A Midsummer Night's Dream

Transcription

THE WHEATLEY PORTFOLIO
TEXT STUDY
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
MAP
UNIT
TYPE
Grade 8 •Unit 5
Dramatically Speaking
Literary Text
OVERVIEW • TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS • ASSESSMENT • FLUENCY
OVERVIEW
RATIONALE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most lighthearted comedies. This story of friendship,
disagreements between parents and children, crossed lovers, lovers’ quarrels, enchanted woods, fairies’ spells, dreams,
and wedding festivities can appeal to younger and older readers with its relatable plot twists and themes, and can
serve as a pleasurable introduction to Shakespeare. The elements of comedy will engage readers, allowing them to
explore the deeper themes of the play. In terms of its structure, this compact play manages to incorporate multiple
types of people: mythical royalty in Athens, the world of the fairies, and the “real” world, providing opportunities for
students to compare the characters and to analyze how the interactions among these various groups form the action
of the play.
SUGGESTIONS FOR USE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream offers many instructional possibilities. The comedy provides an excellent opportunity
for readers—and viewers—to analyze dialogue, consider characters, discuss the elements of dramatic works,
interpret language, and consider Shakespeare’s continuing appeal. Because of the challenging language, and the
nature of drama, teachers may want to provide time for a dramatic read-aloud of this section—or opportunities to
listen to recorded scenes or view excerpts from productions of the play—before students answer the text-dependent
questions. The questions are written with the assumption that students are reading the play in full, and are focusing
on this excerpt from Act II, Scene ii for closer study. COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
(a) Focus Standards
Students will practice the following standards through the analysis of the text and the completion of the performance
assessment:
RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
a character, or provoke a decision.
W.8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through
the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
(b) Additional Standards

