Tasks & exercises

This exercise is to obtain an understanding and overview of William Shakespeare 's plays and their settings. Search the internet and write down a couple of notes for each play that you decide to research e.g. information or presentation of the characters, plot, genre etc. Be sure to check out Jane Tomlinson's map of Shakespeare's plays.

The text in the following exercise is William Shakespeare's Sonnet 147 written in 1609. Analyse the sonnet focusing on the language and the characteristics of the sonnet. If you need to refreshen your memory then visit the key terms & concepts of the Shakespeare course.

The text in the following exercise is William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 written in 1609. Analyse the sonnet focusing on the language and the characteristics of the sonnet. If you need to refreshen your memory then visit the key terms & concepts of the Shakespeare course.

The video in the following exercise is an excerpt of The Simpsons season 20 episode 20, Four Great Women and a Manicure from 2009. The video places the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth (1606) in Springfield. Watch the video in groups and focus on themes, characters and plot. Remember to use the episode as an introduction to Macbeth.

The text in the following exercise is the prologue of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1595-1597). Analyse the prologue focusing on the characteristics of the sonnet, metafiction and what the prologue reveals about the text. If you need to refreshen your memory on the characteristics of the sonnet then please visit the key terms & concepts of the Shakespeare course.

The painting in the following exercise is by Swiss painter Henry Fuseli and entitled Lady Macbeth Seizing The Daggers (1812). The painting shows Macbeth emerging from King Duncan's room holding the daggers and Lady Macbeth about to seize them. Describe the painting to each other and draw parallels to the events of the play. You might also discuss the use of colours, characters, the golden ratio, body language etc.

The video in the following exercise is an excerpt of The Simpsons season 13 episode 14, Tales from the Public Domain from 2002. Watch the video in groups and focus on the characters as well as the plot.

The painting in the following exercise is by the French painter Eugéne Delacroix and is entitled The Death of Hamlet (1843). Laertes and Hamlet have killed each other in a duel and the queen has died from drinking poison intended for her son. (The king, who appears at this point in the play, is absent from Delacroix’s version.) Describe the painting to each other and draw parallels to the events of the play. You might also discuss the drawing style, characters or omission of those, golden ratio, body language etc.

The text used in this assignment is John Madden 's Academy Award winning film, Shakespeare in Love (1998). Discuss the film in your groups. You might focus on some of the following things; British society and hierarchy, plot devices, theatre and audiences, themes and intertextuality.

In act 1 scene 5 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the titular character Hamlet encounters what is seemingly the ghost of his departed father Old King Hamlet. The two engage in a conversation before the ghost once again leaves young Hamlet on his own.

1. Read the text out loud in groups.
2. Summarise the key points of the encounter in writing.
3. Make a list of at least 10 unusual words used in the scene.

In act 2 scene 2 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the titular character Hamlet witnesses an emotional performance by an actor (what is Hecuba to him?), leading him to question his own emotions.

1. Read the text out loud in groups.
2. Analyse Hamlet's soliloquy focusing on the language.
3. What plan does Hamlet hatch out during his soliloquy?

In act 5 scene 2 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, most major characters finally face the consequences of their actions.

1. Read the text out loud in groups.
2. What happens to the major characters, how and why?
3. How does this add up with the characteristics of the tragedy genre?

Having completed the Shakespeare course, you must, in this assignment, escape the Shakespeare universe once again by solving six puzzles. Click here to begin your Shakespeare-detox.