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8th Grade English
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June
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When To Kill a Mockingbird is complete students will work on Shakespeare or a short story unit based on reading levels.
This unit includes recommendations to show
students several video clips (Lessons 11, 16, and 18) from the film version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hoffman,1999). The selected scenes have been carefully chosen to attend to specific text to film comparison. The use of film is an integral part of the module
design and directly addresses RL.8.7.
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Ø How are the works of Shakespeare relevant, even today?
Ø What makes a work of literature a classic?
Ø How can ideas from Shakespeare’s works help me to understand my life?
Ø How did life in Elizabethan England influence/affect Shakespeare’s writing?
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RI.8.2 |
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. |
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RI.8.5 |
Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept. |
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RI.8.6 |
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints. |
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RL.8.1 |
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. |
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RL.8.5 |
Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style. |
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RL.8.6 |
Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. |
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RL.8.7 |
Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors. |
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Students will be able to:
Ø Identify universal themes
Ø Respond to literature through various means (such as discussion, journal writing, reflection, acting, etc)
Ø Make connections between their own life experiences and the text
Ø Identify literary elements, such as plot, theme, and setting
Ø Develop an initial understanding of Shakespeare’s language
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Elizabethan Terms
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In what ways do Demetreus and Egeus attempt to control Hermia? Be sure to cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.
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What specific dialogue or incidents in this section provoke Helena to make the decision to reveal Hermia and Lysander’s plans to Demetrius? Be sure to cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.
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Who controls this scene? How do you know? Be sure to cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.
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How do both Robin and Oberon express a desire to control others? Be sure to cite the strongest evidence from the text to support your answer.
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What motivates Oberon to try to control Demetrius? What motivates him to try to control Titania? Be sure to cite the strongest evidence from the text to support your answer.
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What are the consequences of Oberon’s attempts to control others using the “love-in-idleness” flower? Be sure to cite the strongest evidence from the text to support your answer.
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How does Shakespeare show the audience that the men’s play will be funny? Be sure to cite the strongest evidence from the text to support your answer.
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In what ways does Shakespeare advance the comedy of this scene through his language and the characters’ actions? Be sure to cite the strongest evidence from the text to support your answer.
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How does Oberon’s desire to control others propel the action of the play?
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- There are six different pairs of lovers presented in this play. Which pair comes closest to representing your idea of true love? Why?
- The play ends with a triple wedding. Do you believe that each couple is truly in love? Do you think they will be happily married?
- Why is Puck so important to this play? What does he provide?
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy, but how funny is it? Identify the parts of the play that made you laugh. Which, if any, made you wince?
- How might the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream be retold as a tragedy? Describe what might change and what might stay the same.
- Is the play insensitive to Bottom and the workers who put on their play? Does it make fun of ignorance and people from the lower classes? Explain your answer.
- If your school were to put on a production of this play, what advice would you give to make the play successful? You might give ideas about the acting, sets, music, costumes, or staging.
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Great Tales of Action and Adventure: The bamboo trap by Robert S. Lemmon --
Leiningen versus the ants by Carl Stephenson --
The blue cross by G.K. Chesterton --
The most dangerous game by Richard Connell --
The fourth man by John Russell --
The interlopers by "Saki" (H.H. Munro) --
The adventure of the dancing men by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle --
The pit and the pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe --
Rescue party by Arthur C. Clarke --
August heat by William Fryer Harvey --
To build a fire by Jack London --
Action by C.E. Montague.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
engageny.org
Scholastic.com
Here are some useful websites to help progress through this unit.
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-daily-life.htm
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listelizabetma1.html
http://www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us/pathfinders/elizabethan.html
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/everylife.html
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/midsummer/full.html (this site has the whole text of the play).
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/midsummer/index.html
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-a-midsummer-nights-dream.htm
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