- In all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, a once noble man falls because of a tragic flaw, and the pressure of outside forces Studying these plays encourages critical thinking about both Shakespeare's world and our own.  This class will demonstrate the evolution of Shakespeare's art through his comedies. We'll see how he tackles complex plots, creates memorable characters, and evocative images, and shows the decine and fall of once noble men. 

-The class is designed to be ala carte- you can learn about all these plays, choose a specific play to focus on, or do the entire course.
 -Each class will have:
 -A game of some kind
 -An engaging quiz
 -A short explanation of the setting, characters, and motifs of one or more plays.
 - A Close Reading of famous speeches 
Course Structure:
- Class 1: Background on the Tragedies: "The Wheel Of Fortune"
   I will explain the basic structure of Elizabethan tragedies and the concept of Fortune, which is a motif Shakespeare uses in all of 
   his tragedies. I will also debate the concept of "The Tragic Flaw:" the notion that otherwise good people are brought down by a 
   single character flaw. Finally, we will quickly summarize the premise behind all 11 of Shakespeare's tragedies.
- Class 2: The Greek Tragedies: "Timon of Athens," and "Troilus and Cressida"
   I will summarize Shakespeare's two tragedies that are set in ancient Greece and provide commentary on their themes and ideas. I 
   will also draw parallels between the Ancient Greek tragedies of Aeschulus and Euripedes and Shakespeare, with a 
   particular emphasis on the Greek philosopher Aristotle's beliefs on the function of tragedy, which influenced every major drama 
   for the last 2,000 years. 
- Class 3: The Roman Plays- Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Titus Andronicus
   We will take a bloody, backstabbing journey to ancient Rome, and discuss how Shakespeare shows through these four plays the 
  dissolution of a republic into an empire. We will discuss the themes of democracy, dictatorship, mob rule, and savagery. 
- Class 4: Hamlet- The man at the Crossroads- We will explore the universality of this timeless tragedy, and do close readings of his famous soliloquies.
-Class 5: Macbeth- In addition to the character and his speeches, I'll draw parallels to the history behind the play, including witchcraft in the Jacobean era, and the Gunpowder plot against the king!
- Class 6: Othello- I will talk about how Shakespeare dramatizes race and prejudice in the context of Othello's struggle with prejudice and his own jealousy.
Class 7: King Lear- I will discuss the complex plot of Shakespeare's tragedy about old age, blindness, betrayal, and families ripped apart by greed.

Class 8: Think Like a Director- I will teach the students to think like a director and develop a concept for the characters, set, lights, etc. I'll also briefly take you through famous productions of these great tragedies by the Royal Shakespeare Company and others.

Class 9: Final Project- to make the class useful for the students' needs, I will quiz the students on what we've learned so far, and then give them the option to do one or more projects:
- Deliver a tragic Shakespeare speech
- Research a famous director's production of a tragedy and fill out a worksheet to show what you learned
- Draw a graphic that explains the plot and characters of a Shakespearean tragedy of your choice
- Annotate a Shakespearean speech and label its literary devices