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?
▪ William Shakespeare wrote 39 plays.
▪ Is the chronology of Shakespeare’s plays exact?
▪ This is their “best guess”.
▪ Why or why not?
▪ It is their “best guess” because they got some of this information
by other people and some people got different dates.
▪ What 5 processes did they use to try and piece together the
chronology of Shakespeare’s plays?
▪ Actual historical events; Allusions to historical events in his plays;
first performances dates taken from personal diaries and journals
(Henslow and Manningham); Royal court records; Legal
documents.

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

▪ In what year was “Romeo and Juliet” first performed?
▪ It was first performed 1594 and or 1595.
▪ What is a sonnet? See the Sonnets section
▪ They are fourteen-line lyric poems.
▪ What is iambic pentameter? Provide a literary example of iambic
pentameter.
▪ In lines ten syllables long, with accents falling on every second
syllable. For example, “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
▪ O thou my lovely boy; My Mistress’ eyes; When in disgrace with
fortune; Let me not to the marriage of true minds.

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 Web Quest
Go to William Shakespeare Biography section to answer the
next 4 questions.

 What are 3 known facts about William Shakespeare the great

Stratford Bard?


 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?
 It was important to William Shakespeare because it was the first
collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays without which there would
be no William Shakespeare. His picture is real because it was in his
first Folio.
 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? Why or why not?
 No they were not because it spreads fast and a lot of people had it
and it was deadly.
 Who were the Watchmen and what was their job?
 They guarded peoples door that had the Black Death, so no one
entered or left.
 How did those who had the Bubonic Plague or Black Death eat?
 They would lower baskets down and the watchmen would put food
in them.
 How did people get the Bubonic Plague or Black Death?
 From fleas and rodents especially rats.
 In 1563, in London, how many people died of the Bubonic Plague?
 Over 20,000 people died.

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.
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 Web Quest
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?

-He did not attend a University.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_university_did_shakespeare_att
end&alreadyAsked=1&rtitle=Where_did_Skakespeare_attend_uni
versity

2) What is Shakespeare's shortest play? How many lines does it

have?
-The comedy of Error and it was 1777 lines “short”.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_shortest_play_that_Willi
am_Shakespeare_wrote

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

Shakespeare when they got married?
-Anne Hathaway. He was 18 when they got married and she was 26.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_was_William_shakespeare's_wife&alrea
dyAsked=1&rtitle=What_is_the_name_of_shakespeare%27s_wife
4) Was Anne the same age as Shakespeare when they married? If not,
was Anne older or younger?
-No they were not she was older than him and was 26 years old.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_was_William_shakespeare's_wife&alrea
dyAsked=1&rtitle=What_is_the_name_of_shakespeare%27s_wife

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?

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

-Yes he did, he played in,

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?

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

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 Web Quest
10) How old was Hamnet when he died?

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 an 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 Web Quest