shakespeare’s language.

HomeworkThe next couple of lessons will be on Romeo and Juliet. Students should research the plot, using summaries and/or videos from sites such as YouTube.

Lesson 2 (potentially also Lesson 3): Exploring the opening scene of Romeo and JulietLearning objectivesBy the end of this lesson students will have learnt:

§ How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work § How to develop characterisation skills – aural and physical – alongside sixteenth-century language

§ How to develop confidence working with Shakespeare’s scripts.

StarterPowerPoint Slides 8 and 9 quiz.1 What is Romeo’s surname?2 What is Juliet’s surname?3 Where do they meet?4 Why do their families not want them to get together?5 What is the name of the city in which the story takes place?6 Whose mistake leads to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths?7 How does Romeo die? How does Juliet die.8 What happens as a result of their deaths?

Starter: PracticalIn pairs, students complete a shorter ‘insult scene’ than last lesson, this time just taking one word that they remember and adding ‘thou’. This time, when they finish, they do so ‘biting their thumb’ and staring each other out.

Rehearse and then pick some examples to watch.

You may like to read the words to the students, and certainly do point out that not every word can be literally translated, but maybe they can work out what type of insult some are; i.e. some would be about the way a person looks or about their intelligence. For students of lower-prior attainment or with SEN, giving them a shorter sheet with fewer options is a supportive measure.

These top tips, plus others, are expanded upon across the internet. For example, students could be directed to: www.enotes.com/topics/how-to-understand-shakespeares-language

http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-to-understand-shakespeares-language





Main activityOutline the plot to the scene ‘do you bite your thumb at me, sir’ and also re-clarify what the action of biting the thumb would mean in sixteenth-century England.

Then, watch all, or at least the first and last example from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9D_4A7yYzc which has staging of the ‘do you bite your thumb at me’ scene from four different film versions.

Discuss the examples and ask which students prefer and why. You may well be surprised with their responses; I have sometimes assumed they will like the more modern context version, but often this isn’t the case. Getting students to discuss why they think directors may stage ‘modern context’ versions of Shakespeare while using the original language is often an interesting debate as well.

Now give students a handout of the scene; just up to the fight starting is best so that they will focus on dialogue and not fighting when they come to acting the scene later.

In groups of three or four, rehearse the script, maybe starting with the modern version for a couple of run throughs before they then switch to just using the sixteenth-century text.

Students are again encouraged to focus on the way they move and speak the lines so that they recognize that the delivery needs all the same attention to tone, etc., that any other realization of a script would need.

Rehearse and then pick some examples to watch.

DifferentiationIf a group struggles, then ask them to turn the scene into some still images, and for each still image they/a narrator speaks some/all of the line that goes with the still image.

Some groups might also mix the modern with the sixteenth-century language if they find this easier. This is still appropriate, because by mixing the modern and the original language they are showing confidence to switch back and forth and gaining confidence to leave all the modern translations behind next time.

Plenary/HomeworkStudents learn their lines to perform in the next lesson if you are taking this across two lessons.

If not, use the plenary to watch a couple, or as many as possible, of the rehearsed on-script scenes and encourage WWW rather than EBI at this stage whilst students are building their confidence.

Lesson 4: The Prologue in Renaissance drama (Romeo and Juliet)Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson students will have learnt:

§ How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work § How to develop characterisation skills – aural and physical – alongside sixteenth-century language

§ How to develop confidence working with Shakespeare’s scripts – specifically prologues § How Shakespeare presents action and themes in introductions/prologues.

StarterShow PowerPoint Slide 10 introducing what a Prologue is and its use in Renaissance and other theatre.

PowerPoint Slide 11: read the prologue as a class. Give an overview of the prologue using a summary (online available from various sources) or a line-by-line breakdown may be necessary for students to feel confident working with the language.

PowerPoint Slides 12 and 13 to test specific words ahead of the practical: § Grudge = ongoing argument § Fatal = leading to death § Foes = enemies § Rage = anger § Verona = a town in Italy § Strife = trouble.

Online examples have the modern and sixteenth-century text side by side which is very useful when first introducing students to working with the language.

