Hello.

My name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me today.

We are looking at "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and today our focus is gonna be Selecting Powerful Quotations.

This is one of my favourite skills to practise in English, not only because I love returning to "A Midsummer Night's Dream," thinking well, what quotations are really important, exciting and interesting to me, but also 'cause it's a skill that you can apply to any of your English literature texts.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to select quotations which help you explore how Puck is presented across two acts.

I'm excited for two reasons I love returning to a text, once you've already read it, it becomes such an enriching experience, an exciting experience to return to moments in the play when you know what the resolution is so you can interpret them in different ways, but also I love making connections between different moments in a text.

It's a way to make your analysis really detailed, really perceptive, and to show off a little bit your fantastic knowledge of the text.

So I'm really excited to look over Acts 2 and Acts 3 and really considerable how is Puck presented across these two acts.

There are some key words which are gonna be referenced throughout today's lesson and are gonna help us unlock our learning.

They are quotation topic, sentence analysis, contentious and methods.

So quotation, these are words from the text.

So these are the things that we're searching for today.

Selecting really powerful quotations that we would like to explore in relation to the character of Puck.

Topic sentence, this is the first sentence of a paragraph stating the paragraph's main idea.

And we're gonna look at how to craft really powerful, clear topic sentences in the second learning cycle of today's lesson.

Analysis, in English, this means looking at a text closely and considering what it might mean and why it was written in this way.

And it's important to have a really good understanding of what this question means 'cause when you are writing an essay about a text in English, it's often an analytical essay.

And knowing that this analysis means really looking carefully at the text and considering what it might mean and why it was written in this way will mean that you will write clear, powerful essays.

Contemptuous, insulting, or disrespectful.

And this is a word which you could apply to the character of Puck.

He often seems quite disrespectful to certain characters, maybe all the characters in fact, apart from his Master Oberon.

And methods, these are the tools a writer uses to create their work, for example, characterization, setting, language choices.

So when you are analysing a work, when you are writing an essay and you're completing that analysis, you will look at writer's methods and consider, well, what has Shakespeare and How has Shakespeare written "A Midsummer Night's Dream?" How does he get his messages across? I want to look at a particular language choice.

I want to look at a particular character.

And today of course, we are looking at the character of Puck and we're looking at him across two acts.

So our lesson outline for today, we're gonna start off by considering Puck in Acts 2 and 3, just a reminder of his role in Acts 2 and 3.

And then in our second learning cycle, we're gonna think, how do you select powerful quotations? So let's start off with Puck in Acts 2 and 3.

So I'd like you to consider a summary of Puck across Acts 2 and 3.

In Act 2 Scene 1, he's established as a lover of practical jokes.

He's also shown to be a loyal servant to Oberon In Act 2 Scene 1.

He puts the magical potion on Lysander in Act 2 Scene 2.

This is a mistake.

And he transforms Bottom's head into that of a donkey.

In Act 3, Scene 1.

Oberon is pleased Titania loves Bottom, but angry about Puck's mistake with Lysander in Act 3, Scene 2.

He wants to watch the Athenian Nobles in chaos in Act 3, Scene 2.

Oberon orders Puck to restore order to the Athenian Nobles in Act 3, Scene 2.

And in Act 3, Scene 2, it ends with his using his abilities to transform, to prevent the Nobles fighting and to restore order in the magical forest.

Now I'd like you to discuss, if we look at these key plot points about Puck over Acts 2 and Act 3, some people argue that Puck is the most important character in the play.

And I'd like you to consider why might they think this? So pause the video, using all of these plot points in your knowledge of Puck, and why might some people argue that Puck is the most important character in the play? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Really fantastic discussion.

They're grappling with this argument that some people have that Puck is the most important character in the play.

Lots of people noting, well, without Puck, there actually would not be a lot of comedy in this play.

Comedy, Shakespearean comedies, often involve chaos, confusion, misconceptions.

