The Tragedy of King Lear
Reading Shakespeare can be tough. But hopefully you'll find several resources here to help you navigate the language, plot, and themes of the play King Lear.
First, a brief synopsis of the play: Lear is an old king who was an a fearless soldier. He's got a bit of a pride problem, though. He creates a scene to have his daughters pledge their love to him. After this, things get a bit chaotic (hence the unit, Order & Chaos). Love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, respect and revenge, murder, wisdom and madness...these are just a few of the themes that come into play during the course of the action. And I warn you...it does not end well (that's basically the definition of a tragedy).
First, a brief synopsis of the play: Lear is an old king who was an a fearless soldier. He's got a bit of a pride problem, though. He creates a scene to have his daughters pledge their love to him. After this, things get a bit chaotic (hence the unit, Order & Chaos). Love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, respect and revenge, murder, wisdom and madness...these are just a few of the themes that come into play during the course of the action. And I warn you...it does not end well (that's basically the definition of a tragedy).
King Lear Resources
Here are a few handy resources to help you work your way through the text:
1. To read the full text of King Lear, visit this site.
2. To listen to an audio recording of King Lear while reading, visit this site.
3. To access a guide for understanding King Lear, visit this site.
4. A handy document for working through the text and tackling your assignments.
1. To read the full text of King Lear, visit this site.
2. To listen to an audio recording of King Lear while reading, visit this site.
3. To access a guide for understanding King Lear, visit this site.
4. A handy document for working through the text and tackling your assignments.
Completing the King Lear Presentation
You will be creating a slideshow presentation that deals with the juxtaposition of the motifs in King Lear. First of all, let's review the motifs (aka recurring thematic elements) in the play:
1. sanity / madness (wise / foolish)
2. loyalty / betrayal
3. natural / unnatural
4. legitimate / illegitimate
5. justice / injustice
6. sight / blindness
7. reality / appearance
8. stability / instability
9. authority / anarchy
You will pick ONE of these motif pairs to examine in a PowerPoint presentation (don't have PowerPoint? try downloading a free slideshow prgoram from OpenOffice). Your presentation will be 8 slides in length and is worth 100 points (to view rubric, click here). Use this outline to help you complete your slides:
Slide One: Title Slide
Slide Two: Introduction Slide that includes a brief overview/outline of what is to come in the rest of the presentation.
Slides Three & Four: One aspect of the juxtaposition. Be sure to explain what this component of the motif, provide examples from the text, and explain how those examples reflect the motif.
Slides Five & Six: The other aspect of the juxtaposition. Be sure to explain what this component of the motif, provide examples from the text, and explain how those examples reflect the motif.
Slide Seven: Context of Order vs. Chaos. How does this motif fit into the unit's theme of order and chaos? This should be several bullets or a well-developed paragraph.
Slide Eight: Conclusion Slide. This slide is similar to a concluding paragraph of an essay. Why is this an important motif? How do we see this motif reflected in today's society? What final thought can you leave your viewer with in regards to your motif?
1. sanity / madness (wise / foolish)
2. loyalty / betrayal
3. natural / unnatural
4. legitimate / illegitimate
5. justice / injustice
6. sight / blindness
7. reality / appearance
8. stability / instability
9. authority / anarchy
You will pick ONE of these motif pairs to examine in a PowerPoint presentation (don't have PowerPoint? try downloading a free slideshow prgoram from OpenOffice). Your presentation will be 8 slides in length and is worth 100 points (to view rubric, click here). Use this outline to help you complete your slides:
Slide One: Title Slide
Slide Two: Introduction Slide that includes a brief overview/outline of what is to come in the rest of the presentation.
Slides Three & Four: One aspect of the juxtaposition. Be sure to explain what this component of the motif, provide examples from the text, and explain how those examples reflect the motif.
Slides Five & Six: The other aspect of the juxtaposition. Be sure to explain what this component of the motif, provide examples from the text, and explain how those examples reflect the motif.
Slide Seven: Context of Order vs. Chaos. How does this motif fit into the unit's theme of order and chaos? This should be several bullets or a well-developed paragraph.
Slide Eight: Conclusion Slide. This slide is similar to a concluding paragraph of an essay. Why is this an important motif? How do we see this motif reflected in today's society? What final thought can you leave your viewer with in regards to your motif?