The reason for not doing this as the second lesson in this scheme is that the second lesson proposed links to the action/style of the first with the ‘insults’, but this could easily be swapped to be the second lesson instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9D_4A7yYzc



Starter: PracticalIn groups of four or five, create still images for five key moments of action in the Prologue (PowerPoint Slide 14):1 ‘Two households’2 ‘ancient grudge’3 ‘A pair of star-crossed lovers’4 ‘take their life’5 ‘with their death bury their parents’ strife’Rehearse and show the images, evaluating the same as would be done for any still image work, using key language in the evaluations on levels, facial expression, gestures, body language, eye contact, posture, use of space.

Main activityPowerPoint Slide 15.

In groups, perform the prologue section below dividing the reading between the group however you like. Encourage groups to be experimental and repeat key words, use choral on words of lines to add impact for the vocal delivery as well as the physical activity. For each moment in italics, this is where you form and hold your still images from the starter activity.

Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-crossed loverstake their life,Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDoth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

PlenaryEach group performs and evaluates the vocal delivery as well as the action alongside in the form of the still images.

ExtensionPowerPoint Slide 16: students in groups of four/five perform the action below from the action outlined in the Prologue. They should add in their own dialogue, except for the part outlined at the end where they must use the original sixteenth-century lines. This activity doesn’t include a narrator – the action and their own added dialogue communicates the meaning:

§ A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life § The Prince tells off the families for quarrelling § They agree to stop (Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife) § Golden statues are put up of Romeo and Juliet as a reminder to all of the tragedy and the need for continued peace

§ Add in these lines for each death – but who says which? § ‘Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.’ § ‘Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. Oh happy dagger!’

PlenaryTo ensure that there is a consolidation of understanding overall of the language and of sixteenth-century performance conditions, as well as the development practically of the student’s skills in drama, multiple choice Q&A PowerPoint Slide 18 or Knowledge test PowerPoint Slide 17 can be used .



Lessons 5 and 6: Macbeth and the witches’ use of languageLearning objectivesBy the end of this lesson students will have learnt:

§ How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work § How to develop their use of voice and characterisation § How to use their creative writing skills to develop a text for performance.

StarterMany of Shakespeare’s plays have characters being deceived, sometimes by the ways in which other characters use their words ….

Using PowerPoint Slide 19 (and 20 for the answers), and any other examples that you like, get students to try to solve the riddles/word plays:

§ The more you take away, the more I become. What am I? § If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you haven’t got me. What am I? § How can you make seven even? § Four fingers and a thumb, yet flesh and blood, I have none. What am I?

DiscussionGet students to share what they know of the plot of Macbeth and then use PowerPoint Slide 21 to cover any gaps in their knowledge of the plot.

PowerPoint Slide 22 connects the opening riddles activity to the plot with students making the link from what the witches say to Macbeth’s misinterpretation of their ‘riddles’.

Main activityRead a copy of the witches’ spell and use the following link to help with students’ understandings for key words or terms (PowerPoint Slide 23): www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/witcheschants.html

Before working on performing the sixteenth-century spell, in pairs or small groups create a spell script with modern yucky ingredients with rhyme:

§ It could be ABBA structure § It could be ABAB structure § It could be AABBC structure.Ensure students know what each of these structures mean and where words need to rhyme

in the structure. They should write four lines and add in the ‘double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble’ lines at the end to create six lines in total.

This is then practised adding in characterisation (and movement as well as interesting use of their voices if they have time).

Plenary/HomeworkAsk them to show and evaluate their own spells, and then in groups of four or five select a section from the original play text. This is then to be learnt as homework.

Lesson 6: Continuing from last lesson – witches in MacbethStarterPowerPoint Slide 24 can be used to remind students of key ingredients and the meanings.

PowerPoint Slide 25 has some Dingbat examples that could engage students in the idea again of wordplay as used by the witches elsewhere in the play.

Main activityIn the groups arranged at the end of the last lesson, students will rehearse and perform a section of the witches’ spell.

Students should consider how they will move and potentially whether their movement could add rhythm as well as character. Unlike the original, they can be allowed to split lines up, and even repeat words in sentences to create impact and effect.

Rehearse, perform and evaluate.

Students could be shown examples of Greek Choral work or do exercises based on this style to add to their experimentation with the original text.