And Puck creates some of that partly by accident, by putting the magical potion on Lysander, but also purposefully by transforming Bottom's head into that of a donkey.

And these two moments of confusion and chaos, they're really at the heart of the disorder in the magical forest.

So really important in terms of creating the plot and creating the comedy.

and that is the genre of this play.

And it's important that there are moments that we can laugh out, where we can enjoy the confusion and chaos.

And lots of other people noted that Puck, even though he actually only speaks to Oberon, he has a brief bit of dialogue with Fairy in Act 2, Scene 1, but otherwise, his dialogue is all with Oberon, that he interacts with all of the characters or most of the characters in the play.

He doesn't interact with Theseus and Egeus but he does interact with all of the Athenian nobles.

He interacts with the rude mechanicals, with Bottom and the other low status Athenian characters.

He knows about Titania.

So without him there wouldn't be this sort of tie which links all of the characters together.

There would be different sets of characters where we'd have the supernatural characters, the high status characters, and the lower status characters.

But Puck actually matches or brings all of these characters together or interacts with them in some ways.

He's a really, really crucial character in terms of the plot.

A check for understanding before we consider Puck across Acts 2 and 3, which is the focus of this learning cycle, is this true or false? Shakespeare includes Puck as a fun, practical joker, but it wouldn't impact the plot if he wasn't included? I'd like you to select your responses as true or false.

Pause a video now.

Well done.

If you selected false.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it a, without Puck, there would be no chaos amongst the Athenian lovers.

It's only when he deliberately puts the potion on Lysander that the comedy really begins? Or B, even though Puck only ever talks to Oberon, he's key in bringing chaos to all the different sets of characters, and then restoring order again at the end of Act 3? Pause a video at select your response now.

Well done If you selected B.

So without Puck, there will be no chaos amongst the Athenian lovers.

In some ways that's true, but he doesn't deliberately put the potion on Lysander.

He thinks Lysander is Demetrius.

He makes a mistake.

So that is why A is not correct.

Okay.

Our practise starts.

We're gonna use the sentence starters below, and we're gonna summarise Puck's role in the play over the course of two acts.

We've got first, then next following that.

And finally, really, really important to have a key understanding of Puck's role in the play over the course of Acts 2 and 3 if we are gonna do some really nice analysis of that.

Now I'd like you to use the prompts to guide your response so you can use these prompts to guide your response.

So first, I'd like you to consider how Shakespeare introduces this character.

Then, what does Oberon order Puck to do? And what happens? Next, how does Puck create disorder amongst the rude mechanicals? Following that, how does Oberon react to Puck's night in the forest? And finally, how does Puck help restore order? So these prompts and these sentence status, they're gonna help you create a really accurate summary of Puck's role in the play.

So pause the video.

Get your laptop, your pen, whatever it is that you are writing with and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

After completing a really nice summary task of Puck's role in the play, you are absolutely ready now to move on to the next stage of the lesson when we start to explore how Puck might be presented.

Before we move on to that, let's do some self-assessment just to make sure that we've got a really nice accurate developed summary because knowing the plot really, really intimately helps you to do some really, really nice analysis.

So we're going to self-assess using the checking questions to guide you.

And we're gonna go through each part of your summary just to make sure that it is as developed, clear and accurate as it should be.

So getting ready just to kind self-assess each section of your summary.

We're gonna start off with the first bit first.

Have you considered his dialogue with the fairy in Act 2, Scene 1 where he calls himself, a "merry wanderer" and lists his practical jokes? So just look at the first section of your summary, have you really focused on how he's introduced? Pause the video and do this now.

All right.

We're gonna move on to our second section of our summary.

So then, have you considered Puck's reactions to Oberon's orders and his mistake in 2.

2, so i Act 2, Scene 2, sorry.

There's quite a lot to do in this second section.

So pause the video, make sure that your next section about Puck's role in the play is complete.

Pause the video now.

All right.

Well done working through this summary.

We're gonna look at our third section.

