Thinking about the tragedies: 54 exercises
The links here are to a total of 54 exercises on the four great tragedies by Shakespeare.
These exercises are for pupils who know the plays well, and who are revising. In other words, their level of knowledge should be quite deep, but of course there are gaps. They are most effective if used a while after studying the play, or the relevant part of it. This is a form of retrieval practice which also serves to generate deep thinking about the play. Ideally they are used in class via pair-work which feeds back into the class as a whole, with discussion following. Photocopy them in A3 sheets, so there is plenty of room in which to write notes.
An example of what might be achieved from a single grid is below, from Macbeth, Act I scene vii, with the questions here in list order rather than in the grid (pictured at the bottom), followed by the value/purpose of each question.
1. What are the first words of this soliloquy?
Pinning down the start of perhaps the most important speech in the play in the heads of the pupils.
2. What does Macbeth mean by saying that Duncan’s virtues will be ‘trumpet-tongued’?
His vivid imagination: thinking of what it would be like to kill Duncan, and the alliterated ‘trumpet-tongued’ - how the killing would be ‘trumpeted’ to all (connect to the later image of the bloodied hand which will turn the oceans red).
3. What is the missing phrase from earlier in the speech? ‘If th’assassination / Could ????? ?? ??? ??????, and catch / With his surcease, success.’ Explain the missing phrase.
Understand and remember the unusual word ‘trammel’, which is governed by ‘If’: the impossibility of gathering up all consequences in a net.
4. Write down 3 or 4 words which encapsulate Macbeth’s state of mind in this speech and at this point of the play.
Pairs discuss and come up with appropriate words. Perhaps gather all on the board afterwards. Which are most frequent, most helpful?
5. At the end of this speech, Macbeth has decided not to kill Duncan. Some lines later he changes to ‘If we should fail?’
How many lines later? Tick one -
a) 37
b) 62
c) 109
You hope they’ll all get ‘37’: this is just to re-emphasise the sheer speed of the change, and prompt discussion on how this can happen.
6. What does the phrase: ‘the deep damnation of his taking off’ show us about Macbeth?
Another alliterated phrase: his clear moral compass and understanding. He knows what the worst consequence of all will be, and yet in the end he still does it.
7. Complete the last line of the scene: ‘False face must hide ???????’
Macbeth leading the way after his wife’s determination earlier. Another image of deception, and opens up a discussion of discuss others.
8. Make the case for this speech being one of the most important moments in the whole play.
Zoom out. This opens up the idea of Macbeth’s tragic nature: that he knows what the consequences will be, and ends up doing it anyhow; also the plot importance; and perhaps the best instance of his almost poetic imagination: our intimacy with him.
