Shakespearience in the GCSE classroom: Shakespeare and GCSE coursework.
Thomas, Peter
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For many youngsters, Shakespeare is encountered as a duty, an
obligation or a test of Reading. They may be aware, or have been told,
that there is some benefit to be gained from the encounter, but they may
not be sure what the benefit is or what use it will be to them. And it
doesn't help if their previous Shakespeare experience has amounted
to preparation for precisely tariffed questions testing Reading for
SATs.
The gap between Shakespeare the playwright and Shakespeare the
means of national assessment of youthful literacy is wide, unhelpful but
understandable. Shakespeare's plays were appreciated in his day by
the educated and by those who would not have met a government target of
level 4 in literacy: his scripts democratised theatre-going by being
unashamedly popular in appeal and variety. As a democratic entertainer
he presented on stage the fears, joys and dreams of all, irrespective of rank or wealth or education, and he presented them for all, irrespective
of rank or wealth or education. The challenge is to reconnect modern
audiences with the same popular theatrical appeal.
If Shakespeare is to be accessible and appealing, the experience
needs to be something other than tests of Reading. If Shakespeare can be
prised out of the niche marked 'Literature', and
'Reading' becomes a route to 'Performance',
youngsters may get closer to his craft, and with more confidence and
pleasure. Surprisingly, in an increasingly directed and prescribed
curriculum, GCSE can be a help in this. If the focus is on Shakespeare
as a dramatist, GCSE coursework can be made more than essays (or
'S.A's' as they are sometimes labelled ...) on books.
GCSE specification requirements
GCSE allows teacher choice of text, teacher choice of task and
teacher assessment. GCSE also defines the area of study as
'Shakespeare', rather than a named play. Coursework does not,
therefore, have to be based on a single play--or be based on a whole
play. Assessment Objectives can effectively be met by comparing parts of
two (or even three) plays. This does not mean reduced scope, but closer
focus: it rarely advantages candidates when they write about a whole
play.
The assessment objectives are helpfully framed to value response
and exploration, not just comprehension and knowledge.
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Grade criteria reinforce the importance of addressing
Shakespeare's dramatic craft. The AQA criteria specify for Grade C
'insight into characters, structure and stagecraft'; for Grade
B 'analytical skill in exploring characterisation, structure and
theatricality'; Grade A 'analytical and interpretive skill in
evaluating significant achievements within the dramatic genre' and
Grade A* 'originality of analysis and interpretation when
evaluating Shakespeare's stagecraft and appeal to audience'.
There can be no clearer signal to teachers that they need to avoid
lengthy character descriptions, plot outlines and invitations to judge
who is most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
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Social, cultural and historical contexts 'SCH' is most
obviously about ideas, values and attitudes displayed in the plays which
are similar to or different from those of today. This gives useful
direction to teachers wanting to explore notions of honour and virtue,
attitudes to race, class, marriage, gender, justice or politics. It is
equally about Shakespeare's writing for a contemporary audience and
for a contemporary stage. This means addressing features of SCH and
theatricality and stagecraft as inextricably linked.
Theatricality, stagecraft and audience appeal
Prompting students to see Shakespeare's scriptcraft as
adaptation to his stage, his audience and his actors demands a practical
approach to his texts:
* Shakespeare's theatre lacked resources of sound
amplification, scenery and lighting. His scripts therefore had to be
written for vocalizing in an open daytime space.
* Shakespeare's audience was mixed and not reverently,
patiently seated in comfortable darkness. It needed variety, pace and
interest. Whilst Shakespeare could cater for an educated elite in
performances at court and grand houses, most of what he wrote was for a
public playhouse and a paying public. Appealing to the varied tastes of
this wide audience meant putting together plays with something for
everybody: comedy, violence, romance, suspense and references to current
and past events in English life and history. Those best pleased by
verbal abuse, drunkenness and foolery could enjoy Falstaff, Sir Toby
Belch, Petruchio; others best pleased by witty puns, parodies and
conceits could enjoy the subtler parts of Much Ado, Twelfth Night and
Hamlet. But each play had something for both tastes.
* Shakespeare's actors needed speech and action prompts
embedded in their scripts as they could not be given the whole text and
directions for fear of rivals' plundering in the absence of laws of
copyright.
Assignment setting
Bearing in mind the conditions above, it becomes more worthwhile to
see how Shakespeare made use of the limited resources available to
him--and how the script may be differently served in the different
cultural context of a modern audience and medium. Specification guidance
includes recommended tasks which match assessment objectives, such as:
analysis of the dramatic qualities of one or more scenes, related
to performance issues and/or alternative interpretations & related
to the text as a whole, showing how these may be influenced by SCH
factors, or by different cultural contexts.
If the priority is engaging with the dramatic qualities of
Shakespeare's scripts, choosing the bits that work is essential. So
is playing the scenes in the classroom to see their potential for
performance--and studying video versions for different directorial
decisions. Getting to grips with technique doesn't require reading
the whole of Much Ado: comparing the comic, ironic and realistic
qualities of the two gulling scenes does the trick. Comparing one of
these gulling scenes with the gulling of Malvolio in Twelfth Night does
the trick, too. So does comparing either of these comic scenes of
deception with more sombre scenes of deception in Measure for Measure,
Hamlet, Richard III or ... whatever arises out of teacher enthusiasm and
expertise. The point is that the approach is liberating. Teachers have
few freedoms in the curriculum these days, so it's worth making the
most of this one.
