A Shakespeare WebQuest

EDU 505Derek Southard

Why Shakespeare?

Imagine yourself as a teenager in the year 2512. Which long-dead author is your out-of-touch and nerdy English

teacher forcing you to read?

Susan Collins? Paolo Bacigalupi? Laurie Halse Anderson?Tim Green?

The year 2512 – five hundred years from now.

That’s a long time, eh? Long enough for expressions to come and go; for words to be born, die, or have their meanings changed; and long enough for accents or even whole languages to disappear. Considering these obstacles, it’s hard to imagine an author’s works being taught after five hundred years – yet that is exactly what happens in contemporary English classes around the world...

…and it’s about to happen to you.“They have been at a great feast of languages,and stol'n the scraps.” (Love's Labor's Lost Act 5, scene 1, 32–39)

Your Task

In preparation for reading The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark – or simply Hamlet – you will conduct a WebQuest. The websites visited during the WebQuest tell about William Shakespeare, his plays and other works, the venues where his plays were viewed, and about the late-Elizabethan era of England. To better understand Shakespeare’s continuing popularity, conduct your research using the five Ws of Journalism - Who, What, Where, When, and Why – and let’s add another W for WebQuest. At the bottom of the next five pages you will find one or more web links helping you in your research. Use the links to thoroughly answer the questions on that page.

The Process, Step OneThe First W of Journalism: Who?

Who is William Shakespeare? Where and when was he born?

Who are his parents and what were their jobs?

What was his education?

When and where did he die?

http://www.bardweb.net/man.html

The Process, Step TwoThe Second W of Journalism: What?

What did William Shakespeare do that made him famous? What are the four types of plays Shakespeare wrote?

What poetic style did he use for his plays?

What did he write besides besides plays?

What else did he do besides writing?

http://www.bardweb.net/works.html

The Process, Step ThreeThe Third W of Journalism: Where?

Where did Shakespeare show his plays? What was the name of the theater where Shakespeare

produced most of his plays? Where was the theater? What did the theater look like? What do we think was the capacity of the theater? What happened to the theater, and its replacement?http://www.bardweb.net/globe.htmlhttp://virtual.clemson.edu/caah/shakespr/VRGLOBE/index.phphttp://www.shakespearesglobe.com/about-us/virtual-tour

The Process, Step FourThe Fourth W of Journalism: When?

When did Shakespeare produce his work? Who sat on the English throne during Shakespeare’s

life? What changes took place in London during the 16th

Century? Who are the other London playwrights active during

Shakespeare’s time?

http://www.bardweb.net/england.html

The Process, Step FiveThe Fifth W of Journalism: Why?

Why is Shakespeare still popular? What contributions did he make to the English language? In what ways has he influenced theater? What does neologizing mean, and how does it relate to

Shakespeare? How did Shakespeare influence standardized spelling in

the English language?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare's_influence

Why?

Why?

Why?

How You Will Be Evaluated

Did you answer each question? Did you provide as many details as you

could find? Did you write your answers without

grammatical or spelling mistakes?

Yes? Great! Let’s move on…

ConclusionNow you know more. Keep in mind what you have learned as you read Hamlet – envision the actors on stage as they play their parts, and even see yourself standing among the audience, trying to hear what the actors say, and throwing cabbages at them when they mess up their lines.Here are a few teasers showing different productions of The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. One is old, the others new, and the version with Patrick Stewart is the one we will watch in class. Enjoy!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOkyZWQ2bmQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=B7lkpcj0OwA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZnaXDRwu84&feature=related