Next, what happens next? Have you considered what Puck does to Bottom and how this impacts the plot? So check that next section of your summary.

The focus now, not on the Athenian Nobles, but on Bottom.

Pause the video and check that next section of your summary now.

Well done.

Summary is looking really, really good.

We're gonna look at the next two sections.

So following that, have you considered what Oberon and Puck witness happening amongst the Athenian nobles and why? And have you thought about how Puck responds to this disorder? So a little bit more to do in this section of your summary.

So pause the video and make sure it is developed and accurate.

Pause the video now.

Well done a nice bit of interpretation of Puck's character, his response to that disorder.

We're gonna look at the final section of your summary.

So finally, have you considered how Puck restores order? So pause the video and just check this final bit of your summary.

So you've got really nice developed overview of Puck's role in Acts 2 and 3.

Pause a video now.

Well done.

Some really good self-assessment there of that summary.

I can see people have got really nice accurate, developed summaries of Puck's role in Acts 2 and 3 and that's really gonna help us in the next section of our lesson.

Now the next section of our lesson is how to select powerful quotations.

We've got a fantastic idea of Puck's role.

Now let's think about how to select some really, really good quotations.

So Jun considers this question, how does Shakespeare present Puck across Acts 2 and 3 of am "Midsummer Night's Dream?" I'd like you to discuss what ideas do you have in response to this question.

I know you will have loads because we just looked so carefully at his role in Acts 2 and 3.

So all the different ideas that you have, what initial responses, what are the ideas that jump into your mind when you see this question initially? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back.

What a range of ideas.

Some really, really nice words being thrown around about Puck and how he might be being presented in Acts 2 and 3.

So the idea of his recklessness that he just does things without thinking like transforming Bottom's head into that donkey.

He does that just 'cause he thinks it will be fun.

Using one of the key words, contemptuous, so he's very contemptuous, he's insulting to Bottom and the other Athenian actors, he thinks they are beneath him.

The idea that he's really impulsive, so he doesn't think before he acts.

He doesn't think, well what chaos and disorder might be caused by my transforming Bottom's head into that of a donkey.

But other people saying he's actually seen as quite caring.

In Acts 2, he really tries to follow Oberon's orders and he's actually quite angry with Lysander, who he thinks is Demetrius being so being cruel to Hermia.

And the idea of his loyalty really came through.

He seems only loyal to the character of Oberon, but nonetheless he is very, very loyal to Oberon.

So lots and lots of different ideas about the character of Puck.

Now Jun came up with three ideas, which he forms into topic sentences.

So Shakespeare presents Puck as a mischievous practical joker.

That definitely is a nice clear topic sentence, which could be the first sentence of a paragraph.

Two, Shakespeare presents Puck as a loyal servant, so an idea that lots of you came up with as well.

And finally, Shakespeare presents Puck as a contentious character to those he considers beneath him.

So again, that was an idea that was very popular amongst you as well.

So we can see here three topic sentences.

So any of these sentences could be the first sentence of a paragraph, a topic sentence, the first sentence of a paragraph and it states the paragraph's of main idea.

So in the first one, Jun would want to focus on the idea that Puck is a mischievous practical joker, the second paragraph, you would focus on the fact that Puck is a loyal servant, and finally, that Puck is a contemptuous character.

So three really interesting ideas there, and most significantly very precise, clear ideas that could be developed over a paragraph.

Jun's next step is to find quotations which prove each topic sentence.

When selecting quotations, you should select quotations that are rich in methods so that you can analyse them.

So you might think, well, Shakespeare's written this particular piece of dialogue in this way.

What method has he used in there? Has he used a really interesting word? Has he used a really interesting metaphor? Can I see that this moment in the play links to another moment in the play, or is it a contrast? So really thinking about the methods that Shakespeare has used in his quotations so that you can analyse them.

And select more than one quotation to include in your main body paragraph.

