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SHAKESPEARE´S LIFE

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23rd April 1564.

 

His father William was a successful local businessman and his mother Mary was the daughter of a landowner. Relatively prosperous, it is likely the family paid for Williams education, although there is no evidence he attended university.

 

In 1582 William, aged only 18, married an older woman named Anne Hathaway. They had three children, Susanna, Hamnet and Juliet. Their only son Hamnet died aged just 11.

Due to some well timed investments Shakespeare was able to secure a firm financial background, leaving time for writing and acting. The best of these investments was buying some real estate near Stratford in 1605, which soon doubled in value.

 

It seemed Shakespeare didn’t mind being absent from his family – he only returned home during Lent when all the theatres were closed. It is generally thought that during the 1590s he wrote the majority of his sonnets. This was a time of prolific writing and his plays developed a good deal of interest and controversy. His early plays were mainly comedies (e.g. Much Ado about Nothing, A Midsummer’s Night Dream) and histories (e.g. Henry V).

 

By the early Seventeenth Century, Shakespeare had begun to write plays in the genre of tragedy. These plays, such as Hamlet, Othello and King Lear, often hinge on some fatal error or flaw in the lead character, and provide fascinating insights into the darker aspects of human nature. These later plays are considered Shakespeare’s finest achievements.

 

Some academics known as the “Oxfords” claim that Shakespeare never actually wrote any plays. They contend Shakespeare was actually just a successful businessman, and for authorship suggest names such as Edward de Vere. Nevertheless there is evidence of Shakespeare in theatres as he received a variety of criticism from people such as Ben Johnson and Robert Greene.

 

William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets mostly in the 1590s. These short poems, deal with issues such as lost love. His sonnets have an enduring appeal due to his characteristic skill with language and words.

The Plays of Shakespeare

The plays of Shakespeare have been studied more than any other writing in the English language and have been translated into numerous languages. He was rare as a play-write for excelling in tragedies, comedies and histories. He deftly combined popular entertainment with a rare poetic capacity for expression which is almost mantric in quality.

 

During his lifetime, Shakespeare was not without controversy, but he also received lavish praise for his plays which were very popular and commercially successful.

 

His plays have retained an enduring appeal throughout history and throughout the world. Some of his most popular plays include:

 ·Twelfth Night

 ·Henry V

 ·Romeo and Juliet

 ·Macbeth

 ·Hamlet

 ·King Lear

 ·Othello

 

Shakespeare died in 1616; it is not clear how he died and numerous suggestions have been put forward.

 

In 1616, there was an outbreak of typhus (“The new fever”) which may have been the cause. The average life expectancy of someone born in London, England in the Sixteenth Century was about 35 years old, Shakespeare died age 52.

CERVANTES´S LIFE

Miguel was born in Alcalá, Spain, in 1547, do not know the exact day, but it is known that it was in late September or early October, and was baptized on 9 October.

 

Miguel was one of the lowest of his house, the sixth of seven brothers and his family had many economic problems. The father often moved the family from one place to another trying to get better income...

 

At age 8, he entered the Jesuit college at that time most children did not attend school but his father wanted his children to have a better education. His sisters also could read, which was very strange at the time.

 

At 16 he is still going to school and he liked very much to read and attend theater performances.

It is not known if Michael went to college, but his training shows that it was a very cultured man. At 22 he decided to become a soldier. Spain was fighting the Moors and in the great battle of Lepanto, where they were victorious, Miguel received several wounds, one in his left hand, so since that time they called the "one-armed man of Lepanto".

 

Already at that time he had begun to write some poems and after the battle received letters certifying their brave performance, he hoped to have a better life.

 

Back home, his ship was lost in a storm, they were attacked by a boat, and Michael and his brother Rodrigo were taken prisoner and were made slaves. They tried many times to escape and did not succeed, his family raised money for rescue and finally after 5 years of slavery could return to Spain.

 

At that time I wanted to sail to America but was unsuccessful. At 33 he married a young woman named Catalina and more or less at the same time finished writing his first major work "La Galatea" which was very well received and she received some money, but overall economic situation He did not improve. His works were not very popular yet and most of what he wrote in those years was lost forever.

 

Perform many jobs and none was lucky. Their finances were becoming increasingly difficult and it is believed that time was writing the first part of his most important work "The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" which was published in 1605, when Michael was 58 years old. Ten years later he finished the second part and by that time already had translations in English and French of the first half.

 

He wrote a lot during his last years, but never had enough money to live comfortably. Although at that time it was recognized genius, it was not caught a glimpse of the impact his work as a new literary style.He died at 79 and contrary to his main character, Don Quixote, Miguel could never escape his fate hidalgo and poor soldier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.- Write. -

ACTIVITY

2.- Write the names of the plays.-

 

      1.- ____________________________________. This play is about two enemys families in Verona: The Montagues and the Capuletos. A Young man from the Montague family is in love with a Young woman from the Capulet family.

      - Do you know something about the end of the history? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

      2.- ______________________________________. This play is about a Young prince. This prince is the son of the dead King of Denmark.

      - Do you know what is the famous line that this play includes? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

      3.- ______________________________________. This play is about the adventures of a gentlemen and a loyal page. They live many adventures together. He´s in love with a beautiful maid.

      - Do you know if this story is based in a true story? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 ·Who is the most important literary figure in your country? Why is he or she important?

 

 

 

 ·Do you go to the theatre? Why? Why not?

 

 

 

Discussion (In groups)

MINI-LESSON CLIL ACTIVITIES

INTRODUCTION

In my school, as you know I'm no English teacher and no content teacher. It´s a primary school.

I'm getting ready in the CLIL methodology to help my colleagues to work with students in your classrooms with this methodology.

They are English teachers not content teacher.

The bilingual or CLIL subjects in my school are Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Physical Education and Arts.

 

The coincidence made the two great geniuses of English and Spanish lyrics coincide.

 

On 23rd April, coinciding with the date of Shakespeare's and Cervantes' death, International Book Day is celebrated.

 

We organize the class into two big groups.

 

A group of students will be working with information about Shakespeare and other group will work with information about Cervantes.

 

 

 

 

 

First of all, we want to find out what our students know about this subject/topic.What do they already know?

 

1.- Starter (We give a card to each group). Discussing in groups. You can write your answer.

 

a.-What do you know about William Shakespeare?

b.- Can you name any of his plays?

a.- What do you know about Cervantes?

b.- Can you name any of his plays?

 

 

2.- Main activity

Find the information on the next

 

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.

Table.-

A text about Shakespeare and a text about Cervantes.

 

 

Write the names of the plays.-

 

      1.- ________________Romeo and JUliet____________________. This play is about two enemys families in verona: The Montagues and the Capuletos. A Young man from the Montague family is in love with a Young woman from the Capulet family.

      - Do you know something about the end of the history? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

      2.- ______________Hamlet________________________. This play is about a Young prince. This prince is the son of the dead King of Denmark.

      - Do you know what is the famous line that this play includes? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

      3.- ______________Don Quixote________________________. This play is about the adventures of a gentlemen and a loyal page. They live many adventures together. He´s in love with a beautiful maid.

      - Do you know if this story is based in a true story? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

3.- RESULTS/FEEDBACK

Discussion (In groups)  

 

·Who is the most important literary figure in your country? Why is he or she important?

 

 

 

·Do you go to the theatre? Why? Why not?

 

 

 

 

 

We celebrate at school the cultural week with the topic “400 anniversary of Cervantes and Shakespeare”. The students could chose a book, they must read it and then, they have to answer a document like this:

 

ACTIVITIES
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