WebQuest Shakespeare

An Interview with William Shakespeare


Shakespeare has been dead for over 400 years, but in this assignment you will be asked to interview him.You may ask, "How can you interview a dead guy?" Using research skills you will sift through links and put together a historical puzzle discovering all the different aspects of Shakespeare's time and his works.

Introduction




William Shakespeare has been dead for over 400 years, but in this assignment you will be asked to interview him. You may be scratching your head right now. How can you be expected to interview a dead guy? Well, that is the fun part! In the following pages you will find a list of resources that will help you with this task.

Using research skills you will sift through these links and put together pieces of a historical puzzle. By learning about different aspects of Shakespeare, his life, times, and era you will create a clear portrait of this man.

Task


You are a research and interview based journalist. Your editor has asked you to interview William Shakespeare. He has given you a list of leads and some ideas as to what information may help you with your news story. Research the information and create your story for the paper.

As your editor, I must note that the rough draft of this article is due in one week. I will review your rough draft and give you suggestions on how you can better your paper.Upon the review you will have one more week to submit your paper to be published in the morning paper. Remember to utilize proper mechanics and spelling in your submission. You are a professional and your article must be reflective of your position.

Process






You are a research and interview based journalist. Your editor has asked you to interview William Shakespeare. He has given you a list of leads and some ideas as to what information may help you with your news story. Research the information and create your story for the paper.

Read through the list of resources and topic suggestions, and start to compile information that may help you create your news article.

Use the following check list to help you creating your article:

Read through the Shakespeare biographical overview links.

Choose an area of Shakespeare's life to explore from the focus areas.

Create some questions to help guide your article research and exploration.

Read through linked resources that are relevant to the focus area you choose.

Collect information and notes on the focus area chosen and relate it to Shakespeare.

Create your news article interview for submission to your editor.









Focus Areas



Choose a focus area from the list below. Please note that these focus areas are to be related back to Shakespeare and are to be used as information for your final submitted article.



The Globe Theater- This is where Shakespeare premiered many of his plays. What is important about his venue? What are the things Shakespeare might say about it? What memories might Shakespeare have from this theater?



His Works- Shakespeare wrote many pieces; some of which were comedies, dramas, and historical pieces. What works did Shakespeare produce? What were they about? Were they all his, or did he borrow ideas from others? What information might Shakespeare share about his works in an interview?



Nightlife and Leisure- In Shakespeare's time there were different forms of entertainment, leisure and nightlife. These events helped define aspects of the culture that existed at this time. How did this effect Shakespeare? What are some of the ways that the culture of the area affected the plays presented?



Fashion- When we look at pictures of Shakespeare, we notice his clothes are very different from what we are use to today. In that time clothes indicated a lot about a person, ranging from where they were from to social class. What did Shakespeare wear? Did his style change as he evolved in respect to his success? What can be said by Shakespeare about fashion?



Focus Area Links

Here are some interview question examples that may help you with your article. Consider the questions and come up with some of your own. These may help guide your research and exploration of the links for this assignment.

What was your life like as a child?

What clothes did you wear?

What was your education like?

Where were you raised?

What are the things you did for entertainment?

Where did you get your education?

Were you married, have children?

Why are you called "Bard of Avon"

What would you say to the students of today that have a problem understanding your plays?

Did you really write your plays?

You must read through these links in order to develop a basic understanding of Shakespeare's life. These articles are the foundation for your interview. It is from these articles that you will construct questions and link that knowledge to information from your chosen focus area links.

Shakespeare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm
http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/shakespearebio.html
http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Shakespeare.html
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/index.html
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/
http://gouk.about.com/cs/culturehistory/a/wshakespeare.htm

The Globe Theater

http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/navigation/frameset.htm
http://www.wfu.edu/~tedforrl/shakespeare/inpics.htm
http://www.wfu.edu/~tedforrl/shakespeare/globe.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/1623/shakespeare/globe.html
http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespeares-globe-theater
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Theatre
http://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/shakespr/glob-qt.htm

Hamlet
http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Hamlet.html
http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/hamlet/
http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/hamlet/
http://www.pathguy.com/hamlet.htm


Romeo and Juliet
http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/ROMEOAND.HTM
http://www.clicknotes.com/romeo/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/resources/shakespeare/webguide.html


A Midnights summer dream
http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Midsummer.html

A Comedy of errors
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/comedyscenes.html
http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/comedy_errors/
http://www.theoldglobe.com/the_globe/show_production.asp?pPK=411

Macbeth
http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/
http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/macbeth/
http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth

Elizabethian Fashion http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/womensfashion.html
http://www.costume.dm.net/
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/fashionwm.html
http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium/36.html
http://www.alphalink.com.au/~okayb/page4.html
http://costume.dm.net/influence.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_era
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/mensfashion.html

Night Life
http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Renaissance/Town/Children.html
http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium/index.html
http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium/home.html
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/elizabethanengland.html
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/everylife.html
http://www.likesnail.org.uk/welcome-es.htm
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/england.htm