Sarah Elsner

English 112B, Warner

May 3, 2006

Unit Plan

                       

Will�s Way is Timeless

            �Students who decry the study of Shakespeare come, ironically, from many ability levels. �He�s too hard,� say some groups, while a few others condescend, �Shakespeare? Boring! His work isn�t relevant to my world.� So for many secondary students, an annual unity designed to share an appreciation of Shakespeare�s work as it relates to their lives certainly the fervor of a �medicine/That�s able to Breath life into a stone� (All�s Well that Ends Well 2.1.74)� (qtd. in Tabers Kwak, 69).

           

            Understanding and comprehending Shakespeare can be a daunting and frustrating task for anyone in any age group, however it is especially challenging for young adults. The story lines presented by William Shakespeare are relatable, exciting, tragic and at other times fun. Shakespeare�s use of language, however, appears to be a significant barrier. The Elizabethan language utilized by William Shakespeare appears to be so overwhelming to students that many are turned off before they get through the first scene of any of his plays. Taking on the task of analyzing any of these important works without a true understanding and comfort with the language creates a high level of frustration for the student. Before any of the plays are analyzed in their entireties, it is important for students to grasp Elizabethan language and how it maybe related to their contemporary lives.

            Kathleen Normington, a Theater Arts professor at San Jose State University, has created a script for the universities S.T.E.P (Student Touring Educational Program) company, called Words, Words, Words: Will�s Way. Currently the work is utilized by S.T.E.P as a performance introducing middle school and high school students to the idea that Shakespeare is an integral part of contemporary society. Integrating this particular script into high school theater classes would provide students with new and enlightened views on the language of Shakespeare. Words, Words, Words: Will�s Way introduces many Shakespearean works, including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, A Mid Summer Night Dream, Henry IV and V, The Merry Wives of Windsor and many more. Normington has created a play to which the contents of the play show the ways in which we utilize Shakespeare in our daily lives, providing for a more comfortable position when attacking the plays in their entirety.     When teaching a theater class, the works of William Shakespeare are essential to understanding both the history of theater/drama as well as understanding contemporary theater/drama. William Shakespeare was not only extremely inventive, creating new words when he saw fit, but even today he is the most published and widely read author to date. The works of William Shakespeare are essential to any theater class, but how do you choose one play to study over another? Unless specifically using one as a production piece, utilizing Kathleen Normington�s play Words� allows students to understand Elizabethan language, see it�s relevance in contemporary society and explore Shakespeare�s major works without the initial daunting task of analyzing a Shakespeare play in it�s entirety.

            The main focus of Words, Words, Words: Will�s Way is the relevance of Shakespeare in contemporary daily lives. The play opens as five high school students are leaving English class, where they have been studying Shakespeare�s Hamlet. The three women are attempting to convince the two men that Shakespeare is in fact relevant today.

            Woman 1:Well you use his language everyday.

            Man 1: (scoffing) Yeah, right, gotta goeth now.

           Woman 1: No, you don�t get it. Listen, you use the words and phrases that were first used                     by Shakespeare every day.

            Man 1: Right. You are beginning to get on my nerves. So why don�t you do us both a                                  favor and Vanish into thin Air!

            Woman 1: (grinning) Shakespear, �Othello�

            Man 1: Quit your ranting

            Woman 1: Again, Shakespeare.

                                                                        (Normington, 3)

This scene provides the theme of Words... Recognizing the language utilized by William Shakespeare as a major part of contemporary language and society provides an understanding of his plays as a whole. Understanding Shakespearean dialect allows students to dissect and attack his plays with a more comfortable comprehension and therefore relate them to contemporary society.

            The intent for my unit plan is to use Kathleen Normington�s play, Words, Words, Words: Wills Way as a student directed, student produced production. Preparing the production would allow students to research the historical content, become more comfortable with the works and language and ultimately present and educate an audience to their findings.

 

The Unit

            Before having the students do a cold reading of the play, allow students to become more comfortable with the language on a smaller scale. Using Shakespeare�s Sonnets XV and XVIII, have students create their own poems. Students should not be required to write a sonnet, but simply write their own poem using only the words provided in the Shakespeare sonnet.

