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? Because it’s based on the information
available
▪ What 5 processes did they use to try and piece together the
chronology of Shakespeare’s plays? Actual historic events,
allusions to historical events in (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? 1594-95
Romeo and Juliet first performance, First printed 1597
▪ What is a sonnet? See the Sonnets section a 14 line poem
▪ What is iambic pentameter? Provide a literary example of iambic
pentameter. Iambic pentameter – that is, in lines ten
syllables long, with accents falling on every second
syllable, as in: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s
day?”.
▪ How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write? See the
Sonnets section 154
▪ What are Shakespeare’s 5 most popular sonnets? See sonnets
section 126 William Shakespeare Sonnet – O thou my
lovely boy, 130 William Shakespeare Sonnet – My
Mistress’ eyes, 029 William Shakespeare Sonnet – Let me
not to the marriage of true minds, 18 William
Shakespeare Sonnet – Shall I compare thee to a
Summer’s day?

Go to William Shakespeare Biography section to answer the

next 4 questions.

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
 What are 3 known facts about William Shakespeare the great
Stratford Bard? Shakespeare invented the word
“assassination”. He never attended a university. His true
birthday is unknown.

 List 3 facts that are known about the Elizabethan Stratford

Playwright and his family? 1385 William Shakespeare served on
a coroner’s jury in Balsall. 1284 William Shakespeare of
Clopton, Gloucestershire, was hanged for theft. 1457
Isabella Shakespeare is mentioned in the Register of the
Guild of St Anne at Knowle as the prioress of the
Benedictine convent of Wroxall
 What exactly was the 'First Folio'? Is Shakespeare's picture an
accurate portrait? The “First Folio” is of major importance
to William Shakespeare as it is the first collected edition of
Shakespeare’s plays without which there would be no
William Shakespeare. Yes.
 List 2 reasons why there is so much controversy about the
biography of the playwright (William Shakespeare)?

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?
 Who were the Watchmen and what was their job?
 How did those who had the Bubonic Plague or Black Death eat?
 How did people get the Bubonic Plague or Black Death?
 In 1563, in London, how many people died of the Bubonic Plague?

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.

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?

http://www.usefultrivia.com/literary_trivia/shakespeare_trivia_002b.ht
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
ml The comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest play with
1,787 lines.

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

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_was_William_shakespeare's_wife How
old was Shakespeare when they got married? Anne Hathaway,
Shakespeare was 18 years old.

4) Was Anne the same age as Shakespeare when they married? If not,
was Anne older or younger? No, she 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?

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

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

production of Hamlet?

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

Why?

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

10) How old was Hamnet when he died?

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

lifetime? Why?

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

Shakespeare’s plays to be published. How many plays did they
publish?

13) In what year was this collection of plays published? What is this
collection of plays known as?

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.

Lastly, find a Audio version of Romeo & Juliet on your computer and cut
paste the URL below:

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
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