Y7: Shakespeare and Genre (Week 6)

Hello again Y7, 

We hope you had a good half-term and enjoyed the sun. 

This week, we’re going to complete our introduction to Shakespeare by finding out about the genres of play that he wrote.

Here’s your work for the week beginning June 1^st:

1) Do this quiz on Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

2) Read (and watch) the following information about genre, then do the activities further down the page:

What is genre?

Genre is a style or category of literature, media, music and art.

For example, The Simpsons is an example of a comedy, and Doctor Who is an example of science fiction.

A ‘hybrid’ genre is when something shares characteristics from two or more genres, for example rom-com/romantic-comedy.

Short task 1: make a list of all of the different genres you can think of.
Short task 2: mind-map or bullet-point different features of each of these genres: comedy; horror; romance; science fiction.

Shakespeare’s plays can be seen to fall into three distinct genres: comedy,tragedy and history. However, some plays are categorised using the hybrid genre ‘tragicomedy’. The primary three genres had very different features when Shakespeare used them.

Read the attached short PowerPoint and make notes about the key features of each under the title: Shakespeare and Genre.

Also, explore the links below and add to your notes:

• The main characteristics of Shakespearean plays (Owlcation)
• Why tragedies are alluring (TED-Ed)
• How to identify a Shakespeare comedy (ThoughtCo.)
• Extra challenge: Shakespearean Comedy (Cambridge School Shakespeare)
• Extra challenge: An Introduction to Greek Tragedy (National Theatre) 

Activity 1:
Read the short synopses of the plays on the document below. Try to work out the genre of each based upon what happens in the play. You may even recognise some of the plays – try to spot Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth! (We’ll provide answers next week.)

Activity 2:

Complete this worksheet to categorise the plays:

Activity 3:

During the Elizabethan era, a flag used to fly on top of The Globe theatre to let people know what genre the play would be. Design your own flags to represent each Shakespearean genre – try to represent the key features of each.

Activity 4:

Either

Plan and storyboard your own play to fit with one of Shakespeare’s three main genres. Think carefully about how the plot and characters would fit the genre that you have chosen.

Or

Write (or storyboard) a plot outline for a play called The Yorkshire Tragedy. (This is a real play which was performed at the Globe in 1608; Shakespeare was originally thought to be the author, but it is no longer thought to be one of his plays.)

If you prefer, you could instead do ‘The Yorkshire Comedy’ or ‘A Yorkshire History’.

Or

Watch some short adaptations of a comedy, tragedy or history. Here are some examples:

• Shakespeare in Shorts: The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Twelfth Night
• Animated Tales: Richard III, Julius Caesar

That’s all for now. Next week, there will be a quiz about Shakespeare and genre and then we’ll move on to the Sonnets.

Thanks for all your hard work so far.

THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT