Understanding the characters of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
I can confidently identify the roles of each of the main characters and their relationship to secondary characters from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.
Understanding the characters of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
I can confidently identify the roles of each of the main characters and their relationship to secondary characters from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Prospero, Caliban and Ariel are the key characters in the text.
- Ariel was freed from his imprisonment in a tree by Prospero.
- At times, both Caliban and Ariel feel wronged by Prospero.
- A character profile includes all the key information about a character, such as family and relationships.
Keywords
Master - A master is someone who has control over others.
Wronged - If you have been wronged by someone then they have treated you in an unfair or unacceptable way.
Slave - A slave is someone who is owned by another person and forced to work for them and obey them.
Imprisonment - If you are imprisoned then you are being held in captivity.
Ambition - An ambition is a strong wish to achieve something.
Common misconception
That our feelings towards characters must be consistent.
Our feelings towards characters can change depending on what is happening during the plot.
To help you plan your year 7 english lesson on: Understanding the characters of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 7 english lesson on: Understanding the characters of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 english lessons from the 'The Tempest' unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You may want a copy of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' for this lesson.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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