The authoritative guide to teaching Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, The Folger Guide to Teaching Romeo and Juliet is an invaluable resource for teachers, students, and Shakespeare fans alike. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud. In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers' final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers. The Folger Guide to Teaching Romeo and Juliet includes: -An explanation of the Folger methodology for teaching Shakespeare -Scholarly essays from experts in the field -A five-week breakdown of digestible lesson plans -Resource links for a deeper dive into the world of Shakespeare This guide is an essential part of any teacher's toolkit.

The authoritative guide to teaching Shakespeare's Macbeth, The Folger Guide to Teaching Macbeth is an invaluable resource for teachers, students, and Shakespeare fans alike. In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James's belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft. In depicting a man who murders to become king, Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Is Macbeth tempted by fate, or by his or his wife's ambition? Why does their success turn to ashes? The Folger Guide to Teaching Macbeth includes: -An explanation of the Folger methodology for teaching Shakespeare -Scholarly essays from experts in the field -A five-week breakdown of digestible lesson plans -Resource links for a deeper dive into the world of Shakespeare This guide is an essential part of any teacher's toolkit.

The authoritative guide to teaching Shakespeare's Hamlet, Shakespeare Set Free: Teaching Hamlet is an invaluable resource for teachers, students, and Shakespeare fans alike. Hamlet is Shakespeare's most popular and most puzzling play. It follows the form of a "revenge tragedy," in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father's murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties. Among them: What is the Ghost--Hamlet's father demanding justice, a tempting demon, an angelic messenger? Does Hamlet go mad, or merely pretend to? Once he is sure that Claudius is a murderer, why does he not act? Was his mother, Gertrude, unfaithful to her husband or complicit in his murder? Shakespeare Set Free: Teaching Hamlet breaks down the play in easy-to-understand sections and features essays from prominent Shakespeare scholars. This guide is an essential part of any teacher's toolkit.

The authoritative guide to teaching Shakespeare's Othello, The Folger Guide to Teaching Othello is an invaluable resource for teachers, students, and Shakespeare fans alike. In Othello, William Shakespeare creates powerful drama from a marriage between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona that begins with elopement and mutual devotion and ends with jealous rage and death. Shakespeare builds many differences into his hero and heroine, including race, age, and cultural background. Yet the couple's strong love would potentially easily overcome these differences were it not for Iago, who sets out to destroy Othello. Iago's false insinuations about Desdemona's infidelity draw Othello into his schemes, and Desdemona is subjected to Othello's horrifying verbal and physical assaults. The Folger Guide to Teaching Othello includes: -An explanation of the Folger methodology for teaching Shakespeare -Scholarly essays from experts in the field, -A five-week breakdown of digestible lesson plans -Resource links for a deeper dive into the world of Shakespeare This guide is an essential part of any teacher's toolkit.

This third volume of the "Shakespeare Set Free" series is written by institute faculty and participants. The volume sparkles with fine recent scholarship and the wisdom and wit of real classroom teachers in all kinds of schools all over the United States.

In this book, you'll find:

Clear and provocative essays written by leading scholars to refresh the teacher and challenge older students

Successful and plainly understandable techniques for teaching through performance

Ways to teach Shakespeare that successfully engage students of every grade and ability level in exploring Shakespeare's language and the magical worlds of the plays

Day-by-day teaching strategies for "Twelfth Night" and "Othello"-- created, taught, written, and edited by teachers with real voices in real classrooms.

The authoritative guide to teaching Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Folger Guide to Teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream is an invaluable resource for teachers, students, and Shakespeare fans alike. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love. Theseus and Hippolyta, about to marry, are figures from mythology. In the woods outside Theseus's Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves out into couples--but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another. Also in the woods, the king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy; Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, whose head is temporarily transformed into that of a donkey by a hobgoblin or "puck," Robin Goodfellow. Finally, Bottom and his companions ineptly stage the tragedy of "Pyramus and Thisbe." The Folger Guide to Teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream Includes: -An explanation of the Folger methodology for teaching Shakespeare -Scholarly essays from experts in the field -A five-week breakdown of digestible lesson plans -Resource links for a deeper dive into the world of Shakespeare This guide is an essential part of any teacher's toolkit.

PEGGY O'BRIEN grew up in western Massachusetts, where she now lives with her husband. She teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, she moved to Ireland and studied at University College Dublin and Trinity College, where she taught for the better part of twenty years. Her poems have appeared in publications on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Yale Review, The Southwest Review and Poetry Ireland Review. As well as being the editor of The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women's Poetry 1967-2000, she is the author of Writing Lough Derg: from Carleton to Heaney. She travels often in Ireland, where she has a daughter and three granddaughters.

In the title poem, the poet advises her granddaughters metaphorically to "swim in the obscure." In this, her second collection, Peggy O'Brien tries to do just that in order to probe the shadows cast by love in its different forms. She uses the music in poetry to celebrate the prosaic tenacity and patience our most intimate bonds require, not least our hold on life itself. In a book where the color red makes more than a few appearances and war is a frequent backdrop, the poet confronts collective aggression by trying to understand personal anger. Fortunately, when she swims in dangerous waters, Peggy O'Brien usually wears the life-jacket of humour. Peggy O'Brien is a member of the English Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She formerly taught at Trinity College, Dublin, having lived in Ireland for nearly twenty years. Her first collection of poetry, published on both sides of the Atlantic, was Sudden Thaw (2004).

This third volume of the "Shakespeare Set Free" series is written by institute faculty and participants. The volume sparkles with fine recent scholarship and the wisdom and wit of real classroom teachers in all kinds of schools all over the United States.

In this book, you'll find:

Clear and provocative essays written by leading scholars to refresh the teacher and challenge older students

Successful and plainly understandable techniques for teaching through performance

Ways to teach Shakespeare that successfully engage students of every grade and ability level in exploring Shakespeare's language and the magical worlds of the plays

Day-by-day teaching strategies for "Twelfth Night" and "Othello"-- created, taught, written, and edited by teachers with real voices in real classrooms.