The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will submit their Character Analysis Essay. They will also discuss the unit’s Guiding Questions, review their writing portfolios, and reflect on the unit.

In this lesson, you will administer a Benchmark Assessment (Cold Write) to determine what students already know about argument writing. Students will respond to a prompt, and then you will assess each student’s argument, using the scoring guide, as a measure of early work. Students will have opportunities to write arguments throughout the year, during which they will have instruction on how to revise and edit their pieces. The information you gain from scoring this benchmark piece of writing will guide you in tailoring your writing instruction to individual student needs.

"Shakespeare has something to say to everyone, and everyone has something to say back to Shakespeare."

The Folger Method is a way of teaching complex texts that enables all students to own—and enjoy—the process of reading closely, interrogating texts, discovering language with peers, and contributing to the ongoing human conversation about words and ideas. It is a radical engine for equity that teachers consistently call “transformative.”

Explore the inspiration behind Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical Hamilton, Miranda's connection to Shakespeare, and the influence of hip hop in Miranda's storytelling in this media galley from GREAT PERFORMANCES: "Hamilton's America." [3:48]

Explore the inspiration behind Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical Hamilton, Miranda's connection to Shakespeare, and the influence of hip hop in Miranda's storytelling in this media galley from GREAT PERFORMANCES: "Hamilton's America." This includes three short video clips. Support materials are provided.

This lesson sensitizes students to the similarities and differences between cultures by comparing Shakespearean and Bunraku/Kabuki dramas. The focus of this comparison is the complex nature of revenge explored in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and Chushingura, or the Treasury of the Loyal Retainers.

This art history video discussion examines William Holman Hunt's "Claudio and Isabella", 1850, oil on mahogany (Tate Britain). From William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Act III, scene 1 (a room in a prison).

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Multiple text versions of all of Shakespeare's works, including Folio, Quarto, and/or modern versions of some (Click on "A full list of the plays and poems, in their various versions"). Part of a larger site about Shakespeare containing a variety of information about him and his work.

This resource is an introduction to William ShakespeareŐs tragic play, "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar", through the study of universal themes using multiple-perspective investigations of betrayal scenarios.

Legends of Shakespeare's stories. Source of Macbeth with links to Holinshed's book and other source material.

The full-text of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, as it appears in The Oxford Shakespeare.

The activities in this lesson invite students to focus on the characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream, to describe and analyze their conflicts, and then to watch how those conflicts get resolved.

This study guide is intended for university and AP students as well as the general reader studying Shakespeare's history play, Henry IV, Part I.

Lanier's brief life is discussed in this excerpt from the New Georgia Encyclopedia. A list of suggested reading is included.

For more than 400 years, Shakespeare's 37 surviving plays, 154 sonnets, and other poems have been read, performed, taught, reinterpreted, and enjoyed the world over. This Teacher's Guide includes ideas for bringing the Bard and pop culture together, along with how performers around the world have infused their respective local histories and cultures into these works.

Access the complete works of William Shakespeare - all his plays, sonnets and other poetry - with a lot of interesting tools to aid in serious studies of the Bard's works. Each of the works is completely searchable. In addition, the site offers a concordance which allows users to trace all uses Shakespeare made of any particular word. Users can also view sonnets individually, or choose any two to examine side by side.

Explore this comprehensive site featuring lesson plans about Shakespeare's plays and life in Elizabethan England.

This resource supports the series "In Search of Shakespeare." It contains information about all of Shakespeare's plays and links to the complete texts; brief biographies of many people associated with Shakespeare and his times; images of documents related to Shakespeare's life; a timeline of important events in Europe during Shakespeare's lifetime, and much more.

"A professional writers' resource from The Phrase Finder for generating ideas for headlines, advertising copy, song lyrics, etc." Just type your word and the phrase finder will find a phrase to match it. L.9-10.4c References, L.9-10.4d Verify meaning, L.11-12.4c References, L.9-10.4d Verify meaning