Shakespeare Online Scavenger Hunt and

Exploration – How fun is that?!?

You will explore various websites as well as use web sites to answer the following questions to learn (or

to learn more) about Shakespeare: his life his works, the Globe theatre, and his play Romeo and Juliet.

Sometimes the question has a link attached to it. If not, use the bank of websites.

Realize, pah-lease, that a scavenger hunt is just that – a hunt! You can be led to the website, but the

answer will not always pop up as if it is being handed to you on a silver platter. You will need to read,

look, search, discern the relevant information from the irrelevant – simply put – USE YOUR BRAIN to

find (hunt for) information.

Sometimes, the task is not so much to answer a question as it is for you to state your opinion. Follow all directions and you will be a successful, learned student. Some questions have more than one part – read

carefully.

Save to your Google Drive as Shakespearefirstnamelastname. (i.e., ShakespeareTibbyDeaux). As you

type in your answers, the page will move down. Do not press enter several times to add more space.

BOLD the answers to your questions.

Remember to continue to save (do NOT wait until the end of class) as you add your answers to your

document. True story: a student actually did not save and lost all of his work that day – and yes, he was

still expected to complete the task on time.

You must answer 50 out of the 56 questions – you may not skip any questions from Task 1, nor may you

skip question 24 or 39. You may, however, skip two questions from Task 2, you may skip two questions

from Task 3 and you may skip two questions from Task 4. There will be contextual elements within the

answers to the Shakespearean online scavenger hunt on the final exam.

Website Bank (remember, use this if the questions or directives do not have a link or tell which site to use)

www.pbs.org/shakespeare/

www.folger.edu

www.bardweb.net/

www.shakespeare-online.com/

http://absoluteshakespeare.com/

http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/timeline/timeline.htm

www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-first-folio.htm

www.bardweb.net/globe.html

http://aspirations.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/movies/sound_globe.swf

Task 1 Go to www.ciconline.org/bdp1 You will need headphones for this site to be able to listen to the site.

Explore, play around, have fun and answer the following questions:

In The Printing Process:

1) How many years before Shakespeare’s birth was the printing press invented?

2) How were the words and letters formed on the press?

3) What problem did working backwards cause?

In Shakespeare’s Language:

4) Name your two favorite invented words – be sure to tell who said them and from what play.

5) Name your two favorite common expressions – be sure to tell who said them and from what play.

6) Name your two favorite creative insults – be sure to tell who said them and from what play.

In The Writing Process:

7) Check out the “foul papers” – can you read the handwriting?

In Altered Versions:

8) Why has the text been changed? Give two possible reasons and explain.

Watch Two Hamlets:

9) Comparing the two, which is your favorite and why? Which do you find more “authentic” – more

like you envision Shakespeare to be – and why?

Task 2 Answer the following questions about Shakespeare’s life:

10) Traditionally, what is Shakespeare’s date of birth and birthplace?

11) Who was Shakespeare’s father and what did he do?

12) Who was his mother?

13) What type of things did Shakespeare most probably study in grammar school?

14) What is the name of Shakespeare’s wife and when did they get married?

15) How many children did they have and what were their names?

16) Was Shakespeare an actor as well as a poet and playwright? Explain.

17) In 1594, Shakespeare joined what theatre company? What did that theatre company change its

name to?

18) Who was England’s Queen during the majority of Shakespeare’s life?

19) In what region is Stratford-on-Avon located?

20) What war occurred in Shakespeare's time and why was it fought?

21) Name one contemporary (someone who lived at the same time) of Shakespeare. When did he/she

live? What did he/she do?

22) What was the name of the theatre that Shakespeare worked in?

23) When did Shakespeare die and what was inscribed on his tomb?

24) What was going on politically, culturally and historically during Shakespeare’s life? List five

interesting facts.

Task 3 Answer the following questions about Shakespeare’s works:

25) Who felt like an actor was not qualified to be a writer...(he called Shakespeare an "upstart crow")?

26) Roughly, how old was Shakespeare when he wrote his first play?

27) How many plays and sonnets did Shakespeare write?

28) What three types of drama did Shakespeare write?

29) Shakespeare wrote many of his works in iambic pentameter. Define what that means.

http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~mwh95001/iambic.html

30) What is the First Folio?

31) Who owned the plays that Shakespeare wrote?

32) Why do you think that they were not considered to be Shakespeare's property?

33) List two famous Shakespearean quotes other than, “To be or not to be,--that is the question...,” “O

Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?,” or “Et tu, Brute.”

34) Which of Shakespeare’s plays has had the most film and television adaptations?

35) Find the year in which the first Romeo and Juliet may have been written.

36) Identify two types of endings presented in Romeo and Juliet.

37) In what year did the first female actresses appear on stage?

38) Visit the fair city of Verona, Italy. Save a picture and write a short blurb for it.

39) Listen to an NPR report on Shakespearean language at

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4761275 and summarize what it is the

commentator and the person he is interviewing say about Shakespearean language.

Task 4 Explore and answer the following questions about The Globe:

40) When was the Globe first built?

41) When did it burn? During what play?

42) The Globe Theater was built for what group of actors?

43) In what year was The Globe first rebuilt?

44) Who closed the Globe? In what year?

45) How large was the original Globe? (diameter)

46) How were the dimensions of the original Globe agreed upon by historians? And what was its

shape?

47) What were the best seats in the house at the original Globe Theatre?

48) What did Shakespeare refer to the Globe Theater as?

49) By taking a tour of the Globe Theater, do you think the best place to view the play would be on

the floor in front of the stage, the 2nd floor, or the 3rd floor? Why?

50) What was the cellar underneath the stage referred to?

51) What is a groundling? What did the groundlings do during the play?

52) What kept the "groundlings" from sitting in the gallery without paying an extra penny?

53) What are the pillars that hold up the "heavens" made of?

54) How many people can stand in the "yard?"

55) What is stored in the attic?

56) What two gods are painted on the sides of the stage? Why those two gods?