Shakespeare Reloaded encourages middle secondary students to imaginatively engage with Shakespeare’s plays and poetry as they actively explore key ideas and themes and how these are expressed through language. This active approach to studying Shakespeare will complement and enhance the study of individual texts and provide an invaluable resource for every English student.
- Combines detailed explorations of key scenes with broad analysis of the language features and text structures to give students an understanding of the complete plays and Shakespeare's wider body of work.
- Introduces students to the social, cultural and political conditions in which Shakespeare worked, bringing theatre and Elizabethan England to life.
- Focuses on how Shakespeare’s texts have been interpreted throughout history and for contemporary audiences.
- Explores the continuing value and relevance of Shakespeare’s work for Australian students today.
- Encourages students to extend what they have learned through their own writing and research and through further viewing and reading.
Chapter 1 Society
Introduction: The Elizabeth Era: a Golden Age
The Renaissance
Sixteenth-century people
Politics and religion
Or a not-so-Golden Age…
Chapter 2 Theatre
Introduction: Elizabethan theatre
Who was Shakespeare?
Aristotelian tragedy and Shakespeare
Shakespeare on theatre
Some of Shakespeare’s contemporaries
Shakespeare FAQs
Chapter 3 Poetry
Shakespeare the poet
Some poetry ground rules
Shakespeare’s narrative poems:
Venus and Adonis
Lucrece
The Phoenix and the Turtle
A Lover’s Complaint
The sonnets
Chapter 4 History
The histories – a complete list
Introduction: About the histories
Richard III
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry V
Chapter 5 Comedy
The comedies – a complete list
Introduction: About the comedies
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Twelfth Night
The Tempest
Chapter 6 Tragedy
The tragedies – a complete list
Introduction: About the tragedies
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
Hamlet
Chapter 7 Legacy
The scoreboard
The burning question – why study Shakespeare?
A follow-up burning question - why is Shakespeare still taught in schools?
What is the secret to Shakespeare’s longevity?
The magic – and business – of theatre
Original practices
Was he a genius?
Did Shakespeare do the right thing by women?
Autobiography?
Authorship
Is there anything left to learn about Shakespeare?
You have a choice – choose wisely