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/witcheschants.html



Extension activityExplore the sections where Macbeth meets the witches, either with Banquo, or on his own, and in so doing they should focus further on the word play and characterisation.

HomeworkThe next lessons will focus on King Lear. Students can ensure they know the basic plot as homework. The following link has a good synopsis to which they could be directed: http://cdn2.rsc.org.uk/sitefinity/education-pdfs/school-synopses/edu-kinglear-schoolsynopsis.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Lesson 7: Exploring King Lear and its originsLearning objectivesBy the end of this lesson students will have learnt:

§ How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work § How to adapt a short story into a play for performance § How to use characterisation and narration effectively for an audience.

StarterStart by giving a reward consistent with the school policy to one of the students in the class for something they did in a recent lesson.

Ask other students to now reflect on when they have been given compliments by friends or adults (for example teachers in other classes) and ask them to reflect on how this felt.

Then get a student to come up and this becomes a game. Everyone in the room is going to give a compliment to them and the one they like best they will reward (maybe there is a ‘treat’ that you can give them to pass on, for example).

Start the game and then afterwards the reward is given for the best/most flattering compliment (as the game goes on, the compliments are likely to get increasingly over-the-top, which is the aim).

Ask how this exercise links to what students have researched on the plot of King Lear, especially the opening and the division of his kingdom? How does Lear get ‘taken in’ by compliments and flattery? What is his misunderstanding of his daughters?

Main activityShakespeare tended to borrow ideas and stories from many places as inspiration for his plays. The story of King Lear exists in several forms and we know that Shakespeare was very influenced by a play called Leire Kinge of England and his Three Daughters. The character of a King called Ler, Leir or Lyr is also present in British and Irish mythology.

It appears that the story of Lear and his daughters has its roots in the folk tale Love Like Salt, which is told around the world in different forms. Show PowerPoint Slide 27 and read it through with the group. Discuss how it connects to the starter and the plot of the play as they understand it.

Break it down into a series of still images to begin with and get students in groups to show one still image each to present the story in the round as a whole class.

Then ask the students in groups of five/six to present the whole story, with or without a narrator, with dialogue and action inspired by the Indian version as a stimulus.

They rehearse and show this.

Plenary/HomeworkDiscuss the other points from the plot of King Lear that Shakespeare has added to the traditional Indian story. Set homework to re-check summaries of the plot and especially the scene in which Gloucester is tortured.

http://cdn2.rsc.org.uk/sitefinity/education-pdfs/school-synopses/edu-kinglear-schoolsynopsis.pdf?sfvrsn=2

http://cdn2.rsc.org.uk/sitefinity/education-pdfs/school-synopses/edu-kinglear-schoolsynopsis.pdf?sfvrsn=2



Lessons 8 and 9: Exploring King Lear – the eye-gouging sceneLearning objectivesBy the end of this lesson students will have learnt:

§ How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work § How to use characterisation effectively for an audience § How to stage complex action to ‘hide’ and ‘show’ key things to the audience, considering sight lines

§ How to establish mood and atmosphere through use of pause and non-verbal communication as well as consideration of design elements.

StarterKing Lear begins with the King dividing his kingdom and being deceived by flattery from two daughters and misinterpreting the words of another ( just like the scenarios explored in the last lesson).

In fours, students improvise the scene below in their own words – a king dividing his wealth and assets between his daughters:

§ Daughters A and B will flatter him, will promise him things they think he wants to hear § Daughter C is going to try and talk him out of dividing the kingdom and refuses to flatter or propose anything, thinking the whole idea bad for everyone and also disrespectful to the father/King

§ None of the sisters get along, but they would never be openly horrible/rude/ aggressive to each other as they know it would upset the father – but A and B need to work together to make sure they get the kingdom and maybe they can have sister C thrown out for disrespect to the father/King.

Having improvised, they then stop, evaluate what has worked so far and re-start. The aim is to come up with a rehearsed short scene lasting one-to-two minutes long, encompassing the bullet point action which resembles the action from the opening of King Lear.

ExtensionAsk students to use the compliment generator from the first lesson so that the compliments and flattery use sixteenth-century words not their own; this will allow them to demonstrate their confidence at understanding and applying the original text into their own work.

Main activityPowerPoint Slide 28 outlines the eye-gouging scene as a re-cap or clarification ahead of working with the text.

