Reply To: Shakespeare’s five books:Macbeth etc
Summary for lesson 7:
What did we cover
– Reflected on the lessons so far (discussed our favourite plays)
– Reflected on the genre of Tragedy (discussed the key elements and why people enjoy
watching it)
– Discussed why Shakespeare’s work is still popular today
– Studied the genre of Comedy and Tragi-comedy (Romance)
– Discussed the different staging limitations in Shakespeare’s period/our modern world
and how that would impact the reception of the play
– Studied contextual information related to The Tempest
– Worked through the questions for the first half of The Tempest
Class report
Today’s lesson was slightly longer (80minutes); this allowed the class to engage in some reflection and consolidation exercises and share their thoughts on the lessons so far. It was wonderful to hear how much the students have enjoyed the sessions and to see that they had clearly benefited from the information they receive in the lessons and the debates they engage in. It was evident from the students’ reasoning behind why they selected certain plays
as their favourite that the work we do on context, genre, and wider ‘world’ questions makes their experience of reading and studying these plays far richer and more rewarding.
After this reflection, we debated over some very challenging questions such as ‘why do people enjoy tragedy’, ‘why is Shakespeare still loved today’, and ‘how would plays be
received differently by Shakespeare’s audience compared to a modern audience’. The answers the students gave were wonderfully personal and simultaneously hugely well
informed.
We moved onto discussing The Tempest and the genre of tragi-comedy (romance). The students demonstrated their ability to apply the knowledge they gained over the past few
weeks in a new context, which is an excellent skill for them to continue practicing.
We spent a short amount of time going over the VIPERS questions (as the students enjoy and gain more from the discussions around these questions). They provided the correct answers, and it was wonderful to see how keen and capable they were in elaborating on their responses (i.e. discussing how they know an answer is right and how it links to the play as a whole).
I would like to add how impressed I have been by the progress the students have made over the past 3 weeks. The students’ transformation from lesson 1 to know is remarkable; they are so much more confident and skilful, and I am incredibly excited to see this progress continue
over the coming weeks.
Home work for lesson 7:
Imagine you are Prospero. Write a diary entry .
OR
Summarise the first half in just four sentences.
VIPERS questions for lesson 8 to be discussed on Thur