William Shakespeare WebQuest

The World of William Shakespeare and details of his biography have

fascinated people for centuries. The questions and mysteries, which
surround William Shakespeare, the Great Stratford playwright and his
biography, life, times and works (including his plays, sonnets and
poems), are legion:

Use the following website to answer the questions on page 1 of this

WebQuest http://www.william-shakespeare.info/site-map.htm

Go to the Play Chronology Section to answer the next 5

questions.
▪ How many plays did William Shakespeare write? 38.
▪ Is the chronology of Shakespeare’s plays exact? No it is not.
▪ Why or why not? There is not enough information regarding the
registration of the plays.
▪ What 5 processes did they use to try and piece together the
chronology of Shakespeare’s plays? They used Actual historical
events, allusions to historical events in his plays, first
performance dates taken from personal diaries and records,
royal court records, legal documents.

Go to the Sonnets Section to answer the next 4 questions.

▪ In what year was “Romeo and Juliet” first performed? Between
1594 and 1595.
▪ What is a sonnet? See the Sonnets section They are fourteen
line lyric poems, usually written in iambic pentameter.
▪ What is iambic pentameter? Provide a literary example of iambic
pentameter. Lines ten syllables long with accents falling on every
second syllable. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
▪ How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write? See the
Sonnets section 154.
▪ What are Shakespeare’s 5 most popular sonnets? See sonnets
section
O thou my lovely boy
My Mistress’ eyes
When in the disguise with fortune
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s Daty?

Go to William Shakespeare Biography section to answer the

next 4 questions.
Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest
 What are 3 known facts about William Shakespeare the great
Stratford Bard?
Lived 52 years
In 23 years he wrote 38 plays.
Most widely read of authors.

 List 3 facts that are known about the Elizabethan Stratford

Playwright and his family?
History of early ancestors can not be found
Grandfather possibly a yeoman named Richard
Went to grammar school.
 What exactly was the 'First Folio'? Is Shakespeare's picture an
accurate portrait? First Folio was a collection of his works. Yes it is
an accurate picture.
 List 2 reasons why there is so much controversy about the
biography of the playwright (William Shakespeare)?
Not much information on records.
People claiming things that were not true

Go to the Black Death and Bubonic Plague section

 Were those who contracted the Bubonic Plague or Black Death

allowed outside of their house? Why or why not? No. They were
afraid it would spread.
 Who were the Watchmen and what was their job? TO watch the
house where people who had the black plague where at and would
give the people in the house food.
 How did those who had the Bubonic Plague or Black Death eat?
Watchmen would bring up food to the house that would then be
brought up to the people in the house.
 How did people get the Bubonic Plague or Black Death? Spread by
fleas.
 In 1563, in London, how many people died of the Bubonic Plague?
Over 20,000

SHAKESPEARE WEBQUEST CHALLENGE

For the Next 13 questions you are not given a specific website to refer
to. Use your resources to locate the answers to these questions.
PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE EXACT WEB ADDRESS THAT YOU
Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest
USE TO ANSWER EACH QUESTION AFTER YOU HAVE
COMPLETED YOUR ANSWER.

1) Did William Shakespeare attend a University? If so, which one?

No. He was to poor to afford it.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_William_Shakespeare_go_to_unive
rsity

2) What is Shakespeare's shortest play? How many lines does it

have?
Macbeth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth

3) What was the name of Shakespeare's wife? How old was

Shakespeare when they got married? Ann Hathaway and married her
when 18.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_old_was_shakespeare_and_his_wife_wh
en_they_got_married

4) Was Anne the same age as Shakespeare when they married? If not,
was Anne older or younger?
No she was older.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_old_was_shakespeare_and_his_wife_wh
en_they_got_married

5) What actor first played the roles of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and
Richard III (All characters in plays written by Shakespeare)? In what
year did this famous actor pass away?
Richard Burbage and died in 1619
http://www.usefultrivia.com/literary_trivia/shakespeare_trivia_004b.ht
ml
http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/burbage002.html

6) Did Shakespeare ever act in any of his plays? If so, list 2.

Possibly. He might have been in one called Hamlet.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_Shakespeare_act_in_any_of_his_own_pla
ys

7) Which role is Shakespeare said to have played in the original

production of Hamlet?
The ghost
Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_Shakespeare_act_in_any_of_his_own_pla
ys

8) How many of Shakespeare's original manuscripts have survived?

Why?
None. Most were written only for stage and written quickly.
www.usefultrivia.com/literary_trivia/shakespeare_trivia_006b.html

9) What was the name of Shakespeare's only son?

Hamnet
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_name_of_William_Shakespear
e's_only_son

10) How old was Hamnet when he died?

11
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_old_was_Hamnet_Shakespeare_when_h
e_died

11) How many of Shakespeare's plays were published during his

lifetime? Why?
18. He never wanted to publish them himself.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_of_William_Shakespeare's_plays_
were_published_during_his_life_time&alreadyAsked=1&rtitle=How_ma
ny_plays_of_shakespeares_were_commady

12) Name the two men who ended up gathering some of

Shakespeare’s plays to be published. How many plays did they
publish? John Heminges and Henry Condell published 36 of them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_folio

13) In what year was this collection of plays published? What is this
collection of plays known as?
1623. Contained 36 plays. Know as the First Folio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_folio

14) List 4 interesting facts you learned about William Shakespeare

during this WebQuest, which you did not write about in the answers to
your WebQuest questions.
He only had one child.
He got married at age 18.
There are people who think he really did not write these works.
He is read all throughout the world.
Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE
Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest
Lastly, find a Audio version of Romeo & Juliet on your computer and cut
paste the URL below:
http://www.audioeditions.com/audio-book.cfm/title/Romeo-and-
Juliet/pcode/D35930?gclid=CICc4aHx5Z8CFYswpAod1lljHg

Dr. J. Smith, Facilitator ITU: TOLERANCE

Ms. J. Markley, Facilitator Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

Mr. M. Pryor, Facilitator Willingness to recognize &

respect the beliefs or practices of
Ms. R. Muffler, Monday Facilitator William Shakespeare WebQuest