Summary for lesson 8:

What did we cover
– Reflected on the lesson
– Discussed the relationship between Prospero and Shakespeare
– Analysed two of Prospero’s speeches from the play
– Debated how the play can be seen as Shakespeare’s ‘farewell’ to the stage
– Worked through the questions for the second half of The Tempest
– Debated whether Prospero was a ‘victim’ or a ‘villain’

Class report
Today we looked at the second half of The Tempest and had some in depth discussions
regarding the significance of this being Shakespeare’s final play.
We began our lesson by discussing how Shakespeare can be regarded as similar to
Prospero; we spoke about the ‘magic’ of theatre and how the fact that Prospero gives up his
magic can be seen as a reflection of Shakespeare giving up his craft. The students had some
excellent views on this issue, and were able to find some great pieces of textual evidence to
back up their arguments.
We also read through and analysed some speeches that Prospero gives in the play. The
students did a wonderful job at unpicking Shakespeare’s language and using these speeches
to further support the claim that there is a link between Prospero and Shakespeare.
We worked through the second half of the VIPERS questions, and I was particularly
impressed by how well the students responded to the ‘bigger’ questions. They were very keen
to share their thoughts and opinions, and the way they used the evidence from the text to help
forward the discussion was wonderful.
To finish off, we debated whether Prospero is a ‘victim’ or a ‘villain’. This was probably one of
the most lively debates we have had so far; the students built upon and countered each
other’s ideas fantastically, and it was excellent to see them be so mature in this debate.
Next week we will be looking at Hamlet; this is one of the biggest and most famous of
Shakespeare’s plays, so I will be very interested to see how they tackle it. I have every
confidence that they will be able to step up to the challenge!

Home work for lesson 8:

Imagine you are Caliban. Write a diary entry.
OR
Is this a tragic play? Write a short paragraph explaining your answer.

VIPERS questions for lesson 9 to be discussed on Monday