William Shakespeare WebQuest

The World of William Shakespeare and details of his biography have

fascinated people for centuries. The questions and mysteries, which
surround William Shakespeare, the Great Stratford playwright and his
biography, life, times and works (including his plays, sonnets and
poems), are legion:

Use the following website to answer the questions on page 1 of this

WebQuest http://www.william-shakespeare.info/site-map.htm

Go to the Play Chronology Section to answer the next 5

questions.
▪ How many plays did William Shakespeare write? 38
▪ Is the chronology of Shakespeare’s plays exact? No
▪ Why or why not? It’s based on known information.
▪ What 5 processes did they use to try and piece together the
chronology of Shakespeare’s plays? Actual historical events
▪ Allusions to historical events in his plays
▪ First Performance dates taken from personal diaries and
records (Henslow and Manningham)
▪ Royal Court Records
▪ Legal documents

Go to the Sonnets Section to answer the next 4 questions.

▪ In what year was “Romeo and Juliet” first performed?1594-1595
▪ What is a sonnet? See the Sonnets section A fourteen line
lyric poem.
▪ What is iambic pentameter? Provide a literary example of iambic
pentameter. A meter used for poetry and in Drama.
▪ How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write? See the
Sonnets section 154.
▪ What are Shakespeare’s 5 most popular sonnets? See sonnets
section O thou my lovely boy, My Mistress’ eyes, When in
disgrace with fortune, Let me not to marriage of true
minds, Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?.

Go to William Shakespeare Biography section to answer the

next 4 questions.

 What are 3 known facts about William Shakespeare the great

Stratford Bard?

 List 3 facts that are known about the Elizabethan Stratford

Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest
 Playwright and his family?
 What exactly was the 'First Folio'? Is Shakespeare's picture an
accurate portrait? This section is therefore entirely dedicated
to information about this important document - commonly
referred to as The First Folio.
 List 2 reasons why there is so much controversy about the
biography of the playwright (William Shakespeare)? There was
huge rivalry between the acting troupes and because there
was no such thing as copyright in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries playwrights and theatrical troupes
tried to keep their plays out of print.

Go to the Black Death and Bubonic Plague section

 Were those who contracted the Bubonic Plague or Black Death

allowed outside of their house? Why or why not? No, cause it was
contagious.
 Who were the Watchmen and what was their job? Watchmen were
allocated to watch the ' plague houses ' and the only means
of sustenance was for the victims to lower baskets from an
upper window for the watchman to put food into it.
 How did those who had the Bubonic Plague or Black Death eat? Yhe
only means of sustenance was for the victims to lower
baskets from an upper window for the watchman to put food
into it.
 How did people get the Bubonic Plague or Black Death?
 There were repeated outbreaks of the disease during the
Elizabethan era and these outbreaks were often transmitted
by the fleas that lived on rodents and animals, especially
rats.
 In 1563, in London, how many people died of the Bubonic Plague?
20,000.


SHAKESPEARE WEBQUEST CHALLENGE

For the Next 13 questions you are not given a specific website to refer
to. Use your resources to locate the answers to these questions.
PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE EXACT WEB ADDRESS THAT YOU
USE TO ANSWER EACH QUESTION AFTER YOU HAVE
COMPLETED YOUR ANSWER.
http://www.usefultrivia.com/literary_trivia/shakespeare_trivia_i
Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest
ndex.html FOR ALL!!!

1) Did William Shakespeare attend a University? If so, which one? No.

2) What is Shakespeare's shortest play? How many lines does it have?

With 1,787 lines and 14,369 words The Comedy of errors.

3) What was the name of Shakespeare's wife? How old was

Shakespeare when they got married? Anne Hathaway.

4) Was Anne the same age as Shakespeare when they married? If not,
was Anne older or younger? Anne was older.

5) What actor first played the

roles of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Richard III (All characters in
plays written by Shakespeare)? In what year did this famous actor
pass away? Richard Burbage.

6) Did Shakespeare ever act in any of his plays? If so, list 2. The
Ghost.

7) Which role is Shakespeare said to have played in the original

production of Hamlet? The Ghost.

8) How many of Shakespeare's original manuscripts have survived?

Why? None. due partly perhaps to the fact that they were
written, many of them hastily, strictly for stage performance.

9) What was the name of Shakespeare's only son? Hamnet.

10) How old was Hamnet when he died? 11.

11) How many of Shakespeare's plays were published during his

lifetime? Why? None. Fortunately, two of his fellow actors, John
Heminge and Henry Condell, gathered 36 of Shakespeare's
plays and published them in 1623 in a collection that has come
to be known as The First Folio.

12) Name the two men who ended up gathering some of

Shakespeare’s plays to be published. How many plays did they
publish? John Heminge and Henry Condell

13) In what year was this collection of plays published? What is this
Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest
collection of plays known as? 1623. First Folio.

14) List 4 interesting facts you learned about William Shakespeare

during this WebQuest, which you did not write about in the answers to
your WebQuest questions. Shakespeares pieces weren’t really
famous till after his death.

Lastly, find a Audio version of Romeo & Juliet on your computer and cut
paste the URL below: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-
Video/Literature/European-Classics/Romeo-and-Juliet/23713

Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE

Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest