Shakespeare sonnets PowerPoint

1. Original ‘The Classroom’ concept developed by Schools OUT UK
Helping you to deliver
an LGBT+

2. This lesson was written in collaboration
with:
Dr Paul Edmondson
Head of Research, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Co-author of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Oxford Shakespeare Topics
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). A fresh overview of
approaches to Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
and
All the Sonnets of Shakespeare (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, forthcoming September 2020). A ground-breaking new edition
presents and considers Shakespeare’s Sonnets in chronological
order, along with those sonnets embedded in his plays.

3. Instructions for use:
Most tasks have been differentiated to three levels with the orange
boxed task being the easier of the three and the grey being the more
challenging.
For mixed ability classes we suggest keeping all tasks and directing your
students towards their appropriate level. For setted classes you can
delete the tasks you feel are not appropriate.
Throughout we have added questions in orange that can be used to
prompt conversation, draw further information from your students and
deepen their understanding
Please feel free to edit the order of the slides so this lesson is consistent
your approach
Additional information can be found in the notes section of each slide.

4. Title: Shakespeare, Sonnets and Sexuality
Curriculum links:
KS4 English National Curriculum
Reading
- Pupils should be taught to read and appreciate the depth and power of
the English literary heritage through reading a wide range of high-
quality, challenging, classic literature and extended literary non-fiction …
- Understand and critically evaluate texts drawing on knowledge of the
purpose, audience for and context of the writing, including its social,
historical and cultural context and the literary tradition to which it
belongs, to inform evaluation. [Explore] aspects of plot,
characterisation, events and settings, the relationships
between them and their effects
-
LIs:

5. Mind Map
What do you know about…
Shakespeare?
Shakespeare’s
work?
Shakespeare’s
sonnets?

6. William Shakespeare was a poet, playwright
and actor. Many regard him as the greatest
writer in the English language. His plays have
been translated into every major living
language and are performed more often than
those of any other playwright.
In addition to his plays Shakespeare wrote
sonnets, 154 were published in 1609. The
sonnets are thought to be personal poems and
have been read in relation to his life.

7. Some of Shakespeare’s sonnets are
addressed to men, and some to
women. But most are open about
the sex of the addressee.
Some of them (40, 41, 42, 133, 134
and 144) indicate a close
connection to both a male and a
female, and can be understood as
bisexual.
What does the term
‘bisexual’ mean?
What do you think it
was like to live as a
bisexual person in the
Elizabethan era?

8. ‘Bi’ means
two
Bisexual
means to be
attracted to
two genders

9. Elizabeth I reinstated the sodomy laws of
1533. Sexual relationships between men
were seen as being against the will of God.
People convicted under the sodomy laws
could have all of their possessions taken and
punishment ranged from time in the pillory
to execution.
The lives of bisexual and gay people were at
risk so many hid this part of their identity.

10. Title: Date: Tuesday, 26 March 2024

11. How might
Sonnet 144 be of
value to us
today?

12. A Shakespeare sonnet is a rich poem
that makes us concentrate hard
Read through Sonnet 144 out
loud to yourself
It is useful to read a sonnet aloud
because it helps us to understand the
progression of the sonnet’s thought, and
its shape, as well as it’s word music

13. Speak to the person next to you
Describe the structure of the poem

14. There are 14 lines
There are three lots of four
lines (quatrains)
Every other line rhymes
Before ending in a rhyming
couplet in lines 13 and 14
‘doubt’ and ‘out’

15. Listen to the sonnet three times
Whilst you listen answer the following questions:
1.What images do you see or imagine?
2.Which words jump out at you and why?
3.What does the sonnet make you think about?
4.How does the sonnet make you feel and why?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS8WY0HTS14

16. Describe what you think the
poem is about
Describe what you think the
poem is about and explain how
you know

17. It is about the poet’s relationship with a man and a woman. He prefers the
man and refers to him as his ‘better angel’ (line 2). The woman ‘the worser
spirit’ (line 4) takes the poet’s male friend from him (lines 5 to 8), and
corrupts him (lines 9-12). In the end, the poet remains uncertain about
what is happening between the man and the woman whom he loves (the
‘two loves’ of line 1), but knows that the female is probably having a bad
influence on the man (line 14).
The answer above describes what the poem is about . By referring to the lines
where this is evidenced the answer explains how you know

18. How do you think the
poet feels about the
situation he is describing?
What evidence is there in
the poem to suggest how
the poet is feeling?

