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Who is William Shakespeare? The Life and Times of the Great Bard
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http://www.sonoma.edu/users/b/babula/homepage.htm
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http://www.sonoma.edu/users/b/babula/homepage.htm |
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INTRODUCTION: "He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. William Shakespeare caused much controversy, yet he also earned lavish praise and has profoundly impacted the world over in areas of literature, culture, art, theatre, and film. People have put on his plays a gazillion times a year all over the world. Audiences, both young and old, love the action-packed comedies, tragedies, and histories. He used the English language like a magic wand. In his writings, he used a massive vocabulary of 29,000 words. His writing reached and entertained both the educated and the common people. He is considered one of the best English language writers ever; however, due to poor record keeping Shakespeare's life is rather mysterious and interesting. His facts are few and far between. While we know a lot about the playwright's works, Shakespeare facts concerning the Bard's personal life are less forthcoming. During Shakespeare's time, people saw little need to keep biographical records unless the person was a member of the aristocracy or had a strong connection to either the church or state. The occupation was not held in high regard. GRADE LEVEL: 9th/10th ACTIVITY TYPE: Knowledge Acquisition / Author Presentation KEYWORDS: William Shakespeare, The Great Bard OUTCOMES: Students will become familiar with the life, works, and time period of William Shakespeare. TASK: For the remainder of the year, we are going to be reading William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar, two of his best and well-known tragedies. We first need to gain some background knowledge, and what better place to find information than on the web? You are going to browse the sites that I've listed, and use the information you learn to create visuals. Let's investigate and find out all about this famous writer! You will have five class periods to locate the answers to your questions as well as to plan, design, proofread, and publish your visual documentation about William Shakespeare. You are an investigative reporter assigned to let us know who this William Shakespeare guy truly was! Good luck! PROCEDURE: You will find a series of topics related to Shakespeare's life, works, and time. With all of your classmates, you will need to research all of the topics by creating visual documents of your choice such as a poster, brochure, newspaper, magazine, comic strip, etc. Your visuals will be shared with the class as well as posted in the classroom. In addition to the print visuals, you may also use Animoto, Prezi, Podcast, or any other visual presentation tool to enhance your overall experience. VISUAL GUIDELINES: *You have control of the creative overall design - make it appealing. *Content is well-organized, clear to follow, and easy to read. Use headings and/or subheadings. *Do not plagiarize any information. No copying and pasting of material whatsoever! *Use your space wisely. Do not have too much "white space" yet do not jam the material. *Select readable and complementing fonts, sizes, and colors. *Insert graphics and images that are not distorted and of appropriate size. *Proofread your work. Make sure it is free of grammar and spelling errors. |
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