1. By William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Use the space provided to jot down some of your ideas about what are characteristics of a good short story:
By William Shakespeare

2. Essential questions… How do we act when we are in love? Why?
Which emotions “from the heart” are the strongest? Which reveal our true selves?
How effectively does Shakespeare use humor to make his ideas known about human behavior?

3. Getting started on Midsummer…
The play is about people in love.
There are three intertwined plots in the play
There are two settings for the play
Let’s try to figure this out…
English 10 – Ms. Dean

4. Was Shakespeare really funny?
Yes.
His humor appealed to people of all tastes and classes
Midsummer contains all kinds of humor – slapstick, wit, sight gags, puns…
English 10 – Ms. Dean

5. More about Shakespeare’s humor
Shakespeare uses humor, satire and parody to express his ideas about our universal human experiences.
English 10 – Ms. Dean

6. Need to know points: Midsummer
The play was first performed between 1595 and 1596
Like R&J it explores love, but is a comedy, not a tragedy
Shakespeare explores the complex nature of the human heart
Midsummer mocks many aspects of human behavior
English 10 – Ms. Dean

7. The Globe Theatre See it in Google Earth See it in 3-D
English 10 – Ms. Dean

8. What’s really happening in Midsummer?
Shakespeare uses different kinds of humor to mock people’s common assumptions about love
Shakespeare uses numerous examples of figurative language to explore the complexities of human emotions
Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to heighten the sense of comedy and humor in the play
Shakespeare uses soliloquies by major characters to draw the audience into central ideas and themes
Shakespeare portrays human relationships in several different lights in order to illustrate the changing and complex sides of human emotions
English 10 – Ms. Dean

9. Read the shortened version of the play’s beginning…
English 10 – Ms. Dean