Someone asked what I learned at the Shakespeare inservice I attended a couple of weeks ago... it was fun, but I also got some good things out it.
Somethings that Shakespeare's audiences would recognize immediately are jokes and playing around with the social hierarchy that he does. To help convey this to students there are couple of games that can be played in class to really drive home how this hierarchy works. There are two options.
Social Rank Game
Option One - get about 6 to 10 students to volunteer. Explain to students that they will select a card from a deck of playing cards. The card they choose (between Ace to King) will denote their social status. Aces are the lowest of the low - Kings are the highest. Have each student pick a card from deck and place card (facing out) on forehead. Students should not see their own card!
Ask one student to "host" the party and greet other guests (students) as they pretend to arrive to the party. Students should treat those with higher cards with a great deal of deference. The students must use the social clues given to them by the other guests to guess what their card is... after 5 minutes, have students line up in order according to what they think they are. Other students in the class are the audience and have a great deal of fun watching. You can also get them involved in a discussion after to get an even greater idea of how the social clues really showed up in the play-acting.
Option Two - Similar situation. With this option, let the players see their cards individually. Only the individual person should know exactly what card they've drawn. Game is played in the same manner - Kings try to act like Kings and let everyone know they are the King WITHOUT telling anyone outright.
After 5 minutes, have the audience members line the players up according to the rank they thought was displayed. This option is extremely interesting to all students... social status and how it is portrayed is near to their hearts.
The first time I did this, it was pretty easy to realize that I was a King. Everyone tried to get my attention and hold it so much that it was bit overwhelming. The second time I was the Ace and no one would even look me in the eye. I was the extreme. The 7 and 8's had a much harder time (especially in option two) not only with trying to decided how to act, but others had a hard time deciding how to treat them. For example, an 8 refused to speak to 9 after discovering that 9 held a professional job. This 8 assumed anyone higher than herself would not work. The 9 however, assumed that only nobility (Jack, Queen, King) would not hold a job. If you think this might be an issue, you can pull those cards from the deck
Somethings that Shakespeare's audiences would recognize immediately are jokes and playing around with the social hierarchy that he does. To help convey this to students there are couple of games that can be played in class to really drive home how this hierarchy works. There are two options.
Social Rank Game
Option One - get about 6 to 10 students to volunteer. Explain to students that they will select a card from a deck of playing cards. The card they choose (between Ace to King) will denote their social status. Aces are the lowest of the low - Kings are the highest. Have each student pick a card from deck and place card (facing out) on forehead. Students should not see their own card!
Ask one student to "host" the party and greet other guests (students) as they pretend to arrive to the party. Students should treat those with higher cards with a great deal of deference. The students must use the social clues given to them by the other guests to guess what their card is... after 5 minutes, have students line up in order according to what they think they are. Other students in the class are the audience and have a great deal of fun watching. You can also get them involved in a discussion after to get an even greater idea of how the social clues really showed up in the play-acting.
Option Two - Similar situation. With this option, let the players see their cards individually. Only the individual person should know exactly what card they've drawn. Game is played in the same manner - Kings try to act like Kings and let everyone know they are the King WITHOUT telling anyone outright.
After 5 minutes, have the audience members line the players up according to the rank they thought was displayed. This option is extremely interesting to all students... social status and how it is portrayed is near to their hearts.
The first time I did this, it was pretty easy to realize that I was a King. Everyone tried to get my attention and hold it so much that it was bit overwhelming. The second time I was the Ace and no one would even look me in the eye. I was the extreme. The 7 and 8's had a much harder time (especially in option two) not only with trying to decided how to act, but others had a hard time deciding how to treat them. For example, an 8 refused to speak to 9 after discovering that 9 held a professional job. This 8 assumed anyone higher than herself would not work. The 9 however, assumed that only nobility (Jack, Queen, King) would not hold a job. If you think this might be an issue, you can pull those cards from the deck
Comments