Essential English: Wonderful Writers and Comprehension - William Shakespeare

Created by Gemma Louise Bull

William Shakespeare

Key Information

-William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on the 23rd April 1564.

-Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets (poems).

-He is considered by many to be one of the most influential writers of the English language.

-Shakespeare is credited with introducing nearly 3000 words to the English language.

Recommended Reading:

-‘Macbeth’

-‘Romeo and Juliet’

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream'

Fun Facts

-Shakespeare was an actor as well as a writer.

-Shakespeare’s plays are separated into three genres: tragedies, comedies and histories.

-He performed to both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.

-Candles were very expensive in Shakespeare’s time, so they were only used for emergencies. Most writers wrote in the daytime and socialised in the evenings.

-When he died, Shakespeare left his ‘second-best bed’ to his wife. He even included the bed linen!

An Extract - 'Romeo and Juliet' Prologue

A prologue is an introduction to a story, placed at the beginning of a book or play.

The prologue from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a little bit different because it provides a summary of the whole play. Read the prologue then answer the comprehension questions.

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Questions

1. INFORMATION: How many families does the writer mention in the prologue?

2. INFERENCE: What do we learn about the families?

3. INFORMATION: Where is the play set?

4. INFERENCE: Do the families get on? How do you know?

5. LANGUAGE: Why would their hands be ‘unclean’?

6 INFERENCE: Who are the ‘star-cross’d lovers’?

7. INFORMATION: What happens to them at the end of the play?

8. LANGUAGE: What do you think ‘death-mark’d love’ means?

9. VOCABULARY: What does ‘continuance’ mean?

10. INFORMATION: How long is the play? How do you know?

Answers

1. INFORMATION: How many families does the writer mention in the prologue? Two families

2. INFERENCE: What do we learn about the families? They are of equal status: ‘both alike in dignity’

3. INFORMATION: Where is the play set? ‘In fair Verona’ (Verona is a city in Italy)

4. INFERENCE: Do the families get on? How do you know? No, the families do not get on as it states they have an ‘ancient grudge’.

5. LANGUAGE: Why would their hands be ‘unclean’? If they hold on to the grudge, they will commit uncivil acts. This will make them guilty and their hands will be metaphorically ‘unclean’.

6. INFERENCE: Who are the ‘star-cross’d lovers’? Romeo and Juliet

7. INFORMATION: What happens to them at the end of the play? Romeo and Juliet die and the two families end the grudge: ‘Do with their death bury their parents' strife’

8. LANGUAGE: What do you think ‘death-mark’d love’ means? It means that it was inevitable that their love would end in their deaths.

9. VOCABULARY: What does ‘continuance’ mean? The word ‘continuance’ means carried on or ongoing.

10. INFORMATION: How long is the play? How do you know? Two hours: ‘the two hours’ traffic of our stage’