The language of Shakespeare can be confusing and challenging to new readers, but the stories are wonderful, and A Midsummer Night's Dream is probably the most silly, romantic and hilarious of all of his plays.  In this class, we will read together and students will gain the skills to find the play not only understandable, but laugh-out-loud, wipe-a-tear-from-your-eye entertaining. I'll also focus on how best to perform the play, and encourage the class to take on roles and improve their acting skills.

Class Time Structure:
The beginning of each class will be devoted to taking up guided questions based on the reading done the class before.  During the rest of the class we will closely read the text together to ensure that the events and the language makes sense to students. 

We will also have teacher-led discussions where students will feel free to share their thoughts, criticisms and questions about the themes and the (potentially outdated) ideas presented in the play.

Lastly, Shakespeare's work is meant to be seen in performance, so our reading of the play will also be augmented with audio and video recordings of performances as well as student directed performances. 

Below is a rough breakdown of what we will cover over the four weeks:

Week 1: 
Background information on Shakespeare / The language of his plays / The archetypal "Romantic" story / Act 1

-- The history of Shakespeare and Elizabethan times
-- Play's structure and "iambic pentameter"
-- Complete Act I and answer guided questions / discussion 

Week 2: 
Theme of "The Struggles in Finding True Love" / Finish Act 2 and begin Act 3

-- Read Act 2 & 3 and answer guided question 
-- Definition and significance of "soliloquy"
-- Discuss an optional final project - "Modernizing Midsummer Scripts" 

Week 3: 
Symbolism in the play (cupid) / The theme of "Love is Blind" & "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" /  Finish Act 3 and begin Act 4 

-- Read Act 3 & 4 and answer guided questions 
-- Watch modern performances
-- Work on our modernized scripts

Week 4: 
Finish Acts 4 and 5 / Final project presentations

-- Finish Acts 4 and 5 & answer guided questions
-- Final projects complete and class performance of scripts