Even More Shakespeare Writing Assignments
I had to access an old hard drive to find the final exam that had the five questions I used for the last Conundrum. While I was looking through it, I also found a list of Shakespeare assignments that might be of interest to readers of this blog. Every now and then, not too often mind you, but every now and then, this blog is actually about teaching Shakespeare.
These assignments were for a graduate course on Shakespeare, but one in which I did not assume that the students had any prior experience in Shakespeare. I later adapted these into a list of assignments for a more advanced course on Shakespeare, which is the same class who got the final exam. The earlier class did not have a final exam, but instead were assigned to design a final exam for the course, and provide an answer guide and grading system. That assignment worked out really well. They also were given the assignments below, some of which you may notice are similar to the extra credit assignments I give my English Education students.
Please choose three of the following assignments:
1) Write at least 24 lines of iambic pentameter. This does not need to be in Elizabethan language, nor does it need to rhyme. It can be anything you want, as long as it’s once piece of cohesive writing in iambic pentameter. Each line of iambic pentameter contains ten syllables, with the stress on every second syllable.
2) Choose any text, such as a poem or a song, that has been written in the last twenty years (at least 15 lines). Add footnotes that annotate this text for an audience reading it 400 years from now who might not understand contemporary allusions and idiomatic language. Be sure to choose a text that is conducive to this assignment.
3) Choose any passage from one of the plays we’re studying this semester (at least 30 lines). Rewrite the scene in contemporary language. You may choose a contemporary setting and style as well, but try to stay as faithful to the meaning of each line as possible. The use of iambic pentameter is not required.
4) Choose a scene from one of the plays we’re studying this semester. Approach the scene as a director and describe your concept for the scene in a 5-7 page essay.
5) Choose a character from one of the plays we’re studying this semester. Approach the scene as an actor and trace the character’s development through the play in a 5-7 page essay.
6) Choose one of the plays we’re studying this semester. Approach the scene as a teacher and develop a three-lesson unit plan to teach the play.
7) Watch two movie versions of one of the plays we’re studying this semester. Compare and contrast them with each other and with the original text in a 5-7 page essay.
8) See a live production of one of the one of the plays we’re studying this semester. Write a 3-5 page essay describing the choices made by the production in interpreting the text.
9) With at least one other person, prepare and present a scene from one of the plays we’re reading this semester. (minimum 15 lines each). Memorization is required. In a one-page essay, describe your reasoning for choosing this scene and the approach you intend to take.
Which assignments would you have chosen? What assignments could I have added to the list of choices? How could these assignments be adapted to make them more appropriate for high school students?
December 2nd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Your questions seem fun, Bill. All of my English teachers in high school were completely dull. I would have chosen nos. 2, 4, and 5. I don’t think that the assignments need to be adapted to high school students, though you might just lower your expectations a bit when you grade them. (Sorry, not trying to say that high school students are necessarily less intelligent than grad students, I do think that my work and my mind in high school were less developed than they are today.)
One thing you could add is to have the students watch a modern film that is based on the characters of Shakespeare. I don’t know of any, right off the top of my head, but I am thinking along the lines of Bridget Jones being a modern film that is based on the characters of Pride and Prejudice (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason was based on Persuasion). Sometimes, the corresponding characters aren’t as easy to find. For example, the character of Wickham in P&P was actually split into two characters in Bridget Jones (Daniel Cleaver and Julian). If the characters are somewhat rearranged, you could ask why it was necessary to rearrange them (for example, Bridget didn’t have a sister so Cleaver couldn’t run off with her sister and it would have been kind of gross if he ran off with her mother), and whether the rearrangement added anything to the story.
December 2nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I think you’re right. There’s nothing on this list I wouldn’t assign to high school students, but I would adjust my expectations to match the level of sophistication I would expect from high school students. There’s nothing wrong in your saying so – it would be far worse to expect either high school students or grad students to perform at the other’s level.
I also really like your assignment. Modern films that are based on the characters and stories of Shakespeare include 10 Things I Hate About You, O, She’s The Man, My Own Private Idaho, and Scotland, PA. In the advanced class, I offered them the assignment to create their own such adaption, but analyzing an existing one would be the logical counterpart for this list. Of course, this only works if you’re studying one of the plays being adapted (respectively The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Twelfth Night, both Henry IV plays, and Macbeth), but these are taught commonly enough.
Also, if you give Assignment 2 to high school kids, you really learn a lot about what’s going on in their world.
December 2nd, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Annotation is a lost art, left to researchers and law clerks now. So I’m quite fond of your second assignment. A short enough text and it could be a blog entry. For whatever reason, Jay-Z’s “Dirt off Your Shoulder” came first to mind. But if I did attempt it I’d use something with a clean verse, and that song (despite its dozens of pop culture references) seems to lack one.
Really, many of your assignments are quite refreshing. Here’s hoping, for the sake of students, a few teachers read this entry and borrow your ideas.
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:53 am
Neel, you’ve just given me a great idea!
What if we had students annotate their text using hyperlinks and post their work to a class blog? Then other students could use the comments feature to provide feedback, and perhaps suggest additional annotations.
Today’s teachers are very enthusiastic about creative ideas like these. The art of teaching has seen a lot of innovation since we were in school. Our teachers, for the most part, cared about us and worked hard to educate us. But they didn’t have the advantage of the information we have today about how students learn best.
No doubt, when our students become teachers, they will judge us for not understanding how the Internet could be used to form global collaborative learning communities, or something like that.
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:19 am
Uh, you’re welcome?
While I’m sure there’s value in allowing students to use new technology (class blog) to revive a lost art (annotation), I can only see the downside: we as adults are enabling the self-absorbed little twits.
Yeah, this just in: Neel Mehta is not a teacher.
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
*flips to next page of Cat Fancy*
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
To sum up…
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I need help.
I have a statement that needs answering.
Here it is…
“Describe what Shakespeare was really like.”
How in the world do you answer that?
Please help.