Ready, Steady – Tragedy!

Introduction:

This lesson provides students with an introduction to the features of Shakespearean tragedy, as awareness of these features will enhance students’ appreciation of Shakespeare’s own tragic plays.

Learning outcomes:

• Practice reading for specific information.
• Build knowledge of lexis related to tragedy.
• Develop awareness of the features of Shakespearean tragedy.

Age and level: 

Aged 13-17 and adult (CEFR C1)

Time: 

60 - 80 minutes. This could be done over 2 lessons

Materials:

You can download the following materials below:

• Lesson plan
• Presentation (This can replace worksheet 1 and the image of Othello)
• Worksheet 1 - lead in
• Worksheet 2 - tragedy plot summaries
• Image of Othello

Warmer: (5 minutes)

• Write the following headline on the board: BOAT TRAGEDY KILLS TEN and ask students to speculate about what they think the story behind the headline might be. 
• Use questions to elicit a response, e.g. What happened to the boat? What might have caused this? Who will be blamed? 
• Display slide 2 or write the following headlines on the board: 

1. JORDAN’S TRAGIC LOVE SPLIT LEAVES STAR HEARTBROKEN 
2. SCHOOL CLOSURE ‘TRAGEDY’ FOR LOCAL KIDS SAYS HEAD 
3. GWYN’S RED CARPET LOOK ‘FASHION TRAGEDY’ 

• Ask students to discuss the possible stories behind them. 
• Nominate students to report back on one of the stories 
• Elicit which word all of the newspaper headlines have in common (tragic/tragedy). Ask students to provide a definition of the word ‘tragedy’. (They will probably say something like: ‘It’s when something sad and terrible happens.’) Focus students’ attention on the question on the worksheet: What is the meaning of the word ‘tragedy’? Point out that many of the plays Shakespeare wrote were called tragedies and elicit some names from your class, e.g. Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, etc. 
• Oxford dictionary definition: a very sad event or situation, especially one that involves death

Task 1: Features of a tragedy (5 minutes)

• Explain that Shakespearean tragedy has very specific ingredients: this lesson will focus on these ingredients. 
• Display slide 3 or show learners the Othello image. Tell students that this picture is from a scene in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello*, and that the illustration shows Othello in the tragedy’s climax. 
• Ask students to predict what is going to happen (Othello is going to kill his wife). 
• Ask students to look at the list (on slide 3 and worksheet 1) and select the features of a tragedy 
• Allow students to check their answers with a partner before conducting whole class feedback. 
• Suggested answers: a, c, e, f 
• *Note: See Appendix 1 of the lesson plan for a synopsis of Othello

Task 2: Reading - recipe for a Shakespearean tragedy (10 minutes)

• Tell students that they are going to find out more about the features of a tragedy. 
• Give out worksheet 1 and focus learners’ attention on questions a, b and c. 
• Next, read the text aloud to your students. 
• Give students a minute to answer the question. Conduct whole class feedback. 
• Answers: a. a recipe; b. Begin by choosing, for best results choose, add a, stir in well, sprinkle in, beat, mix in, nice, sweet dessert; c. It is written for a general audience but would probably be of interest to playwrights or students of literature.

Task 3: Check your understanding (10 minutes)

• Display slide 4 or write the following questions on the board: 
• a) Elizabethan tragic heroes are often from poor families. 
• b) The best tragic heroes are totally wicked. 
• c) Many tragic heroes get into trouble because of their pride. 
• d) Tragic heroes need to experience a change in luck. 
• e) For a hero to be truly tragic he needs to see what he has done wrong. 
• f) The audience should feel totally depressed at the end of a tragedy. 
• Learners work in pairs and decide if the sentences are true or false. 
• After a few minutes elicit answers from the whole group. Encourage students to correct the false answers. 
• Answers: a. false b. false c. true d. true e. false f. false

Task 4: Defining words (10 minutes)

• Display slide 5 or dictate the following: 
• a. pride 
• b. terrible pain and suffering 
• c. coming from the top level of society (e.g. prince, duchess, etc.) 
• d. knowledge about yourself and who you are on the inside. 
• e. a change in luck 
• f. something bad about your personality which will result in your downfall. 
• Students match the words in bold in the text with these definitions. 
• Check answers orally, focusing on the pronunciation of new vocabulary. E.g.: hubris /ˈhjuːbrɪs/; anguish /ˈæŋɡwɪʃ/; flaw /flɔː/
• Answers: a. hubris b. anguish c. of noble birth d. self-awareness e. reversal of fortune f. fatal character flaw 
• Proposed end of lesson 1

Task 5: Ready, steady – tragedy! (20 minutes)

• Ask students to think back to the very beginning of the lesson. Did the newspaper headline stories they saw contain any of the features of Shakespearean tragedy? 
• Suggested answers: No, the headlines didn’t really contain any of the ingredients of a Shakespearean tragedy because they merely focused on things which were sad and unfortunate. Also, none of the people involved in these situations were of noble birth. 
• Tell students that they are going to make their very own tragedy. Their task will be to create an Elizabethan tragedy with limited time and ‘ingredients’. 
• Organise your class into groups of three or four. 
• Display slide 6 or put the table on the board (Appendix 2) and ask learners to copy it into their notebooks. You could also give each group a copy of the Appendix. 
• The groups have 10 minutes to create an Elizabethan tragedy using their ingredients. Monitor and remind learners of the features of Elizabethan tragedy where necessary.

Task 6: Talking about tragedies (20 minutes) EXTENSION

• Tell students that they are going to learn about two Shakespearean tragedies. Give out Worksheet 2. Explain that Thomas Kyd and John Webster were both playwrights who lived and wrote in Shakespeare’s time. 
• Students read the tragedy, complete the table and answer the questions about their tragedy. Monitor, helping out with new lexis where necessary. 
• Allow students the opportunity to practise retelling their tragedy to a partner. 
• Organise students into pairs where they are working with a student with a different tragedy. Students recount their tragedy to their new partner from memory. Encourage partners to ask questions.
• Conduct class feedback and be prepared to ‘feed’ students the information needed to complete the tables. Discuss what features of tragedy each play contains. 
• Answers are on Appendix 4 of the lesson plan and slides 8 and 9.