            XVIII

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course un- trimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

 

 

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge state presenteth nought but
shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and check'd e'en by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay,
To change your day of youth to sullied night;
And, all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

 

After the students write their individual poems, split the students into small groups of three of four to discuss the poems they created. Have the students read their poems to each other and then pose the following questions for discussion:

            1. What is Shakespeare attempting to convey in his sonnet?

            2. Were you able to successfully manipulate the words provided by Shakespeare to create                      your own work?

            3. Was it difficult using the language utilized by Shakespeare to create your own poem?                         Why or why not?

            4. Is the language utilized by Shakespeare truly as difficult and daunting as the                                           stereotype appears? What words hold you back from comprehension? How could                           these sonnets be presented in a way that allows the readers to understand the                          language presented? Is it possible?

            The next portion of this assignment requires the students to re-enter the two sonnets. In their groups have students re-write the sonnets in more contemporary language. The intent is to create a more comfortable position when attacking Elizabethan language. Have a representative from each group present the original sonnet and then present their group�s sonnets. After presenting the sonnets, the class should discuss the following:

            1. How successful were the interpretations?

            2. How difficult was it to interpret the sonnets and create your own? Why?

 

            The original cold reading of the Words�should be a chance for the entire class to participate. The play is easily divided into six scenes. Depending on the size of the theater class assign the readings appropriately. The most important objective is to have all students participate in the reading, regardless of his/her position once the production begins

            After the initial cold reading of the play, Words, Words, Words, Will�s Way, there are many aspects to discuss as a class:

            1. What specifically is confusing about the play?

            2. How does this representation of the Shakespeare works compel you to read the plays in                       their entiretly? Do they? Which one is compelling or sparks your interest? Why?

            3. What did you learn about Shakespeare and his various works?

            4. Are you still turned off by Shakespeare? Why or why not?

After discussing the cold reading, break apart the play scene by scene. The play is easily divided into 6 major parts, beginning with the �To be or not to be� speech from Hamlet, three witched of Macbeth, then a section on the language and words created by Shakespeare and a quick lesson on how he utilized the language, next the St. Crispin Speech from Henry V, along with a scene from Henry IV, and ending with two scenes from Romeo and Juliet. Because the intent of this unit plan is to have to students perform the play in front of an audience, have those students who wish to act in the play audition by reading our loud to the class from Lois Burdett�s Shakespeare can be fun, Series. Burdett has created a series of picture that �provides a child�s portrait of Shakespeare and several of this plays� (Tabers-Kwak). The picture books may seem childish at first but provide a simple text to allow students to grasp the content of the Shakespeare works. After reading Burdett�s picture books view the Reduced Shakespeare Company�s renditions of the five relevant plays. The Reduced Shakespeare Company performs Shakespeare plays in merely a few minutes. They provide a condensed summary of the plays, but as a performing group provide theater students with new outlooks on performing Shakespeare. Discuss as a class whether these renditions are useful and educational or simply fun. How could they be done differently. As an acting exercise have students create their own reduced versions of one of the Shakespeare plays

            The beginning of the play presents Hamlet�s �To be or not to be�� soliloquy. While breaking down this speech there are many resources available to assist in the understanding of the soliloquy. It would be helpful to present the scene from Michael Almereyda�s �Hamlet� from 2000. This film is a fun way to view a how timeless Shakespeare truly is. Rather than Hamlet being heir to the thrown, he is heir to a major corporation. Hamlet is performed by Ethan Hawke, who does an excellent performance especially when it comes to the famous soliloquy. After viewing the film, or at least parts of the film, discuss as a class the success of the film or scenes. Did the film help to bring meaning to the speech?

            The next major section of the play Words� focuses on the language both utilized and created by Shakespeare. Providing students with a glossary of Shakespearean words proves to be quite helpful. It is important for students to understand the magnitude of Shakespeare�s creativity. �Shakespeare was a genius who constantly reshaped, reinvented and reformed the English language and he had a working vocabulary of 27,870 words compared to your paltry 7,000 or maybe 8,000� (Normington, 8). A fun activity is known as the Shakespeare insult game. Have students come up with their best insults and share them with each other. The game is both a great chance to manipulate the language of Shakespeare as well as a fun acting warm-up.

            When approaching the various scenes from Henry IV and Henry V this is a good time to see how well the students are learning to utilize and comprehend the language of Shakespeare. Divide the students into two groups, for a large class you may concerned four groups, in these groups have the students come up with a contemporary translation of one of the scenes. Once the students have written their translations, have the students perform both versions for each other. This will allow students to grasp the intent of the scenes as well as help them to be continuously memorizing and performing their lines.

