This article offers a guide to introduce Shakespeare's plays and his life. All it takes are five days in the library media center; some student handouts; plenty of resources, both print and online; some word processing software; plus a little patience and flexibility. Students complete a timeline, a paper and a cover sheet, all of which can be…

William Shakespeare has influenced most, if not all, Western playwrights. His techniques, themes, characters, and plots are contained in much of what is produced today, from television to Broadway. This teacher's guide provides summaries of the plays "The Merchant of Venice" and "Othello," essays, and corresponding student…

Although "Othello" has been one of William Shakespeare's most popular plays, its performance history has been marked with risk and tension because of the play's focus on racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality. The controversies surrounding conflicting attitudes toward race and religion, love and marriage, and war and the…

This curriculum unit examines William Shakespeare's tragic play, "Romeo and Juliet." The unit calls the play "one of the greatest and saddest love stories of all time," and notes that artists across centuries and oceans have retold the tale of "Romeo and Juliet" in various forms and incarnations. It first presents…

"The Merchant of Venice," even in its own time, was considered William Shakespeare's most controversial play. Now, one of the most popular read and performed works, the play raises even more important issues for today, particularly anti-Semitism and the treatment of Jews. The analysis of the play in this casebook helps students interpret…

This casebook of materials about William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" will enrich students' understanding of the historical context of the play and encourage interpretations of its cultural meaning. Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" reflects perennial cultural concerns about order and freedom, particularly as they clash in the…

This unit seeks to teach Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in a way that the students will have a full understanding of the play. The unit's introduction is designed to get the students acquainted with Shakespeare's language, to motivate them to read the play, and to make them feel confident about approaching the play. Lessons in the unit are fun,…

This study guide discusses the world premiere of two made-for-television movies of classics of English literature: "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "Hamlet." The guide first provides a synopsis of the story of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and gives a brief biography of the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It…