On Thursday, April 9, 2015, I delivered a presentation titled “What’s the Matter with Shakespeare? Words, words, words…” to the monthly meeting of the Ventura County Reading Association.
Here are PDFs of the presentation handouts:
- Resources handout
- Lesson plan
- Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet Scansion Worksheet (two pages) and Key
- Twelfth Night Scansion Worksheet and Key
- Scansion Lesson presentation
This scansion lesson presentation is also available as a Google Slides presentation.
Below are links to resources discussed at the presentation:
- Gateways
- Hamlet Mash-Up video
14 ½ minute compilation video of Hamlet in popular culture by Geoff Klock - Kill Shakespeare
Comic book series by Del Col, McCreery, and Belanger. Shakespeare’s greatest characters come together to scheme their creator’s demise. - The Sandman
Neil Gaiman’s groundbreaking comic book/graphic novel series; Shakespeare plays a minor but pivotal role. - Julius Caesar — Manga Shakespeare
Stylish Japanese-style “manga” depiction of Julius Caesar–part futuristic, part historic, all wildly drawn. - The Empire Striketh Back
Part of the ongoing series of re-imagining of the Star Wars film series, in pseudo-iambic pentameter. - Stratford Zoo Revue — Macbeth
A finely illustrated children’s book that retells the Macbeth story as a theatrical play put on by the animal inhabitants of a zoo. - Brick Shakespeare
A retelling of Shakespeare’s plays as LEGO-style dioramas, one volume with four tragedies, the other with four comedies. - To Be or Not To Be
A choose-your-adventure book winding its way through Hamlet, by Ryan North, the writer of the animated series “Adventure Time.” - Shakespeare for Kids
The series of Shakespeare adaptations for younger students to perform in class.
- Hamlet Mash-Up video
- Presentation Resources
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The premiere West Coast Shakespeare festival, it is also the home of two great educational resources–school visits and teacher workshops. - Henry V video (“Once more unto the breach…”)
Super-mix of snippets of the speech edited together as one (including Barton of the RSC, Olivier, Ejiofor, Hiddleston, and Branagh). - Oxford English Dictionary
The best dictionary in the world… perfect for Shakespearean studies. - Los Angeles Public Library
Here, you may register for an account, and this will gain you free access to the OED. - The Folger Library
The premiere center of Shakespeare studies in the US, with great resources and educational blogs. - MIT’s Global Shakespeares
Online access to articles about and performances of Shakespeare from around the world. - OpenSource Shakespeare
A great resource, it contains not only all the plays, but a search engine that you can use as a concordance. - Shakespeare’s Globe
The London theater, a working recreation of the Globe; it now has online access to many past productions. - PBS’ Shakespeare Uncovered
The PBS series, with each episode focusing on a single genre or play; this link takes you to the education-specific section. - Shakespeare at Play mobile app
An iOS app that combines text, dictionary, and video to provide an in-depth look into the plays. - Shakespeare Pro mobile app
An app that combines text, glossary, quote generator and scene breakdowns. - Sonnet Project mobile app
A multimedia project consisting short films of all 154 sonnets, shot in and around the NYC area.
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Other Resources
- Shakespeare Searched
A great search/concordance. - Folger Digital Texts
A wonderful collection of texts. - Folger: Shakespeare in the Classroom
The education blog for the Folger Library. - Shakespeare’s Globe – Education site
The education section of the Shakespeare’s Globe site. - RSC Education site
The education section of the Royal Shakespeare Company site. - Shakespeare Resource Center
A nice collection of links to Shakespeare resources online. - Shakespeare Quarterly
The website for the scholarly publication. - The Shakespeare Standard
An aggregator of all things Bard, including news and articles. - English succession of kings (The Bill / Shakespeare Project)
A Flash-based family tree for all of Shakespeare’s English histories. - Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare
For classical and historical references hidden in the text, there’s nothing better. - Shakespeare’s Bawdy by Eric Partridge
If you want to get to the naughty bits, this is a good place to start your search. - Filthy Shakespeare by Pauline Kiernan
If you want to get to the naughty bits, this will be the happy ending to your journey.
- Shakespeare Searched
If either still photographs or videos of the presentation turn out well, I’ll post them here…