RL.8.2
RL.8.4
RL.8.6
L.8.4
VOCABULARY
One of the challenges for modern readers of Shakespeare is his use of language, with words and structures that may
be unfamiliar. In addition, students will encounter familiar words—such as reason and address—that are used in
unfamiliar ways. Students may benefit from viewing a performance of the play or listening to the words read aloud
dramatically. Some words that may be particularly challenging for students, and particularly for English language
learners, include the following:
Vocabulary from Act II, Scene ii
dank
peril
dissembling
transparent
vile
reason
repent
tedious
marshal
flout
surfeit
heresy/heresies
address
swoon
Elizabethan English Vocabulary
doth
durst
churl
thou
thy
thee
wilt
darkling
hath
sphery eyne
troth
sooth
perforce
ay
methought
alack
nigh
(Note that you may also want to discuss the use of the
apostrophe in words such as wak’st, wheresoe’er, or
is’t.)
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TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS
This series of text-dependent questions is based on an excerpt from Act II, Scene ii of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(approx.. lines 66/72 to 156/162). Questions begin with Robin’s/Puck’s entrance and line, “Through the forest have I
gone…” Questions end with Hermia’s exit after the line: “Either death, or you, I’ll find immediately.” (Depending on the
edition of the play, this character may be called Robin Goodfellow or Puck. Students should be told to use whichever
name is used in the edition of the play that they are reading.) In addition, all line numbers included are based on the
Folger Shakespeare Library edition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (copyright 1993).
1 Why is Robin/Puck running around the forest? Who or what is he looking for?
Puck has been looking for an Athenian (about whom his master told him) into whose eyes he was instructed to
put the magic charm.
2 Whom does Robin/Puck think he has found? What causes his error? Use specific text references in your answer.
When Puck sees a man who is wearing the “weeds of Athens” and is sleeping some distance away from a
maiden—“…she durst not lie / Near this lack-love” —he thinks that he has found Helena and Demetrius. (lines
82 –83)
3 What does Robin/Puck think of the man that he believes he has enchanted? How do you know?
He does not think much of him.
He says that the sleeping man made such a pretty maiden sleep on the “dank and dirty ground” far from him.
He calls him a “lack-love,” “kill-courtesy,” and “churl.”
4 Shakespeare writes these lines for Robin/Puck:
Churl, upon thy eyes I throw
All the power this charm doth owe.
When thou wak’st, let love forbid
Sleep his seat on thy eyelid.
So, awake when I am gone.
For I must now to Oberon. (lines 84-89)
What has Robin/Puck done? What is his plan?
He throws the flower’s charm upon the sleeping man.
He is following Oberon’s orders to make the Athenian fall in love with the woman as much as she is in love with
him.
Robin/Puck’s plan is that when the sleeping man awakens, he will fall in love with the first woman he sees.
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5 In this scene with Robin/Puck, what does the audience know that he does not?
The reader or viewer can tell that Puck has confused the sleeping man and woman with Demetrius and
Helena—not Lysander and Hermia. At this point, we know more than Puck does. We know he has confused the
two pairs.
6 What do we learn of Helena and Demetrius through their exchange in the woods? Be sure to cite evidence from
the play to support your answer.
Helena is still in love with Demetrius—she wants him to stay even if being with him might kill her. (She says,
“Stay, though thou kill me, sweet Demetrius” [line 90] and begs him “…wilt thou darkling leave me? Do not so.”)
(line 92)
He wants nothing to do with her, asking her to stop “haunting” him, and then leaves her, even though she is
scared of the dark, saying “Stay, on thy peril; I alone will go.”
7 After Demetrius leaves, Helena compares her own eyes with Hermia’s. What conclusions does she reach?
Helena worries that Hermia’s eyes are prettier than hers.
She wonders why—and thinks that it is not from crying, because she has cried many more tears than Hermia.
8 To what creatures does Helena compare herself in this part of the excerpt? Why?
Helena compares herself to a bear—“as ugly as a bear”—and a monster.
She wants to show how ugly she feels.
9 Why is Helena sad? What has upset her? Use specific references to the text in your answer.
Demetrius has rejected her—“do not haunt me thus”—and instead loves her friend.
Helena is jealous of her friend’s beauty—“What wicked and dissembling glass of mine / Made me compare with
Hermia’s sphery eyne?” (lines 104-105)
She is certain that Demetrius loves Hermia better because of her looks: “Therefore no marvel though
Demetrius / Do, as a monster, fly my presence thus.” (lines 102-103)
10 When Lysander awakes, what does he declare? What does he pledge to do? Why?
Lysander awakes and says that he will “run through fire” for Helena’s “sweet sake.”
He has been enchanted by Robin/Puck and now believes he is in love with Helena.
11 What conflict has Shakespeare introduced to the plot of the play?
Lysander had run away with Hermia.
Now, he has fallen in love with Helena.
Next, Hermia will wake up to find that his feelings have changed.
12 How does Helena respond? What does she think that Lysander is saying at first?
She thinks Lysander is upset because Demetrius loves Hermia.
She tells him not to feel that way. He should be happy because Hermia still loves him.
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13 In line 120, Lysander says: “Not Hermia, but Helena I love. / Who will not change a raven for a dove?” Why
does Shakespeare use this comparison? What does this comparison tell about their physical appearances and
personalities? What does this suggest about Lysander’s character? In these lines, Lysander is saying that he would trade a raven (Hermia) for a dove (Helena).
Hermia is small and dark. Helena is tall and blond. So the comparison to a raven and a dove describes how they
look physically.
The comparison might also refer to their characters. Ravens are considered “unclean” and represent darkness
while doves represent peace or love. So when he says he would take a dove over a raven he means that he
chooses love.
Shakespeare might be using this language to show how overly poetic Lysander is when he is in love. He is not
making decisions based on logic, but based on emotion—which has been ignited by magic.
14 In his response, Lysander repeats the word reason several times.
“The will of man is by his reason swayed,
And reason says you are the worthier maid.
Things growing are not ripe until their season:
So I, being young, till now ripe not to reason.” (lines 122-125)
What do these lines mean? Why are these lines humorous?
Lysander is arguing that:

Reason, or logic, can change a man’s will, or desires.

Logic tells him that Helena is better than Hermia.

Now he is old and mature enough to realize this.
This is funny because he has not rationally decided to love her at all. He loves her only because Puck put the
flower’s charm onto his eyes. This contrast between reasoned and irrational behavior, between what he thinks
and says and what he has done, is funny.
15 When someone is melodramatic they exaggerate their emotions. How is Lysander melodramatic in this scene?
Use specific examples that demonstrate Lysander being melodramatic.
He says he would “run through fire” for Helena’s “sweet sake.”
He wants to kill for love—of Demetrius he says “that vile name to perish on my sword!”
He calls every minute he ever spent with Hermia “tedious”—when he was just pledging his love to her.
He says that looking into Helena’s eyes is like seeing every love story ever told (“…your eyes, where I o’erlook /
Love’s stories, written in Love’s richest book.”) (lines 128-129)
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16 How does Helena feel when she exits? How do you know? Paraphrase the lines she speaks before exiting,
quoting specific dialogue in your answer.
She is upset and feeling sorry for herself.

Her last line is “O, that a lady, of one man refused / Should of another therefore be abused!” (line 140)
She thinks that Lysander is teasing her—and she thought he was more of a gentleman.

