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?
Shakespeare had thirty- eight published plays.
▪ Is the chronology of Shakespeare’s plays exact?
No.
▪ Why or why not?
The chronology isn’t exact because some of his plays were joint
works or they weren’t published till after Shakespeare’s death.
▪ What 5 processes did they use to try and piece together the
chronology of Shakespeare’s plays?
The website used Actual historical events; Allusions to historical
events in his plays; First Performance dates taken from personal
diaries and records; Royal Court Records; and Legal documents
to put the plays in chronological order.

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

▪ In what year was “Romeo and Juliet” first performed?
Romeo and Juliet was first performed in Winter of 1594.
▪ What is a sonnet? See the Sonnets section
Sonnets are fourteen-line lyric poems.
▪ What is iambic pentameter? Provide a literary example of iambic
pentameter.
Iambic pentameter is a poem where the lines are ten syllables
long and have an accent on every other syllable. An example is
“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”
▪ How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write? See the
Sonnets section
William Shakespeare wrote 154 Sonnets.
▪ What are Shakespeare’s 5 most popular sonnets? See sonnets
section
Shakespeare’s five most popular sonnets are “O thou my lovely
boy”; “ My Mistress’ eyes”; “ When in disgrace with fortune”;
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
 “Let me not to the marriage of true minds”; and “ Shall I
compare thee to a Summer’s day?”.
Go to William Shakespeare Biography section to answer the
next 4 questions.

 What are 3 known facts about William Shakespeare the great

Stratford Bard?
William Shakespeare lived fifty- two years, Shakespeare wrote the
very popular play Romeo and Juliet, and Shakespeare was an actor
at one time.

 List 3 facts that are known about the Elizabethan Stratford

Playwright and his family?
William Shakespeare’s father was born in 1531, Shakespeare’s
mother was born in 1540, and Shakespeare had 7 siblings, however
the two girls born before him died as infants.
 What exactly was the 'First Folio'? Is Shakespeare's picture an
accurate portrait?
The First Folio is the first compilation of Shakespeare’s works, the
portrait on the front of the First Folio is an accurate portrait, it is one
of only two truly accurate portraits.
 List 2 reasons why there is so much controversy about the
biography of the playwright (William Shakespeare)?
There is a lot of controversy about Shakespeare because back in his
day the records weren’t near as good as they are now, certain facts
can easily be wrong because of the lack of information.

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?
No, people infected with the Bubonic Plague were not allowed
outside their homes so that they could not spread the plague any
further, their doors were locked from the outside.
 Who were the Watchmen and what was their job?
The watchmen would watch the houses of those who had
contracted the black plague and give them food.
 How did those who had the Bubonic Plague or Black Death eat?
The watchmen would bring them food and drop it in through a
window.
 How did people get the Bubonic Plague or Black Death?
The Bubonic Plague was spread by fleas from rodents and other
animals, however once a human was infected he or she became a
carrier also, the disease could even be transferred through
someone’s breath.
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
 In 1563, in London, how many people died of the Bubonic Plague?
Over 20,000 people in London died in 1563.

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, William Shakespeare did not attend a University.
2) What is Shakespeare's shortest play? How many lines does it have?
Shakespeare’s shortest play is “ The Comedy of Errors” with 1,787
lines.

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

Shakespeare when they got married?
Shakespeare’s Wife’s name was Anne; Shakespeare was 18 when he
got married.

4) Was Anne the same age as Shakespeare when they married? If not,
was Anne older or younger?
Anne was 26 when she marries Shakespeare. 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?
Richard Burbage played these roles, he passed away in 1619.

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

Shakespeare probably played the role of the Ghost in Hamlet.

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

production of Hamlet?
Shakespeare most likely played the role of the Ghost in Hamlet.

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

Why?

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

10) How old was Hamnet when he died?

Hamnet was 11 years old when he died.

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

lifetime? Why?
18 of Shakespeare’s plays were published during his lifetime, all of
them were unauthorized to be published.

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.
I learned that Shakespeare lived in a town called Stratford, I learned he
was called a bard, I learned a bard is like a poet, I learned his
nickname was the great Stratford Bard.

Lastly, find an Audio version of Romeo & Juliet on your computer and
cut paste the URL below: http://librivox.org/romeo-and-juliet-by-
william-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