Now remember when I was first learning how to write essays, it's a lifelong skill, so I'm still learning how to do that, but this idea that you would include more than one quotation in your main body paragraph, that was a bit of a light bulb moment for me where I was thinking, ah, I see.

I'd always struggled to really develop my paragraphs 'cause I just had one quotation.

And after a while I thought, I've got nothing more to say about this quotation, but actually including more than one quotation, main body paragraph really helped me to develop at the length and depth of my main body paragraphs.

And finally, make short notes about how you explore the quotations.

So when you're selecting quotations to prove your topic sentences, you should make short notes so that you really test, well, is this a good quotation? What would I actually have to say about this quotation? And writing essays can always seem quite difficult looking at the blank page, but if you've got a fantastic plan where you've got your quotations and you've got some notes, then writing the essay will become much, much easier.

So here is Jun's first attempt to select quotations for his first topic sentence, which was, Shakespeare presents Puck as a mischievous practical joker.

He says, I would like to select the quotation, "I'll put a girdle roundabout the earth in 40 minutes," from Act 2, Scene 1.

And his note is, "I'll explore how fast Puck can travel." And secondly, "All shall be well," from Act 3, Scene 2, and, "I will explore Puck restoring order after creating chaos." Now I'd like you to discuss what feedback do you think Andeep might give to Jun? Reread Jun's topic sentence and then look at his quotations and consider, well, what feedback might Andeep give to Joan following this first draught of trying to select those quotations.

Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Really nice discussion there, showing of your fantastic knowledge of what it means to select powerful quotations.

And you're absolutely right that Andeep's feedback is.

Your quotation should link to your topic sentence.

So, "exploring how fast that Puck can travel," that doesn't really explore the idea that he's a mischievous, practical joker, and, "all shall be well," him restoring order after creating chaos, that definitely does not explore the idea that he's a mischievous, practical joker.

So these two quotations, they are interesting quotations, but they do not help Jun when he's exploring the idea of Puck being a mischievous, practical joker.

So Jun returns to the play and reselect his quotations.

Always a good thing to do, to return to the play and think, I'm gonna have another go at selecting some really powerful quotations.

It's not an easy skill.

So the idea that you might do a second draught is of course a really, really good idea.

So Shakespeare presents Puck as the mischievous practical joker.

And this time Jun's quotations are, "'Puck tells the fairy how he transforms into a foal, a roasted crab, a stool, in order to play tricks on people,' I'll explore the emphasis on Puck's ability to transform himself." And, "'The fairy says that Puck is known to mislead night wonders, laughing at their harm.

' I'll explore how Puck finds mild distress funny.

And we see this later when the Athenian nobles are in chaos and Puck calls it a pageant, a show." Now, Andeep congratulates Jun on a successful second attempt.

And he says, "Your quotations link to your topic sentence." So Puck is a mischievous, practical joker.

Well, absolutely, we can see that Jun has selected moments where we see the practical jokes coming through.

Your notes explain how to explore the quotation.

So Jun is saying, "I'm gonna explore the emphasis on Puck'S ability to transform himself," and that he finds mild distress funny.

So absolutely Jun knows what he will say about these quotations.

And finally, you link quotations.

So I really, really like how Jun selected all these quotations from Act 2, Scene 1, but then he links it to a later moment in the play where he says that he finds the Athenian nobles, he finds it very, very funny that they are so unhappy and he calls it a pageant, a show.

So this is an absolutely fantastic second draught of selecting really, really powerful quotations.

Now a check for understanding before we have a go at selecting our own powerful quotations about Puck across Acts 2 and 3.

Which would serve as the best selected quotation and note to prove this topic sentence, Shakespeare presents Puck as a loyal servant.

So I'd like you to read through a, b, and c and using all your knowledge that we've learned about what it means to select a powerful quotation over the course of this learning cycle.

I would like you to select which you think is the best example quotation and note.

Pause the video, read through those responses, and then select which idea you think is correct.

Pause the video now.

Well done if you selected c.

