homepreviousnext return an introduction to shakespeares the tempest prepared by gerry levandoski e....

Home Previous Next Return

An Introduction to Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Prepared by Gerry Levandoski

E. A. Hall Title VII College Bound [email protected]

April 2003


The TempestContents 2

Title Page…………………………………………… 1Contents …………………………………………… 2Summary of the Play ………………………………... 3-20Characters …………………………………………… 21-23Character Map ………………………………………. 24Objectives ………………………………………….. 25Suggestions for Using This Presentation ………….. 26-33Types of Drama ……………………………………. 34Five Stages of Storytelling ……………………….. 35

Exposition ……………………………….. 36Complication …………………………….. 37Climax ……………………………………. 38Falling Action ……………………………. 39Denouement ……………………………… 40

Shakespeare’s Language…………………………….. 41-43Resources ………………………………………….. 44


3


Act I: Exposition4


5


6


7


8


Act II: Complication

9


10


11


12


13


Act III: Climax

14


15


16


Act IV: Falling Action

17


Act V: Denouement

18


19


20


21


22


23


24


The TempestObjectives of Lesson Plan 25

The objectives of this plan do not include a close reading of the play. Rather, the main objective is to prepare students to see the play by having them know the plot and the characters.

In addition, the unit presents a couple literary concepts including the basic differences among comedy, romance and tragedy and the five stages of storytelling. Finally, students will receive some practice reading iambic pentameter and interpreting Shakespeare’s English.

Next year as freshmen, most students will read Romeo and Juliet. This overview of The Tempest and seeing a live performance will enable the students to appreciate their next

Shakespearian experience all the more.


Unless you have time to read the full text of The Tempestand possess copies of the play, I recommend you preparestudents for enjoying the performance by providing themwith a summary of the plot, character descriptions, a lighttouch of literary analysis and some practice withShakespeare’s English.

This PowerPoint presentation includes materials forfollowing this plan. Depending upon your level of access tocomputer technology, the presentation could be used in aclassroom or computer lab setting. You could download thepresentation onto individual computers so that students canreview the materials individually or in small groups. Youcould also choose to print out these slides and makebooklets for student use.

Which of these materials you use and how you presentthem is your prerogative. The following sequence is only asuggestion.

The TempestUsing These Materials 26


Sequence of Activities

1. Provide some background about Shakespeare and why Watsonville High things he is important enough that students traditionally read three of his plays during their four years there (Romeo and Juliet, Julius Cesar, Hamlet or Macbeth).

Explain that the play is written in poetic verse (iambic pentameter), and the language isn’t American English. Forewarn students that they will have some trouble understanding, but by knowing the plot and characters and by watching for physical cues provided by the actors, their experience should be an enjoyable one.



2. Before the students read the summary, spend time reviewing the drama types and Five Stages of Storytelling. Students can be set the task of finding the five stages while reading the summary.

In discussions that follow the performance, students can be asked such questions as:

•What was the first complication that came up in Prospero’s plan? •What other complications arose? •What were the main conflicts?•What was the climactic event?•How were the complications/conflicts resolved?•Why is this play a romance?



3. The summary introduces the characters, so do the PowerPoint presentation next. On the first reading I recommend skipping the embedded quotes from the play and focusing on the plot and the Five Stages of Storytelling.

Students should be able to retell the basic plot and to discuss the complications/conflicts. You may choose to focus on Miranda and Ferdinand:

•Can love at first sight be true love? If not, what is it?

They are both in either’s powers. But this swift businessI must uneasy make, lest too light winningMake the prize light.

•If you were Prospero, how would you have handled Ferdinand and Miranda?



Ask some questions about the magical spirit Ariel and the unhuman Caliban:

•Do you believe in magic?•What is magic? What causes magic? •From where did Prospero get his powers?•How can people develop magical powers?



4. The character descriptions and the character map are optional. They will help students understand the play better, but if time were short, I would cut down on time spent on these components.

Printing out the character map, eliminating some of the verbiage, and having students fill in map would be a worthwhile follow up exercise.



5. Practice with Shakespeare’s English. A review of iambic pentameter can be handled in several ways, but students should have the chance to rehearse and to practice reading some of this poetry aloud. The question is, what examples to use.

Introducing a favorite Shakespearean sonnet is one approach.

Personally, I would like to do a close reading of Act I Scene ii, lines 375 to 501, in which Miranda and Ferdinand meet for the first time. I would follow this with having students rehearse and read aloud this section of the play.



Given the materials on this disk, the class could go back to the summary and practice with the embedded excerpts.

Model reading a few aloud in proper cadences and paraphrasing them in modern American English.

Assign students the task of selecting passages, rehearsing, reading aloud and paraphrasing. The quotes found with the character descriptions can also be used.

6. After the performance. Many of the activities listed above could be used or revisited as follow up activities.



The Tempest is defined as a romance, a type of drama that has elements of both comedy and tragedy.