She says “I thought you lord of more true gentleness.” (line 139)
She also thinks that Demetrius will never love her.

She says “That I did never—no, nor never can—/ Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius’ eye.” (lines 133-134)
17 Lysander uses the words surfeit and heresy to describe Hermia. He says:
“For, as a surfeit of the sweetest things
The deepest loathing to the stomach brings,
Or as the heresies that men do leave
Are hated most of those they did deceive
So thou, my surfeit and my heresy,
Of all be hated, but the most of me!” (lines 144-149)
First, look up these words. What do surfeit and heresy mean? Next, translate these lines into modern English. What is
Lysander saying here? Finally, analyze these lines. What is Lysander comparing Hermia to here? How is she his surfeit
and his heresy?
A surfeit is an excessive amount of something. A heresy is an opinion that goes against what most people
believe.
In simple, modern English, Lysander says:
“Just the same way that too many sweets
Upset one’s stomach
Or the mistaken opinions people had
Are hated the most by those who had them
So you, Hermia—the sweet I’ve eaten too much of and the mistake I used to believe in—
Are hated the most by me!”
Lysander says that in the same way that people who eat too many sweets—a surfeit—feel sick to his stomach,
so does he feel when he thinks of Hermia. She is a sweet of which he had too much—and now feels sick.
Similarly, he says that just as those who have changed their opinions—who earlier had an opinion or belief
contrary to what was generally accepted, heresy—most hate their earlier beliefs, so he who loved Hermia most
hates her now. She is a mistake he regrets.
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18 When Hermia awakes at the end of Act II, Scene ii, what does she awake from? What does she say?
She has just awoken from a terrible dream.
She had a nightmare that a snake was eating her heart—and Lysander just sat smiling and watching.
She calls for Lysander—but he does not respond.
19 What crucial changes have occurred while Hermia was sleeping?
Hermia awakes to find that Lysander has gone.
Although she does not know it at the time, he has also transferred his affections from her to Helena.
20 At the opening of this excerpt, Helena said “Happy is Hermia, wheresoe’er she lies…” Why did Helena think
Hermia was happy? Was she?
Helena thought that Hermia was happily sleeping because she had the love of the man whom she loved.
Unbeknownst to Helena, however, Hermia is in the midst of a nightmare and Lysander has transferred his
affections, so Hermia will be far from happy when she awakes.
21 How have Hermia and Helena switched roles at the end of this scene?
At the beginning of the scene, Hermia loved Lysander—and he returned her love. Helena was sad because her
love was unrequited.
Now, Lysander loves Helena—and Hermia will be the one left out.
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PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
In a play, dialogue serves many purposes. The words the actors say can:
move the action forward,
show different traits of the characters, or
create conflicts that must be resolved.
Give students the following writing task:
Choose one passage, or group of lines, from this excerpt that develops the plot or contributes to the overall
understanding of a character. Explain how these particular lines are important.
Your essay should:

Introduce your topic clearly.
Develop your topic with relevant, well-chosen examples and quotations from the text.
Use transition words to connect ideas.
Provide a conclusion that supports your topic.
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TEXT FLUENCY
The following passages can be used for fluency practice and assessment, or for oral recitation and presentation by
students. Students can choose either passage, and should be able to read, or recite from memory, the passage orally with
accuracy, appropriate rate, expression, and meaning.
PASSAGE 1
PUCK/ROBIN:
Through the forest have I gone,
But Athenian found I none
On whose eyes I might approve
This flower’s force in stirring love.
Night and silence! Who is here?
Weeds of Athens he doth wear.
This is he (my master said)
Despisèd the Athenian maid;
And here the maiden, sleeping sound
On the dank and dirty ground.
Pretty soul, she durst not lie
Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy.
Churl, upon thy eyes I throw
All the power this charm doth owe:
When thou wak’st, let love forbid
Sleep his seat on thy eyelid.
So awake when I am gone,
For I must now to Oberon. (lines 72-89)
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PASSAGE 2
HELENA:
O, I am out of breath in this fond chase.
The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.
Happy is Hermia, wheresoe’er she lies,
For she hath blessèd and attractive eyes.
How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears.
If so, my eyes are oft’ner washed than hers.
No, no! I am as ugly as a bear,
For beasts that meet me run away for fear.
Therefore no marvel through Demetrius
Do, as a monster, fly my presence thus.
What wicked and dissembling glass of mine
Made me compare with Hermia’s sphery eyne?
But who is here? Lysander, on the ground?
Dead, or asleep? I see no blood, no wound.
Lysander, if you live, good sir, awake. (lines 94-108)
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