"Up and down, up and down, I will lead them up and down." Even though Puck wants to watch the Athenians in distress, calling it to sport, he uses his abilities emphasised through rhyme to do what Oberon orders.

So we've got a really, really nice quotation.

We've got an exploration of methods, so Shakespeare's use of rhyme, and we've also got a link between two quotations.

I will lead them up and down.

And this idea that P did actually want to watch the Athenian Nobles in distress, he finds it a hobby, a sport he calls it.

If you look at a, what has that done? Oberon accuses Puck of creating chaos on purpose.

But he didn't because Puck is loyal and the question is unfair.

This is not a great exploration of Shakespeare's methods.

The question is unfair.

That is a literal understanding of a plot point in the play.

But we are not really exploring how Puck is presented as a loyal servant, how his loyalty is really, really presented.

And then b, "Titania waked and straight away loved as ass." Oberon is happy about this showing Puck only thought of Oberon when he transformed Bottom, straightaway shows how immediate the love was.

Well, Puck wasn't thinking of Oberon when he transformed Bottom.

He did it as an impulsive reckless act.

So it is a misreading of the play.

And, "straightaway shows how immediate the love was," is not a particularly interesting exploration of a word in the quotation.

Unlike looking at the idea of rhyme, which emphasises his abilities, his powers just saying straight away means this is a less interesting exploration of the power of some of Shakespeare's methods.

Okay.

Our practise task, you are gonna create three topic sentences, which answer this question, how does Shakespeare present Puck across Acts 2 and 3 of "A Midsummer Night's Dream?" And you can find key extracts in the additional materials.

So if you just want to look at the extracts with Puck so that you'll really, really focus on Acts 2 and 3.

You can find those in the additional materials.

And then after you have created your topic sentences, I'd like you to select two or three quotations to prove each topic sentence, using and Andeep's checklist to guide your selection and notes.

So you had loads of different ideas.

We've discussed this question, how does Shakespeare present Puck across Acts 2 and 3? And I would like you to create those ideas into topic sentences just as Jun did earlier in this learning cycle.

And then, the key is to select your quotations to prove each topic sentence.

You're gonna create a really, really nice plan.

You don't need to write the paragraph out in full.

And we've got Andeep's checklist there just to guide your quotations that link to your topic sentence, notes that explain how to explore the quotation and links between quotations.

So pause the video, give this task the time it deserves.

There's a lot to do, but you'll be really, really proud of the plan that you've created for three analytical paragraphs by the end of it.

I will see you back here and I look forward to celebrating the fantastic paragraph plans that you have created.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back, lovely to see you after having worked so, so hard to consider this question.

How does Shakespeare present Puck across Acts 2 and 3 of am "Midsummer Night's Dream?" I'm looking at some fantastic plans.

Lots and lots of different ideas about the character, Puck, and really, really powerfully selected quotations.

Let's do some self-assessment where we're gonna consider Jun's quotations and notes, which just as a reminder, his quotations link to his topic sentence, his notes explain how to explore the quotation and he links quotations.

So I'd like you to self-assess your own quotations and notes using that checklist to guide you.

so you can annotate your plan just to make sure that you have done all the things that we know.

Make a for really powerful quotation selection.

Pause a video and complete the self-assessment now.

Some really beautiful self-assessment there.

It was lovely to see the quotations, which linked to your topic sentence and your notes.

But I particularly enjoyed seeing how people were making links between quotations.

So linking one moment in the play to another moment in the play.

And that will ensure that if you came to write up these paragraphs, that you would have a really developed exploration of the character of Puck, which really proves your chosen topic sentence.

In summary, some people argue Puck is the most important character in the play because of its significance to the plot, selecting powerful quotations is a key skill in English, powerful quotations linked to your topic sentence, powerful quotations are rich in methods, and you should select more than one quotation to prove each topic sentence.

It has been such a pleasure to see you create three paragraph plans for fantastic, powerful paragraphs, and I look forward to seeing you next time.