As a sample of what becomes possible, try this scene from Troilus
and Cressida where Shakespeare is doing his best to make his bare stage
flexible and dynamic in order to sustain interest and appeal. Where a
lesser scriptwriter would have the scene dominated by a single level of
interest, he manages to bring off a coup using the device available to a
modern film director of a split screen. Cressida has a secret meeting
with her passionate suitor, Diomedes, who wants her to give him the
love-token scarf given her by her lover, Troilus. Romantic interest
assured? Will-she/ Won't-she suspense guaranteed? Women's
fickleness or constancy--of interest to a largely male audience?
Now the stagecraft cleverness: Shakespeare makes the scene even
more subtle and complex. He brings on stage, as secret observers of this
private scene, no other than Troilus himself, and his friend Achilles.
Irony? Tragedy? Suspicion/Fear? Trust/Dismay/Revenge? Loads of. Now the
ultimate coup. Watching these two watching the other two is Thersites,
the mouthy, insubordinate, dirty-minded rogue who delights in the
miseries of his social superiors. He comments lewdly on what he sees
between Cressida and Diomedes, and on what he sees of Troilus and
Achilles watching them. Cressida and Diomedes are unaware of their
watchers, and the watchers are unaware that they are being watched,
watching. So, what we have is a complex mix of dramatic
relationships--between Diomedes and Cressida, unaware of how their
meeting affects the jealous and betrayed Troilus--and Thersites, who
comments to the audience on what he sees and wants to see.
Now that's what I call stagecraft. The scene is presented here
in three different fonts to emphasise the three components of this
elaborate bit of theatrical construction.
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I don't suppose colleagues will be tempted to set an
assignment on this scene as it stands, but they may be prompted to find
something similarly suitable to illustrate Shakespeare's craft in
whatever play they have chosen, or in others that seem to offer the
same. There are 38 plays to dig into, after all, and I can't think
of a better excuse to use initiative and expertise creatively, as well
as have students enjoy some active performance in the classroom.
GCSE Literature AOs
AO1 Respond to texts, sensitively, critically and in detail,
selecting appropriate ways to present their response, using textual
evidence as appropriate
AO2 Explore how language, form and style contribute to the meanings
of texts, considering different approaches to texts and alternative
interpretations
AO3 Explore relationships and comparisons between texts, selecting
and evaluating relevant material
AO4 Relate texts to their social, cultural & historical
contexts and literary traditions
For further reading, see The Complete Shakespearience (NATE--to be
published December 2008).
For principles underlying this approach, see 'Shakespeare--A
teachers' manifesto' (NATE Classroom, Issue 3, Autumn
2007--now published in the members' area of the NATE website,
www.nate.org.uk).
For more details of how to match practical Shakespeare work to the
requirements of GCSE, see 12 Ways of Improving Shakespeare coursework
(AQA) by Peter Thomas.
See also RSC's Stand up for Shakespeare.
Peter Thomas
University of Hull
[Enter DIOMEDES]
DIOMEDES What, are you up here,
ho? speak.
CALCHAS [Within] Who calls?
DIOMEDES Calchas, I think. Where's
your daughter?
CALCHAS [Within] She comes to you.
[Enter TROILUS and ULYSSES, at a
distance; after them, THERSITES]
ULYSSES Stand where the torch
may not discover us.
[Enter CRESSIDA]
TROILUS Cressid comes forth to
him.
DIOMEDES How now, my charge!
CRESSIDA Now, my sweet guardian!
Hark, a word with you
[Whispers]
TROILUS Yea, so familiar!
ULYSSES She will sing any man
at first sight.
THERSITES And any man may sing
her, if he can take her
cliff; she's noted.
DIOMEDES Will you remember?
CRESSIDA Remember! yes.
DIOMEDES Nay, but do, then. And let
your mind be coupled with
your words.
TROILUS What should she
remember?
ULYSSES List.
CRESSIDA Sweet honey Greek, tempt
me no more to folly.
THERSITES Roguery!
DIOMEDES Nay, then,--
CRESSIDA I'll tell you what,--
DIOMEDES Foh, foh! come, tell a pin:
you are forsworn.
CRESSIDA In faith, I cannot: what
would you have me do?
THERSITES A juggling trick--to be
secretly open.
DIOMEDES What did you swear you
would bestow on me?
CRESSIDA I prithee, do not hold me
to mine oath; Bid me do
any thing but that, sweet
Greek.
DIOMEDES Good night.
TROILUS Hold, patience!
ULYSSES How now, Trojan!
CRESSIDA Diomed,--
DIOMEDES No, no, good night: I'll be
your fool no more.
TROILUS Thy better must.
CRESSIDA Hark, one word in your
ear.
TROILUS O plague and madness!