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I have created a 9-10th grade unit plan for Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Upon review I find it lacking in tackling literary terms and devices in a meaningful way. I think I address the meaning and implications of the text well, but in doing so I have short changed the lit terms. I had planned to introduce the terms as we discussed the play; however given the new standards, I am not sure this will be enough. Does anyone have any suggestions?
HitheringPuck--Welcome to the forums. :) I'm not familiar with what the new standards you allude to might be. Do you have specific literary terms that you're supposed to cover in the course? If so perhaps you could list them in a post and people here could come up with suggestions as to how to incorporate them into your class. Or are you looking for suggestions of literary devices that you might include in your discussion of the play? Perhaps you could have handouts with examples from the play that you discuss and pair with a short in class quiz. One handout could do things like look at the difference between poetry and prose (which you could then incorporate into a discussion of why shakespeare choses poetry versus prose in certain places) and introduce terms like meter, iambic pentameter, rhyme, couplets etc. Another handout could look at types of speech: soliloquays, dialogue, set speeches. Another could look at poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, hyperbole, alliteration. Perhaps you could also have something on character types: protagonist/antagonist, hero/villain, foil, clown etc.
Petrarch's Love:
Hi and thank you for the welcome and response. Let me clarify a few things. By standards I am referring to the state curriculum standards (In this case MA.). One example is standard # 12.5 which requires curricular content that specifically addresses: Point of view (foreshadowing, and irony), and standard # 14.5 which covers Poetry: sound (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme scheme, consonance, and assonance), form (ballad, sonnet, and heroic couplets), figurative language (personification, metaphor, simile and hyperbole), and dramatic structure.
Most of these terms come up in discussion, but if I were to focus on just a few and create a handout/work sheet which will most benefit the students. Standard 12.5 is a no-brainer because like so many of Shakespeare’s plays there is plenty of foreshadowing and irony throughout Merchant. However when I get to standard 14.5 Poetry I feel that to adequately cover these terms I will need to create an entire lesson on each term. Sonnets alone could be a week. I do not have the luxury of said week, so I will need to pick and choose which terms are the best to explore in depth.
In essence I am asking others to give me their opinion of which terms they think will best enhance the students learning of this particular text.
Thanks to all and Happy New Year!
I believe Figurative language will best enhance their learning. Before they know HOW Shakespeare is saying something, they need to know what he is saying. So much of the dialog surrounds figurative language that many modern and younger readers get lost. I also believe that you can't leave out dramatic structure, even just a refresher if they already have covered this topic elsewhere. In merchant, it might also be important to cover the idea of comedy as it applies to shakespeare and drama as a whole in this time period. I love shakespeare greatly, and will soon be student teaching this very subject, what I hope is that you do not cheat these students out of a wonderful experience by not going in depth with this play. maybe you could cover the anti-semitism and how rampant it was, the fact that Shakespeare would very likely have never seen a jew, and why shylock is a money lender and why he gets the extra penalty in the end because he is a jew. I think these things are very important. I do understand the importance of the standards, but I think that we should broaden our study of literature to these issues as well as to the general form and structure.