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EXAMS
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Shakespeare
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SHAKESPEARE
If you have not yet read THE
MINIMUM NUMBER OF TEXTS go to that page before you
read on.
SHAKESPEARE is a good
option for cutting down the number of texts you have to study for
PAPER II. Choosing SHAKESPEARE
enables you to spend more time on each text.
WHICH PLAY? It need not
be one you have studied in class if you do not like that one. Do
not reject the whole of SHAKESPEARE on the basis
of one play. There are many ways you can prepare a SHAKESPEARE
text by yourself.
Here is a FOUR-STEP STUDY PLAN:
- Watch a good video: Branagh's or Olivier's or
Mel Gibson's HAMLET - or all three.
Zefirelli's ROMEO AND JULIET or the
recent ROMEO + JULIET. BBC:THE
ANIMATED SHAKESPEARE. Choose a story you
like.
- Often the text has been altered, cut, or summarised in an
adaptation. Buy a full text in a handy paperback
or go to William Shakespeare and
compare the text with the video.
- Buy some notes on the play. Read a section of the play,
read the notes for that section, re-watch that part of
the video. If a bit is missing, why has the director left
it out?
- Study the SHAKESPEARE questions from as
many past papers as you can find.
What aspects of the play do you have to pay most
attention to?
- CHARACTER: study 2 in case you are asked
about a minor one.
- PLOT: what starts the story
moving? what brings it to an end?
- CATHARSIS: drama should unleash emotions
in us by putting characters through emotional crises -
what emotions are unleashed in the play?
And ... that's it. If you know thoroughly those three
points about the chosen play, then you will be equipped to answer
any question.
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