Then, in groups of six, stage the scene based on the plot outline, but in modern English. This is a development from earlier, where the students would read a modern version before seeing the sixteenth-century text. This time they will not see the modern translation, they will only work from a summary, and then the original language, allowing them to showcase their new confidence.

They should now rehearse and show their scenes. Then they read Act 3, scene 6 in the original text, and assign the parts so that everyone knows what language and action they are learning for homework.

HomeworkRead Act 3, scene 6 in the original language, again looking up any words if you are unsure. Learn them ready to perform them off-by-heart next lesson

In the next lesson the time is about rehearsal, with lots of pausing of the rehearsals to really focus on the acting. As the focus is also on working confidently with Shakespeare’s language a quick quiz may help them focus again on the key elements:

§ What does the word ‘gouging’ mean? § Why does Gloucester lose his eyes? § Why does King Lear decide to divide his kingdom at the start of the play? § What is the name of the daughter who disappoints King Lear at the start? § What does the word ‘flattery’ mean? § How could the play be relevant to today?



During rehearsals, this time students will be led, through modelling and their own trial and evaluation, to work out how to block sight lines when doing the stage combat and gouging so that the audience can’t see that it is ‘fake’ and instead they get taken in by the gruesome action/atmosphere.

It may well take two lessons to get the scenes rehearsed fully with pausing, showing, evaluating and re-rehearsing.

During the pauses in rehearsing ask students to really focus on a line and either write or respond as follows:

§ Describe in extreme detail what you are doing/intend to do physically and also vocally. § What impact do you want to have on the audience for this line? § Your key words include: fast, slow (pace), gesture, movement, action, facial expression, eye contact, proxemics to others, use of space

§ Volume, emphasis, tone, pitch, pause.As this is the final activity of the scheme, students should be showcasing everything they

have learnt across the lessons in terms of successfully working with the original language and communicating Shakespeare’s words and actions as he intended for an audience. Music and lighting (if available) could be added, but not solely relied upon to create atmosphere and tension. Students must achieve the dark nature of this scene through effective acting and action. D&T



RESOURCES

Powerpoint presentation

An introduction to exploring practically Shakespeare’s plays and language with KS3 Drama students using three of his major tragedies

1

The challenge of Shakespeare – the 16th Century language

3

Compliment generator: greet with ‘Good Morrow thou’ and then add one from each column

rare

sweet

fruitful

brave

sugared

gallant

delicate

celestial

honey-tongued

well-wishing

fair-faced

best-tempered

tender-hearted

tiger-booted

smooth-faced

smilet

cuckoo-bud

nose-herb

wafer-cake

pigeon-egg

Welsh cheese

true-penny

valentine

5

Extended Reading – making sense of Shakespeare top tips

• Read to the end of the sentence• Reword sentences• Expand contracted words• Identify word play – puns, malapropisms• Recognize the use of metaphor

• Don’t try to understand every word

7

The world is a better place because of Shakespeare…

• We owe most of modern storytelling’s characteristics to Shakespeare.

• Theatre has never been the same since his plays’ first performances

• Shakespeare’s influence can be noted in everything from contemporary language to expectations of audience behavior.

2

Accessing Shakespeare’s language

• At first, trying to read Shakespeare's works may seem like learning a foreign language.

• Performed for audiences more than four centuries ago, Shakespeare's plays were written in Early Modern English, so it’s natural to feel confused by word choices and sentence structures that have evolved since then.

• However, the more you work with Shakespeare’s language, the more comfortable you’ll feel when reading his works.

4

Extending the activity – add greetings/ insults to this simple script – an example is

includedA: Good morrow thou...B: Hello thou...A: Let me by, I have to cross this road. (A: Let me by, thou frothy dizzy-eyed maggot pie. I have to cross this road. )B: No, you can’t. A: Why?B: Because I said so.

6

Quick Knowledge Test: On paper/books, write your answers to the following questions on Romeo and Juliet

plot1. What is Romeo’s surname?2. What is Juliet’s surname?3. Where do they meet?4. Why do their family’s not want them to get together?5. What is the name of the city in which the story takes place?6. Whose mistake leads to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths?7. How do they each die?

a) Romeo?b) Juliet?

