Starter quiz
- What word beginning with 'C' gives us a better understanding of when and why a text was written??
- 'context' ✓
- What is meant by the term 'folklore'?
- a system whereby people or things are ranked
- stories and traditions that are passed down, often verbally ✓
- a play designed to make you laugh
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- Which monarch was on the throne when Shakespeare wrote 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
- Queen Elizabeth I ✓
- King James I
- Queen Elizabeth II
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- What words would you use to describe Puck in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
- changeable ✓
- mischievous ✓
- evil
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- What does the key term 'patriarchal' mean?
- a society in which women hold the power
- a system whereby people or things are ranked
- a society in which men hold the power ✓
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- What is being defined here: 'a system whereby people or things are ranked, with some being at the top, and others lower down.'?
- 'hierarchy' ✓
Exit quiz
- Match the key term to its definition.
- patriarchal⇔a society in which men hold the power ✓
- hierarchy⇔a system whereby people or things are ranked ✓
- folklore⇔stories and traditions that are passed down ✓
- Elizabethan⇔a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603) ✓
- Shakespearean comedy⇔a play designed to make you laugh, often involving misunderstandings ✓
- Complete the sentence: 'Information about Elizabethan society, attitudes and values is called ______.'
- 'context' ✓
- How did Shakespeare engage with an Elizabethan audience when creating the character of Puck in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
- He played on their knowledge of folklore giving Puck two names ✓
- He used clever word play to show Puck was malevolent
- He had Puck directly address the audience
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- Why might you include contextual ideas when writing about ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’?
- Shakespeare was an Elizabethan and was exploring ideas that were relevant ✓
- To consider how Shakespeare’s first audiences might have engaged with the ideas ✓
- Because ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a comedy, full of confusion and context.
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- Complete the quote from Act 3 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': "a hound, A hog, a headless..."
- 'bear' ✓
- What is not an example of context for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
- The play is a comedy
- Puck plays tricks on the characters ✓
- Puck had two names that audiences would have had associations of
- The play was written and set in a patriarchal society
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Shakespeare was writing for an Elizabethan audience.
- The ideas, characters and plot points in the play are designed to engage with Elizabethan society, attitudes and values.
- Information about Elizabethan society, attitudes and values is called context.
- When writing about the play, you should include context to develop your ideas.
Common misconception
Context should be included in one sentence at the end of each analytical paragraph.
You can include contextual ideas where relevant - this could be at the start, middle or multiple times in a paragraph. Contextual ideas will often help you develop your analysis of a particular quotation or character.
Keywords
Patriarchal - a society in which men hold the power; the laws and structure of that society prevent women having power.
Hierarchy - a system whereby people or things are ranked, with some being at the top, and others lower down.
Elizabethan - a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603); the first audiences of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ were Elizabethan.
Folklore - stories and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation; these are not written down, but told verbally.
Shakespearean comedy - a play designed to make you laugh, often involving misunderstandings and disorder, ending in marriage.