Henry IV Part 1 Lesson Plan

Why Do We Still Study Shakespeare?

Kind of Activity:

Classwide Discussion

Objective:

Students will investigate their own vocabulary and literary archive to investigate why Shakespeare's work is still taught.

Structure:

Many students, after many long nights trying to understand Shakespeare's Elizabethan English, may be wondering why anyone even bothers reading Shakespeare anymore. Ask students why they think he is still so prevalent, then ask what they know about Shakespeare already. What plays have they read? What movies based on Shakespeare's plays have they seen?

Watch this YouTube video from The New York Times on Shakespeare's staying power to help jog their...