8. What happens as a result of their deaths?a) b)

8



Knowledge test: On paper/books, write your answers to the following questions on Romeo and

Juliet plot1. What is Romeo’s surname? Montague2. What is Juliet’s surname? Capulet3. Where do they meet? Masquerade/Ball/ party/Capulet Feast4. Why do their family’s not want them to get together? Because the

families are enemies5. What is the name of the city in which the story takes place? Verona6. Whose mistake leads to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths? Friar Lawrence7. How do they each die?

a) Romeo? Drinks poisonb) Juliet? Stabs herself

8. What happens as a result of their deaths?a) A statue is put up in the city of Romeo and Julietb) The families agree not to fight anymore

9

PrologueTwo households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny.Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDoth with their death bury their parents’ strife.The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,And the continuance of their parents’ rage.Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage.The which if you with patient ears attend,What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

This is written in the form of a Sonnet (a kind of poem).It is 14 lines, where every other line rhymes except for the last 2, which rhyme with each other.

11

Answers

Grudge = ongoing argumentFatal = leading to deathFoes = enemiesRage = angerVerona = a town in ItalyStrife = trouble

13

Perform this – read and add in your still images where it is underlined

• Two households, both alike in dignity,• In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,• From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,• Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.• From forth the fatal loins of these two foes• A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,• Whose misadventured piteous overthrows• Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

15

Romeo and Juliet – The Prologue

With the prologue, Shakespeare sets up the story and gives us the background.

This was a common device in Renaissance theatre to allow the play to get straight into the story.

Audiences needed to be engaged from the start of the play as, if they didn’t like what they were seeing, they could be very rowdy!

10

Match the meanings to the words and write these in your books

Grudge =Fatal =Foes = Rage = Verona =Strife =

TroubleAngerEnemiesA town in Italy Leading to deathOngoing argument

12

Still ImagesPrologue broken down into key images – what might we show in

each?1. ‘Two households’2. ‘ancient grudge’3. ‘A pair of star-crossed lovers’4. ‘take their life’5. ‘with their death bury their parents’ strife’

14

Act this reduced version of the end scene

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,The Prince tells off the families for quarrellingThey agree to stop (Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife)Golden statues are put up of Romeo and Juliet as a reminder to all of the tragedy and the need for continued peace

Add in these lines for each death – but who says which?‘Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die’‘Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. Oh happy dagger!’

16



Knowledge test

• Young men played the roles of young women on stage in 16th century – why, and how would this be disguised?

• If an audience didn’t like a play, what might they do?

• How were Shakespeare’s audiences divided?• What is a prologue used for?• What do you know will happen in a play that

is ‘a tragedy’?17

Many of Shakespeare’s plays have characters being deceived, sometimes by the ways in which other characters use their words ...

Write down and try to solve the following puzzles:• The more you take away, the more I become.

What am I?• If you have me, you want to share me. If you

share me, you haven't got me. What am I?• How can you make seven even?• Four fingers and a thumb, Yet flesh and blood, I

have none. What am I?

19

Macbeth – top things we need to know:

• Macbeth and his friend Banquo, who are returning from battle, meet witches. They tell Macbeth he will be King.

• Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the events and she persuades him to kill the King, Duncan.

• Macbeth kills the King, blames it on the guards and is made King of Scotland after King Duncan's sons flee to England and Ireland.

• Macbeth orders the death of Banquo and Banquo's son Fleance, as he is scared that Banquo will realise the truth.

• Banquo is killed but Fleance escapes. Macbeth starts to panic, and at dinner with the Lords one night, imagines he sees the ghost of Banquo.

• Macbeth returns to the witches. They tell him that he should beware of Macduff, that he will not be killed until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane castle and that he cannot be killed by a man born of a woman.

• Macbeth feels better but his wife Lady Macbeth appears to be losing her mind.• Malcolm, son of the old King of Scotland, and Macduff plan to attack the castle.

Meanwhile, in the castle Macbeth says he will carry on fighting and Lady Macbeth jumps to her death.

• Malcolm and Macduff's army attack the castle, cutting down branches and hiding behind them to camouflage themselves. Macduff finds Macbeth…

21

Read the witches spell

• What are some the ingredients you can work out?

• What are some that you don’t understand/ haven’t heard of and need a definition of?

