Literature Disguised as Fun takes the story A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare and creates a witty and engaging unit of it. The small format book includes the unabridged story itself, discussion questions, a humorous story about William Shakespeare’s life (sort of, but then the Bard himself shows up), interesting quotes by Shakespeare to think on, additional reading suggestions, clever advertisements, and even a section where you create your own memes! I could see this taking a few days to read and discuss, followed up with individual writing assignments and more discussion. 160pp, not consumable. ~Sara
This annotated edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream includes: Introduction; Pre-flight: foundational information to better understand the play; Wrap Up: more in depth look at the play and its themes; Discussion questions, memes and art that relate to the play; Tea with Shakespeare?: A brief, creative bio of the author.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy by William Shakespeare. Maybe you’re dreaming, maybe you’re not. Are you in a play or watching a play? Do fairies truly exist? Ever meet a king and queen? Prepare thyself, reader!
In addition to the unabridged text of Shakespeare’s play, this volume for students in grades 7-12 includes a “Pre-Flight”, a short introduction to be read before reading the play, a “Wrap-Up”, a more in depth explanation and discussion of the play, to be read after, along with “Tea with Shakespeare?” where Mr. Draeger meets a strange man he invites in for tea.
For readers new to Shakespeare, Charles and Mary Lamb’s version of the play is also included and can be read first to help with understanding the play as originally written. Also included are open-ended, Socratic type discussion questions to help students think more in depth about the play. And just in case the play is not enough for you, there are quotes from Shakespeare and a list of some of his other writings. And if all that was not enough, there is also a portrait of Shakespeare! But wait, there’s more, Mr. Draeger has obtained, at great risk to himself, a letter from John Milton. Plus there are memes and art to help your students think about the play in a fun and entertaining way. And...there are blank memes at the end so students can add their own humor or Shakespearean wit.
These are contained (include the story), inexpensive, and non-consumable literary components you can weave into your language arts for middle and high school ages. Each one can be done by a student and parent, small group or a classroom. The content is not religious unless the author mentions it as a talking point (even then, they are not biblical in nature.) It's the questions after the story that really tripped my trigger! Why do you think so-and-so responded the way he did? Why was that good or bad? What might you have done in that situation? I'm generalizing to show the higher-order thinking structure of the questions. A short biography of the author and some background to the setting introduces the mood to come. Read the story, then comes the discussion questions. You could easily make a question into an essay topic! The voice of the guides themselves is very friendly and conversational. It makes for a relaxed vibe going into some pretty dark and heavy literature. The prices vary with the length of the reading, but they all have the same pre- and post-story content. A few scattered illustrations poke fun at the topics. At the end, I quite liked reading some quotes from the author and suggestions for further reading. These feel like something you could work into a busy week when you may not get to your heavier work. Or maybe you find yourself picking one up between larger novels to discuss. The titles are some that you may not know, so have a try at something new! I would get the whole set if it were me. ~Sara
