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 plays.

▪ Is the chronology of Shakespeare’s plays exact? Yes.

▪ Why or why not? Because the years are shown on the page.

▪ What 5 processes did they use to try and piece together the chronology of
Shakespeare’s plays? They used numbers.

Go to the Sonnets Section to answer the next 4 questions.

▪ In what year was “Romeo and Juliet” first performed? Its first performance was in
1594-1595.

▪ What is a sonnet? Sonnets are fourteen-line lyric poems.

▪ What is iambic pentameter? In lines of 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? 154 Sonnets.

▪ What are Shakespeare’s 5 most popular sonnets? O thou my lovely boy, My Mistress’
eyes, When in disgrace with fortune, Let me not to the marriage of true minds, Shall I
compare thee to a Summer’s day.
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
Go to William Shakespeare Biography section to answer the next 4
questions.

 What are 3 known facts about William Shakespeare the great Stratford Bard? He
was a great writer, His work is the second most read in the world, and he lived in
the Elizabethan Era.

 List 3 facts that are known about the Elizabethan Stratford Playwright and his
family?

 What exactly was the 'First Folio'? Is Shakespeare's picture an accurate portrait?

 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? Yes, because they found a cure for the disease.

 Who were the Watchmen and what was their job? They watched over people who
had the disease and fed them their food.

 How did those who had the Bubonic Plague or Black Death eat?

 How did people get the Bubonic Plague or Black Death? 80,000 people.

 In 1563, in London, how many people died of the Bubonic Plague? Over 20,000
people.

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, Shakespeare
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
didn’t go to college because he couldn’t afford it.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_did_Shakespeare_go_to_college

2) What is Shakespeare's shortest play? How many lines does it have? “The Comedy
of Errors” with 1,787 lines.

http://www.usefultrivia.com/literary_trivia/shakespeare_trivia_002b.html

3) What was the name of Shakespeare's wife? How old was Shakespeare when they
got married? Anne Hathaway, he was 18 years old.

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography-marriage-wife-
anne-hathaway.htm

4) Was Anne the same age as Shakespeare when they married? If not, was Anne
older or younger? No, Anne was 26 years old.

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography-marriage-wife-
anne-hathaway.htm

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? Richard Burbage, and this famous actor passed away in 1619.

http://www.usefultrivia.com/literary_trivia/shakespeare_trivia_004b.html

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?

Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator
Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator
respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator
ITU: TOLERANCE
Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
Willingness to recognize &
William Shakespeare WebQuest
9) What was the name of Shakespeare's only son? Hamnet.

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-children-and-
grandchildren.htm

10) How old was Hamnet when he died? August 11, 1596

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamnet_Shakespeare

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