New
New
Year 8

Including context when writing about Puck in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

I can include relevant contextual ideas in my writing when exploring the character of Puck in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

New
New
Year 8

Including context when writing about Puck in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

I can include relevant contextual ideas in my writing when exploring the character of Puck in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Shakespeare was writing for an Elizabethan audience.
  2. The ideas, characters and plot points in the play are designed to engage with Elizabethan society, attitudes and values.
  3. Information about Elizabethan society, attitudes and values is called context.
  4. When writing about the play, you should include context to develop your ideas.

Common misconception

Context should be included in one sentence at the end of each analytical paragraph.

You can include contextual ideas where relevant - this could be at the start, middle or multiple times in a paragraph. Contextual ideas will often help you develop your analysis of a particular quotation or character.

Keywords

  • Patriarchal - a society in which men hold the power; the laws and structure of that society prevent women having power.

  • Hierarchy - a system whereby people or things are ranked, with some being at the top, and others lower down.

  • Elizabethan - a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603); the first audiences of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ were Elizabethan.

  • Folklore - stories and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation; these are not written down, but told verbally.

  • Shakespearean comedy - a play designed to make you laugh, often involving misunderstandings and disorder, ending in marriage.

Consider your questioning and examination of the model answers in LC2, both in the explanation section and the CfU. How will you draw out how these models include context skilfully? Do you need to provide an additional example to support your pupils?
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need access to a copy of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
What word beginning with 'C' gives us a better understanding of when and why a text was written??
Correct Answer: context, contextual information
Q2.
What is meant by the term 'folklore'?
a system whereby people or things are ranked
Correct answer: stories and traditions that are passed down, often verbally
a play designed to make you laugh
Q3.
Which monarch was on the throne when Shakespeare wrote 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
Correct answer: Queen Elizabeth I
King James I
Queen Elizabeth II
Q4.
What words would you use to describe Puck in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
Correct answer: changeable
Correct answer: mischievous
evil
Q5.
What does the key term 'patriarchal' mean?
a society in which women hold the power
a system whereby people or things are ranked
Correct answer: a society in which men hold the power
Q6.
What is being defined here: 'a system whereby people or things are ranked, with some being at the top, and others lower down.'?
Correct Answer: hierarchy, a hierarchy

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the key term to its definition.
Correct Answer:patriarchal,a society in which men hold the power

a society in which men hold the power

Correct Answer:hierarchy,a system whereby people or things are ranked

a system whereby people or things are ranked

Correct Answer:folklore,stories and traditions that are passed down

stories and traditions that are passed down

Correct Answer:Elizabethan,a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603)

a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603)

Correct Answer:Shakespearean comedy,a play designed to make you laugh, often involving misunderstandings

a play designed to make you laugh, often involving misunderstandings

Q2.
Complete the sentence: 'Information about Elizabethan society, attitudes and values is called .'
Correct Answer: context
Q3.
How did Shakespeare engage with an Elizabethan audience when creating the character of Puck in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
Correct answer: He played on their knowledge of folklore giving Puck two names
He used clever word play to show Puck was malevolent
He had Puck directly address the audience
Q4.
Why might you include contextual ideas when writing about ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’?
Correct answer: Shakespeare was an Elizabethan and was exploring ideas that were relevant
Correct answer: To consider how Shakespeare’s first audiences might have engaged with the ideas
Because ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a comedy, full of confusion and context.
Q5.
Complete the quote from Act 3 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': "a hound, A hog, a headless..."
Correct Answer: bear
Q6.
What is not an example of context for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
The play is a comedy
Correct answer: Puck plays tricks on the characters
Puck had two names that audiences would have had associations of
The play was written and set in a patriarchal society