ELA 10: Lesson 1 - Video Lesson:

Introduction to Shakespeare and Macbeth

NOTE: This lesson will be a BEFORE reading video lesson, followed by an AFTER reading video lesson. The assumption is that you will be watching a version of Macbeth either DURING or after reading the play, which will help the students understand the language and dramatic actions, soliloquy readings, and overall story of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

OBJECTIVES:

• To respond personally, critically, and creatively to visual representations, and to television, film and video presentations
• Practice the behaviours of effective, strategic readers
• Make and defend an informed critical response
• A variety of patterns can be used to organize thoughts within each format (e.g., chronological, spatial, enumerative, problem and solution, cause/effect, comparison/contrast)
• Analyze and evaluate the ideas presented and the social, moral, and intellectual development of characters in texts 
• Assess an author's ideas and techniques 
• Compare and contrast the structure and characteristics of various selections 
• Compare values expressed in texts through characters to own values 

PART ONE: Before Reading

Shakespearean Play: Tragedy  

Borrowed from Discovery Education website:

Title Description

All the world’s a stage! Shakespeare has been called the greatest writer of the English language, but who was Shakespeare? What kind of a world did he live in? Why is he so great? The Standard Deviants have the answers. Get ready for an inside look at Shakespeare’s life and times, his use of language, and the nitty-gritty of Elizabethan drama.

LENGTH: 26 Minutes

The play is split into 3 sections, and the rest of the video is review and other good information.

PART ONE: Who was Shakespeare?

• Section A: Shakespeare's Life and Times (7 min.)

Ben Jonson called Shakespeare, "A man for all times". Shakespeare was born in England in 1564. He belonged to an acting company that performed indoors and out. He wrote plays and was an actor and shareholder in the company. He wrote dramas in 1589,1594, and from 1596-1603. His sonnets were also written in 1603. He lived the life of a country gentleman and died at the age of fifty-two.

•   The chart from the activity follows this section of the video 

• Section B: Shakespeare's Use of Language (5 min.)

Shakespeare was a master of the English language. He wrote in both poetry, concentrated language, and prose, common everyday speech. His metrical writing was in blank verse or unrhymed iambic pentameter. It was the common practice of the day's speech, and it most resembled a normal pattern of speech. It was also pleasing to the ear.

•   The terms section of the activity follows this section of the video

• Section C: Elizabethan Drama (9 min.) 

The theater presentations of that time period were limited in their props, costumes and lighting. The most effective technique they had to sway the audience was to use words. The audience expected verbal signs, not visual, as we expect today. Everything that the audience needed to know was conveyed through words.

•    The viewing questions in the activity follow this section of the video 

Watch the video in class and have students complete the activities below the video: 

http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=d00f34b2-b123-45fa-b420-f3992eeddbd3&productcode=HUB&CFID=7996644&CFTOKEN=87116881

ACTIVITIES:

ELA 10: Introduction to Shakespeare: Video and Activity Guide

Section A: Shakespeare’s Life and Times:

Fill in the chart below, describing what was going on during this time in England and during Shakespeare’s time. We will discuss after the video.

Section B: Shakespeare’s Use of Language:

Blank Verse –

Meter –

Poetry –

Prose –

Iamb –

Iambic Pentameter –

Section C: Viewing Questions - Elizabethan Drama 

Answer the following questions during and after viewing the video. These questions not only come from the video, but are also part of your understanding of Shakespeare’s time. (22 marks)

1. Where did Shakespeare grow up? (1)
2. Who was the Elizabethan era named after? (1)
3. Who were the groundlings? (1)
4. What did Medieval art focus on? (1)
5. Why were plays performed during the day? (1)
6. Where were many of Shakespeare’s plays first performed?  (1)
7. Give 4 descriptions of Globe Theatre’s construction. (4)
8. Label the following sections of the Globe Theatre: (INCLUDE A PICTURE - have students draw where these sections are found):  Pit; Penthouse; Groundlings; Trapdoor; Stage (5) 
9. How do you think Shakespeare viewed human nature? Do you think he was a pessimist, and optimist, or something else entirely?  (3)
10. Did Elizabethan audiences listen intently to the words of Shakespeare’s plays? Why? (2)
11. Give an example of symbolism from the video. (1)
12. What was the name of the theatrical company of which Shakespeare was a member? (1)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION... 

PART TWO: After Reading

Macbeth: Tragedy, Plot, Language and Characters

Borrowed from Discovery Education website:

Title Description

Macbeth is a historical drama set in the country of Scotland. It is a tragedy as MacBeth falls due to his own ambitions. The supernatural, the occult, and the use of prphecy by the witches gives this play an aura of mystery that leads to murder, deceit, and bloody scenes., and finally, justice.

LENGTH: 26 Minutes 

• Watch the video in class and have students complete the activities below the video: 

http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=7a518db3-741b-4310-b91e-811c40f32728&productcode=HUB&CFID=7996644&CFTOKEN=87116881 

ACTIVITIES:

Coming Soon!

Another option is to use this video from Teacher Tube... 

Macbeth: Tradegy, Theme, and Motif