• Brilliant website to help you - homework: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/witcheschants.html

23

Multiple choice question answersWhere does a prologue come in a play?• the start as a summary of what is to come

What is the historical period that Shakespeare’s work is linked to?• Renaissance

Where is Romeo and Juliet set?• Verona

How many lines does a sonnet have?• 14

Shakespeare’s audience would not understand all the words spoken by the actors –why was this?• Shakespeare made up lots of new words that he used in his plays

18

answers• The more you take away, the more I become.

What am I? hole• If you have me, you want to share me. If you

share me, you haven't got me. What am I? secret

• How can you make seven even? Take the S off the start of the word

• Four fingers and a thumb, Yet flesh and blood, I have none. What am I? a glove

20

Macbeth

• Macbeth allows himself to be influenced by witchesand what they tell him will happen in the future

• He does not realise that they are telling him half-truths, riddles, and things that can be interpreted morethan one way, for example the witches tell him:

‘none of women born / Shall harm Macbeth’ = ‘You cannot be killed by a man who has been born of a woman’Macbeth takes this to mean he is therefore immortal –but what has he misinterpreted?

22

What are the meanings of these ingredients:

Fenny snakeWitches’ mummyGall of goatMaw and gulf Of the ravined salt-sea sharkTiger’s chaudren

What do these words mean:BlasphemingDrabHedge-pig

24



What about these? What is the word play going on here?

25

The King and His DaughtersThere was once a King who had several daughters. To the first he said, "How do you love me?" "I love you as sugar," said she. To the next he said, "And how do you love me?" "I love you as honey," said she. To the third he said, "And how do you love me?" "I love you as sherbet," said she. To the last and youngest he said, "And how do you love me?" "I love you as salt," said she. On hearing the answer of his youngest daughter the King frowned, and, as she persisted in repeating it, he drove her out into the forest.

There, when wandering sadly along, she heard the tramping of a horse, and she hid herself in a hollow tree. But the fluttering of her dress betrayed her to the rider, who was a prince, who instantly fell in love with her and married her.

Some time after, the King, her father, who did not know what had become of her, paid her husband a visit. When he sat down to eat, the princess took care that all the dishes presented to him should be made-up sweets, which he either passed by altogether or merely tasted. He was very hungry, and was longing sorely for something which he could eat, when the princess sent him a dish of common spinach, seasoned with salt, such as farmers eat, and the King signified his pleasure by eating it with relish.

Then the princess threw off her veil, and, revealing herself to her father, said, "Oh my father, I love you as salt. My love may be homely, but it is true, genuine and lasting, and I entreat your forgiveness." Then the King perceived how great a mistake he had made, and there followed a full reconciliation.

27

Group performances

• In your groups you will perform your section of the witches’ spell

• Notice it has a rhythm created through the use of syllables and the rhyming structure – especially in the repeated ‘double double’ section

• How will you move?• Could your movements add rhythm?• You can split lines up; you can repeat words to

create impact and effect

26

A key scene – the eye gouging scene

• Oswald brings word that Gloucester has helped Lear escape to Dover. Gloucester is found and brought before Regan and Cornwall. They treat him cruelly, tying him up, insulting him, and pulling his white beard. Cornwall remarks to himself that he cannot put Gloucester to death without holding a formal trial but that he can still punish him brutally and get away with it.

• Admitting that he helped Lear escape, Gloucester swears that he will see Lear’s wrongs avenged. Cornwall replies, “See ’t shalt thou never,” and proceeds to dig out one of Gloucester’s eyes, throw it on the floor, and step on it Gloucester screams, and Regan demands that Cornwall put out the other eye too.

• One of Gloucester’s servants suddenly steps in, saying that he cannot stand by and let this outrage happen. Cornwall draws his sword and the two fight. The servant wounds Cornwall, but Regan grabs a sword from another servant and kills the first servant before he can injure Cornwall further. Irate, the wounded Cornwall gouges out Gloucester’s remaining eye and then they push him, blind, out of the castle gates

28

Documents

Exploring Shakespeare’s KS3 plays and language using three of … › wp-content › uploads › 2019 › 12 › ... · 2019-12-11 · Spring Term 1 2019/20 Drama & Theatre 1 KS3