            The last section of the play concentrates on Romeo and Juliet. As a class view Baz Luhrmann 1996 film �Romeo and Juliet.� The film, much like Almereyda�s �Hamlet� provides a modern take on the Shakespeare play, while staying true to the language. Discuss as a class Luhrmann�s decisions to modernize the play, for instance the use of guns rather than swords, the modern costumes and sets. Did these devices allow for a better comprehension of the play? Why or Why not?

            The conclusion of this unit is the actually performance of Words, Words, Words: Will�s Way. While participating in the various activities the students will also be rehearsing for the performance. The intent is to have the production to be student directed and student produced. The activities provided are not geared specifically for actors, rather for a company as a whole. Viewing films such as Almereyda�s �Hamlet� and Luhrmann�s �Romeo and Juliet� should provide the production team with creative insight to display the production. The actors hopefully will feel more comfortable with the language and content after the activities. And the production team will have hopefully gained some new ideas for making the play contemporary and relevant. Allowing the students to perform Words� for friends, family and other students allows the class to show others what they have been learning, as well as for the students to educate the audience. A question and answer session following the performance will further allow students to apply all they have learned.

            Producing any play takes a great deal of research to bring the production team to a comfortable understanding with the play�s meaning, purpose and intent. This unit plan that I have proposed allows students to come to this understanding. With the use of the many resources provided along with the chance to prove all that they have learned in the form of the actual performance of Words Words Words: Will�s Way, I hope the students will come to a comfortable attitude when taking on the works of William Shakespeare.

 

Extended Resources

            For students who desire to continue their studies of Shakespeare The New Folger Library has a wonderful collection of Shakespeare plays. The beauty of these plays is that on the opposite side of every page is a translation and glossary of words along with great introductions to each of the plays and their histories.

 

 

 

Work Cited

Burdett, Lois. Romeo and Juliet: For Kids (Shakespeare can be Fun Series). New York: Firefly             Book Ltd., 1998.

---. Macbeth : For Kids (Shakespeare can be Fun Series). New York: Firefly Book Ltd.,                1999.

---. Hamlet: For Kids (Shakespeare can be Fun Series). New York: Firefly Book Ltd., 2000.

---. A Child�s Portrait of Shakespeare (Shakespeare can be Fun Series). New York: Firefly Book               Ltd., 1995.

Dickey, Stephen. Teaching Shakespeare With Primary Sources. 2003. PBS. 27 April 2006             <http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/primary/indepth.html>

Hamlet. Dir. Michael Almereyda. Perf. Ethan Hawke, Bill Murray, Liev Shreiber and Julia     Stiles. Miramax, 2000.

Kleypas, Kathryn. Engaging With Shakespeare through Translation. Dec. 2004.    

            The National Council of Teachers of English. 27 April 2006.                                   <http://www.ncte.org/library/files/Free/Inbox/bonus/TWO322Engaging.pdf>

Normington, Kathleen. Words, Words, Words: Will�s Way. 2006

The Reduced Shakespeare Company Homepage. 2006. The Reduced Shakespeare Company.

            27 April 2006. <http://www.reducedShakespeare.com>

Romeo + Juliet. Dir. Baz Luhramnn. Perf. Leonardo Dicaprio, Clair Danes, John Leguizamo,      Paul Sorvino and Brain Dennehy. 20^th Century Fox Films. 1996.

Shakespeare, William. �XV�. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1B. Ed. George             M. Logan. New York: W.W Norton and Company, 2000. 1030.

Shakespeare, William. �XVIII�. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1B. Ed.             George M. Logan. New York: W.W Norton and Company, 2000. 1030.

Shakespeare Insult Dictionary. 27 April 2006

            <http://www.william-shakespeare.org.uk/shakespeare-insults-dictionary.htm>

Tabers-Kwak, Linda and Timothy U. Kaufman. �Shakespeare Through the Lens of a New Age.�      English Journal Sept. 2002: 69-73.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shakespearean Insults

Here are 125,000 Shakespearean Insults, thou mammering hedge-born gudgeons.

To construct a Shakespearean insult, combine one word from each of the three columns below, and preface it with "Thou":