19. He feels
negatively
towards the
woman and
prefers the man
but he is
attracted to both
of them.
The poet is attracted to both of them, his
‘two loves’ (line 1). He is repelled by the
woman, but attracted to her. He adores
the man, but is worried that he is being
corrupted by the woman (lines 9-12).
‘Hell’ and ‘evil’ are connected to the
woman (line 5), ‘angel’ (line 3), ‘saint’ (line
7), and ‘purity’ (line 8) and with the man.

20. The poem is about bisexuality, is it a
positive poem about bisexuality?

21. We are going
to act out the
sonnet

22. Which of the
two
scenarios did
you prefer?

23. If a friend told
you they were
bisexual, what
would you
say?
Why do you
think it might
be difficult
being bisexual
today?
How might
this poem be
beneficial
today?

24. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 144 becomes an occasion to discuss bisexuality and– even though it
expresses the pain that some bisexual people feel – it might serve as occasion to have
positive thoughts and conversations about bisexuality in our times.
Often the best help we can give to each other is to listen carefully. People might want
simply to tell us how they are feeling, as Shakespeare does in Sonnet 144.
In return, we can hopefully acknowledge:
• It is often difficult for people to express their bisexuality,
even in our own time because of a prejudice which
suggests that they should be either gay or lesbian.
• Shakespeare’s sonnets can be open in their directions of
desire.
• Shakespeare’s Sonnets are a rich resource for thinking
about sexuality and for having conversations about it.

25. Batts = shoes
Bona = good
Ajax = nearby
Bijou = small
Capello = hat
Charper = search
Crimper = hairdresser
Dolly = pretty
Eek = face
Ends= hair
Esong = nose
Fantabulosa = wonderful
Glossies = magazines
Lallies = legs
Lills = hands
Luppers = fingers
Nishta =nothing/no
Ogles= eyes
Oglefakes = glasses
Palare pipe = telephone
Polari = chat/talk
Pots = teeth
Scarper = run away
Slap =makeup
Vada =see

26. ‘Bona to vada your dolly old eeks’
‘Good to see your pretty faces’
This was used to say ‘Hello!’ ASK: Can you
think of any
other ways to
say hello?

27. Until 1967 it was a crime to be openly gay
To avoid being caught by undercover police,
British gay men would speak Polari
Speaking Polari made it difficult for the police to
understand what was being said
Polari is a mix of many languages- English,
Cockney rhyming slang, Italian, Romani and
Yiddish
ASK: People
can’t choose
who they’re
attracted to
How do you
think gay men
felt when it
was illegal for
them to fall in
love?

28. Try creating your own sentence
containing at least 1 Polari word
Try creating your own sentence
containing at least 2 Polari words
Try creating your own sentence
with a least 3 Polari words

29. You are going to create a short story where
some of the characters will speak in a secret
language
Talk to your shoulder partners
What ideas do you have? Why
might people need to talk in code in
your story?

30. Spies who don’t want the
enemy to understand
what they are saying so
use a secret language?
A detective whose only
clues are written in a
secret language?
A sister and a brother
who speak in a secret
language to annoy
their parents?
Scary monsters that
talk in a secret
language but it turns
out they actually say
really lovely things?

31. What is their name?
How old are they?
What sort or
job/work do they do?
Why do they need to
speak in a secret
language?
What do they look
like? (You could draw
them here)
On your sheet, fill in
these boxes for your
main characters

32. Imagine where your story is
set
Is it in a gloomy wood? A
busy city? A land where
everything is made of
chocolate?
What is the atmosphere like?
Is it friendly and light and
calm? Or is it dark, scary and
dangerous?
Describe the setting
Describe the
atmosphere

33. Main Character 1 Main Character 2 Main Character 3
What is their name/?
How old are they?
What sort or job/work do they do?
Why do they need to speak in a
secret language?
What do they look like? (You could
draw them here)
Describe the setting
Describe the atmosphere

34. Use your plan to write the beginning of a short story
You must:
1. Describe your characters
2. Describe the setting and atmosphere
3. Explain why they have to speak in a secret language

35. Choose a different colour pen or pencil
Read your story
1. Correct any spelling or punctuation mistakes you can see
2. Do all of your sentences make sense? If any don’t, draw a line through
them and re-write them above
3. Have you used the same tense all the way through your story? Do you
need to change any words so it is all in the same tense

36. Something you have done well/I enjoyed…
Something you have done well/I enjoyed…
A question I have/something I think you could
improve…
Swap your work with
someone else
Read their story
Fill in the table: write
two things you enjoyed
about their story and
one question you have
or one way they could
improve their story

37. Why do you think gay men don’t
use or speak Polari today?

38. Today police work to
protect all people,
including LGBT+ people
Now it is not illegal to be
openly gay so Polari is
not needed