Shakespeare

One-semester courseIn this course, students will read through a selection of some of Shakespeare’s most popular and enduring plays. The course runs on a four-year cycle. New plays based on a common theme will be read each year of the cycle. Students will read and discuss the plays, answering and asking questions about the characters, plot, setting, style, and language of the works, as well as the distinctive features of that year’s theme. In addition, selected passages will be available for dramatic readings in class. Students will consider Shakespeare within the context of his own time, examine the influences and sources Shakespeare drew from, and observe the legacy of these plays down to our own time. 

  • Year I: Comedies
    • The Comedy of Errors
    • The Merchant of Venice
    • The Taming of the Shrew
    • The Tempest
    • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • Year 2: Tragedies
    • Macbeth
    • King Lear
    • Othello
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • Hamlet
  • Year 3: English Histories
    • Richard II
    • Henry IV Parts 1 & 2
    • Henry V
    • Richard III
  • Year 4: Roman Histories
    • Julius Caesar
    • Antony and Cleopatra
    • Troilus and Cressida
    • Coriolanus
    • Cymbeline

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Shakespeare Information




  • Example Syllabus
  • Class meets once per week for 50-55 minutes.
  • Class cap: 20 students.
  • Designed for grades 9-12.
  • High school students may be awarded .5 Language Arts credit upon completion of this course.

Course Materials




  • Click here to purchase the course texts for Year 4: Roman Histories.
    • Julius Caesar
    • Antony and Cleopatra
    • Troilus and Cressida
    • Coriolanus
    • Cymbeline


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