Unit 3
Young William Shakespeare
Navigation Guide
Lead in
Text Comprehension
Structure Analysis
Further Discussion
Language and Style
Navigation Guide
Background Information
Text Comprehension
Structure Analysis
Language and Style
Step I Lead-in
• 1. Talk about Shakespeare.
Do you know some works of
Shakespeare？
Step II Background Information
1. William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616): an English poet and
playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English
language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often
called England's national poet. His surviving works, including
some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two
long narrative poems, and several other poems.
His plays have been translated into every
major living language and are performed
more often than those of any other
playwright.
Shakespeare produced most of his known
work between 1589 and 1613.
His early plays were mainly
comedies and histories, genres he
raised
to
the
peak
of
sophistication and artistry by the
end of the 16th century. He then
wrote mainly tragedies until about
1608, including Hamlet, King Lear,
Othello, and Macbeth, considered
some of the finest works in the
English language. In his last
phase, he wrote tragicomedies,
also known as romances, and
collaborated with other playwrights.
The Complete Works
A. Comedy
All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Cymbeline
Love's Labours Lost
Measure for Measure
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Pericles, Prince of Type
Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Troilus and Cressida
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter's Tale
B. Tragedy
• Hamlet
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Julius Caesar
• Romeo and Juliet
Antony and
Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
C. History
Henry IV
Henry V
Henry VI
Henry VIII
King John
Richard II
Richard III
D. Poetry
The Sonnets
A Lover's Complaint
The Rape of Lucrece
Venus and Adonis
Funeral Elegy by W.S.
2. Jennifer Bassett
Jennifer Bassett: a British teacher, teacher
trainer, editor, and materials writer, and has
taught in England, Greece, Spain, and Portugal.
Step III Text Comprehension
1. How did Shakespeare receive his education?
2. What were his dreams and ambitions?
3. What did Shakespeare do in order to realize his dreams?
4. How much do you know about his wife?
5. Is Will happy with his life in Stratford?
6. Why did Shakespeare want to go to London?
5. How about their lives when they firstly arrived in London?
6. What did Will do for the Queen’s Men? What did he have
to do for the play?
7. Apart from acting, what else did Will do?
8. What contributed to Shakespeare’s success? Describe his
personality.
Step IV Structure Analysis
Early life of Shakespeare: education and his
dreams and ambitions (a writer, a poet).
→
Shakespeare’s married life in Stratford:
monotonous, his dreams (to London to be an actor,
to write plays).
→
Shakespeare went to London, his dreams realized.
Step V Further Discussion
• 1.
Can
you
find
anything
in
Shakespeare’s early life in Stratford that
might have contributed to his future
success as a playwright?
• 2. Shakespeare was a man eager to learn
and determined to succeed. Find
examples to illustrate that from the text.
Step VI Famous People
•
•
•
•
1. Geoffrey Chaucer —English poet, the greatest literary
figure of medieval England. His masterpiece: The Canterbury
Tales (1387-1400).
2. Francis Drake —English naval hero and explorer who was
the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577-1580)
and was vice admiral of the fleet that destroyed the Spanish
Armada (1588).
3. the Queen of Egypt —Queen Cleopatra of Egypt (51-49
and 48-30) noted for her beauty and charisma. Cleopatra was
the last pharaoh of Egypt who was renowned for her political
dealings with ancient Rome. Cleopatra was also known for her
affairs with the leading men of Rome, Julius Caesar and Mark
Antony, and Augustus' hatred of her, and consequently, for her
dramatic suicide.
4. King Solomon —King of Israel, famous for his wisdom and
his architectural projects.
Step VII Language and Style
• Language: enraged, diligent, expedition,
gloomy, monotonous, insignificant, do
costumes, versatile, rehearsal
• Style: colloquial language, chronological
order
• Rhetorical devices: simile, sentence
fragment, parallel structure.
Step VI Exercises
• 1. Main idea.
• 2. Comprehending the text.
• 3. Vocabulary.
Step VII Fast Reading
1. Passage One.
Check and explain
2. Passage Two.
Check and explain
3. Passage Three.
Check and explain
Step VIII Home Reading
• 1. Author.
• 2. Difficulties and language points.
• 3. Exercises.
Step Ⅸ Assignment
• Please read one work of Shakespeare and
write a summary.