Lesson Overview:

Students compare the puns and word play in selected scenes of the plays, The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary L. Blackwood and Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Students read Blackwood’s scenes in groups, and interpret the meanings of Shakespeare’s writings. Students perform part of a scene and write a short essay explaining how the playwrights used puns and word play to give their characters wit.

Length of Lesson:

Two 45-minute periods

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• interpret language used to create humor in the scene of a play.
• compare playwrights Gary Blackwood and William Shakespeare and their use of puns to give characters wit.
• analyze the puns and word play in a short scene.
• present the scene to the class.
• write a short essay, supporting the idea that both Blackwood and Shakespeare used puns in their plays to create witty characters.

Instructional Plan:

Background Information

Twelfth Night was chosen to compare to The Shakespeare Stealer for several reasons:

• Robert Armin, a character in the modern play, was based on the original Feste, the Clown in Shakespeare’s play.
• In The Shakespeare Stealer, Julia disguises herself as Julian, a boy, to do something that she loves to do. In Twelfth Night the character Viola also disguises herself as a boy.
• Twelfth Night is fairly clear of some of the bawdiness of other Shakespearean comedies.
• There are two sword fights in Twelfth Night: one in Act III, Scene iv (beginning at about line 225) between Viola and Sir Andrew Aguecheek; the other in Act IV, Scene i (beginning at about line 23) between Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Viola’s twin, Sebastian. Both sword fights are filled with puns and fun to read and act out. (Although this scene is not explored in the Independent Practice section of this lesson plan, it could be easily used in place of one of the scenes listed.)

Warm Up

Playwrights enjoy playing with language to create memorable characters. Probably no greater example is that of the characters created by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's characters are still convincing today, in part because he gave each a unique voice. One of the ways he built memorable characters was by making them quick-witted. Audiences enjoyed listening to the pun-filled, witty lines uttered by his characters. Actors and directors must search for meaningful ways to present these words clearly to the audience so that the humor of a character or plot line are conveyed.

Gary Blackwood, in his book/play The Shakespeare Stealer has also adopted the use of puns to build his characters. Listen to the following monologue. The character is John Heminges. He has just given a prompt book to Widge, a new apprentice in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men:

"Widge, you hold the b-book. If Sander or anyone seems l-lost for a line, f-feed him a few words. Not a whole m-mouthful, just a t-taste, to start his chawbones m-moving. Can you do that?"

Discuss what Heminges is telling Widge to do and why. What can you tell about Heminges from this brief line? (He is a senior company member. He is responsible for the jobs in the theatre. He has a stammer. He is witty because he takes the idea of “feeding the lines” to the actors as if giving them food, i.e., “mouthful,” “taste,” “chawbones moving.”)

Introductory Activity

Distribute the Excerpts from The Shakespeare Stealer handout. Have students read the handout to themselves, looking for examples of puns and word play. They should highlight the words or phrases and write an explanation for each, giving evidence for their answers. Give students about five to seven minutes to find the puns and word play.

Discuss students' findings, asking them to offer support for their choices. Have several volunteers bring the dialogues to life in short scene readings.

Guided Practice

Have students silently read Act II, Scene ii from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In this scene, Viola, a young woman disguised as a male servant named Cesario, has just left the Lady Olivia. Viola had been sent there by her master, Orsino (whom she loves) to declare his love to Olivia. Olivia fancies Cesario (Viola) and sends her servant, Malvolio, with a ring to return to Cesario.

Have two students read the Mavolio/Viola scene and have one read Viola’s monologue. Make an audio tape of the readings.

Divide the class in half. Have one group analyze the exchange between Malvolio and Viola, while the other analyzes Viola’s monologue. Students should highlight the puns and word play and interpret what the Shakespeare's Language means in modern English. Tell students to take careful notes. Give students about ten minutes to do this activity.

Have student volunteers reread the scene and monologue. You may wish to make an audio recording of the readings. Listen to the live readings and/or recordings and compare the way they are presented.

Independent Practice

The class should now examine a longer scene from Twelfth Night (Act I, Scene v). This is the set up for the scene students have just analyzed. In it, Olivia’s maid Maria teases the Clown, Feste. Olivia and Feste verbally joust. Cesario (Viola) arrives with declarations of love from Orsino to Olivia. Olivia falls for Cesario (Viola) and sends Malvolio after her with a ring.

Divide the class into five to seven cooperative groups. Instruct them to look for puns and word play in the assigned section and keep notes on their findings. Give the students 30 minutes to complete this activity. Suggested assignments for the activity are as follows:

• Group 1 looks at the scene between Maria and Feste (lines 1-30)
• Group 2 looks at the scene between Olivia, Feste, and Malvolio (lines 31–98)
• Group 3 looks at the scene between Maria, Olivia, Feste, and Sir Toby Belch (lines 99–138)
• Group 4 looks at the scene between Malvolio and Olivia (lines 139–163)
• Group 5 looks at the first part of the scene between Viola and Olivia. It begins with Olivia’s line, “Give me my veil,” and ends with her line, "we will hear this divinity.” (lines 164 - 219)
• Group 6 looks at the second part of the scene between Viola and Olivia. Begin with Olivia’s line, “Now, sir, what is your text?” and end on Viola’s line, “Farewell, fair cruelty.” (lines 219 – 289)
• Group 7 looks at the final monologue of Olivia (lines 290 – 313)

Groups should select actors to read their section of the scene. Allow them ten to fifteen minutes to practice before presenting the scene to the class. The actors should work under the direction of the group, adjusting the reading to ensure that the true meaning of a character's lines is conveyed.

Closure

Allow groups to present their section of the whole scene, in sequential order, to the class. During each presentation, the class should listen for the word play and puns.

For homework, each student should write a short essay answering the following prompt:

Compare the plays The Shakespeare Stealer and Twelfth Night. How do the playwrights Gary Blackwood and William Shakespeare use puns and word play to build characters and demonstrate the characters' wit? Use examples from the plays to support your answer.

Assessment:

Assess the degree to which students successfully complete the following tasks:

• worked cooperatively in their assigned groups.
• identified the puns and word play in the scenes studied in class.
• presented assigned scenes with an understanding of the language and meaning of the puns and word play.
• wrote a comparative essay demonstrating an understanding of how puns and word play can be used to develop characters.
• used correct grammar and mechanics in the essay.

Sources:

Print:

• Blackwood, Gary. The Shakespeare Stealer. Puffin Books, 1998.
• Durband, Alan. Shakespeare Made Easy: Twelfth Night. Barron's, 1985.
• Garfield, Leon and Michael Foreman. Shakespeare Stories. Houghton Mifflin, 1985.
• Jesse, Anita. The Playing Is the Thing. Wolf Creek Press, 1996.
• Lamb, Charles and Mary. Tales From Shakespeare. Puffin Books, 1994.
• Miles, Bernard and Victor G. Ambrus. Favorite Tales From Shakespeare. Rand McNally and Company, 1976.
• Nesbit, E. The Best of Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Inc., 1997.
• Van Tassel, Wesley. Clues to Acting Shakespeare. Allworth Press, 2000.
• Williams, Marcia. Bravo, Mr. William Shakespeare Candlewick Press, 2000.

Authors:

• Mary Beth Bauernschub, Teacher
  Kingsford Elementary School
  Mitchellville, MD