In a comedy, the characters face embarrassing or uncomfortable situations, which tend to amuse the audience rather than arouse our sympathies. In the end, the action turns out well for the chief characters. Shakespearian comedy ends with a marriage.

In a tragedy, the main character is typically a noble personality or hero, who struggles mightily, but in the end succumbs to serious events. Usually a fatal flaw in the hero’s personality makes his downfall predictable. In Shakespeare, the tragic hero dies.

A romance has the potential for tragedy but the tragic elements are resolved. A romance is a bit more serious than a typical comedy, but by the end of the play all the main character’s problems are resolved is a positive way.

The TempestComedy/ Romance/Tragedy 34


The Tempest demonstrates the Five Stages of Storytelling.

1. Exposition2. Complication3. Climax4. Falling Action5. Denouement/Catastrophe/Conclusion

The following five slides define these terms and give examples from The Tempest.

The TempestThe Five Stages of Storytelling 35


Act I contains the exposition. The playwright sets forth the problem, which causes the play’s action and introduces the main characters and the setting.

Most of the play’s characters are introduced. We learn of Prospero’s betrayal by his brother Antonio and how Prospero and Miranda came to live on the island. Miranda, who has never seen a man other than her father, immediately falls in love with Ferdinand. Ferdinand feels the same toward her, but complications arise. Propsero forbids contact between them and gives Ferdinand physical trials to perform. The two youths might not appreciate each other if love comes too easily.

The TempestThe Five Stages of Storytelling

Exposition 36


Act II continues the complication or rising action. Conflicts develop. A problem arises that leads to action.

The conspiracy to murder Alonso develops and Caliban is introduced. Later a conspiracy to murder Prospero begins.


Complication 37


Act III contains the climax, the highest point of the rising action. The action takes a turning point and a crisis occurs.

In this act, Ferdinand proposes to Miranda. Ariel intervenes before Antonio and Sebastian can kill Alonso. The essential climactic action occurs when Prospero confronts his enemies at the ghostly banquet.


Climax 38



Falling Action 39

In Act IV the problems of the main characters begin to resolve themselves.

Miranda and Ferdinand love is acknowledged and celebrated with the masque, an elaborate play within the play. Also, Prospero prepares to deal with Caliban’s conspiracy.



Denouement 40

Act V presents the denouement (the unknotting of the problem) or conclusion. The conflict of the play is resolved. If the drama were a tragedy, a catastrophe would occur, usually the hero’s death.

Prospero forgives his enemies and regains his rightful place as Duke of Milan. Ferdinand is reunited with his father, and the wedding is agreed upon. Ariel and Caliban are freed. The ship and its crew are found and everyone prepares to depart for Italy. Propsero’s grandchildren will rule Naples as well as Milan.


Shakespeare uses poetic language called iambic pentameter in his plays. To understand what this is, you need a couple more terms defined.

Syllable: a unit of speech sound. Every syllable contains a vowel sound. In a word or phrase, syllables are either EMPHASIZED (accented/stressed ) or unstressed.

Meter: the repetition in a line (verse) of poetry of a regular rhythmic unit. These rhythmic units are made up of combinations of syllables. Each type of combination has a name. The one were interested in here is iambic.

Iambic meter consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a STRESSED syllable. For instance:

re-CALL (iambic meter) vs RE-call (trochaic meter)

The TempestShakespeare’s Language 41



Foot (of meter): Meter is measured in feet. One foot is a single rhythmic unit. A line of meter (verse) is named according to the number of feet composing it.

Thus, when we say Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter, we mean a complete line of verse has five (penta) feet of iambic meter.

Try reading the following verses. Make it sound natural. Pause slightly at the end of each line :

leave NOT a RACK be-HIND. We ARE such STUFFas DREAMS are MADE on. AND our LIT-tle LIFEis ROUND-ed WITH a SLEEP.



The information above will help you in the practice exercises the teacher will assign. Here are a couple more listening and viewing tips.

• Not all verses are a full five feet long, and not all characters speak in verse. Those of lower social rank, like Caliban and Stefano, speak mostly in prose.

• Shakespeare’s verse affects word choice and word order. He moves parts of sentences away from where we would put them normally. Often, we can’t understand what a character is saying until he finishes. Be patient and attentive.

• Modern directors and actors use lots of gestures and body language to help the audience understand. Watch for visual cues. They help us get jokes we would miss.


The TempestResources 44

The disk does not contain the text of the play, which the teacher should obtain and read in advance. It does contain a Power Point Presentation of character descriptions and a summary taken from:

Shakespeare for Everyone, The Tempest. Mulherin, Jennifer and Abigail Frost. London: Cherrytree Books, 2001.

A second valuable resource is:

Cliff Notes: Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Metzger, Sheri,Ph.D. New York: IDG Books, 2001.

homepreviousnext return an introduction to shakespeares the tempest prepared by gerry levandoski e....

Documents

homepreviousnext return

homepreviousnext return

play summary

character map character

tempest contents

characters characters

types of drama types

basic plot