Asynchronous Academy

Why Read Shakespeare?

Suggested Duration: 5 Hours

"Memes (discrete units of cultural information) propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation."

Richard Dawkins

It is a fair question: Why are we reading a playwright from the 1600s in a course focused on modern communication strategies? While you won't hear Shakespearean English at the grocery store, mastering these texts gives you a massive advantage:

  • The Original "Memes": Shakespeare’s quotes are the ultimate "common references" for academic and professional circles.
  • The Ultimate Workout: If you can navigate Romeo & Juliet, you can navigate any complex legal contract, technical manual, or business proposal.
  • High Efficiency: These plays are surprisingly short, usually around 100 pages, making them perfect for intensive skill-building.
  • The Motivation Boost: There is a unique power in taking something that looks like "gibberish" and turning it into something manageable.

Phase 1: Easing Into It

Before you even look at the play, you are going to use Gemini to build a mental map of the story. Spend about an hour on the following:

  1. Progressive Summaries: Ask the AI for a 100-word summary of the major plot points of the play, then a 300-word version, then a 700-word deep dive. Feel free to keep going if you feel like it's useful! Use your prompt engineering strategies to investigate the events of the play.
  2. Viral Content: Ask Gemini about how different movies, TV shows, or other media you're interested in have referenced the play. Get a better sense of how this text has affected the world you live in.
  3. Quote Translation: Have the AI list 5 famous quotes and "translate" them into modern slang or professional business speak.
  4. Casting Call: Have Gemini describe the characters. In your head, "cast" them with famous actors or people you know to make the plot summaries stick.
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Don't Be Afraid to Explore: These questions are just a start to the different ways you could explore the impact of the play. If there are other questions you'd like to ask, or a different direction you'd like to take your investigation, the world is your oyster!

Phase 2: Reading Strategies

Now, before even cracking (clicking?) the text open, you should have a very good idea of what's going to happen. Your job now is to play around with ways of approaching something that seems impossible, and to make it accessible.

Your goal is to find the "tools" that actually help you unlock the meaning of the words. There are many things you will have to interact with that are, sometimes intentionally, written in a way that is very difficult to understand. We're working with Shakespeare, but the skills you're practicing here could just as easily be applied to a legal contract for your business or a research paper about whether the paint on your baby's toy is actually toxic.

Ask Gemini, "Can you help me identify some reading strategies that will help me understand Shakespeare more easily?"

Spend about an hour testing your strategies out on the first part of the text.

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Need a Textbook? You're welcome to use any original (not a zombie adaptation, etc.) version of the text. You'll find a link to one option on the Materials page for this course, but you'll refer to things by Act, Scene, and Line, so we don't need to have the same page numbers.

Phase 3: Social Media Strategy Guide

You will produce a series of six short, social-media-style videos (30–60 seconds each):

  • Video 1: Ask Gemini to "Describe the differences in text format between plays and novels." Record a video explaining these differences so a new student knows what to expect when they open the script. Show an example of a page of a play and the page of a novel/news article, and how the text on the page is set up differently. This should be very basic: What do the names with colons mean? Explain how stage directions are different than narrating the setting like a novel, etc. The goal of this video is to demonstrate you're not confused by the appearance of the text (or to prevent your peers from being confused).
  • Videos 2–6: Each video should demonstrate one of your reading strategies. Use a specific example or quote from the play to show how the strategy works.

The words you use are important, but the way they're presented is just as important. The same way you wouldn't (shouldn't) hand in work on paper all crumpled up, you should take some time to consider the video editing tools you have at your disposal to make your videos more presentable. Choose a new technique or addition to your video production arsenal to incorporate into these videos!

Deliverable:

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6 Social Media-Style Videos

Expand your storytelling skills by using all of the communication tools at your disposal. Combine all videos into one file.

Assessment

Pre-Submission

Before you submit, please complete the Pre-Submission Self-Assessment.

What to Turn In

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    6 short videos (5 covering pre-reading strategies, 1 explaining the play vs. novel format) combined into one file

💡 A Different Way to Learn

Async Academy courses are inquiry-based. There are no rote answer keys or multiple-choice worksheets here. You learn by exploring, questioning, and building projects you care about.

Because your discovery path is completely unique, you need a human sounding board. Enroll to submit your projects and get personalized video feedback from an Ontario Certified Teacher to guide your work.

Learning Goals

We are learning to:

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    Develop effective pre-reading strategies to understand challenging literary texts

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    Demonstrate understanding of Shakespearean texts, including meaning, characters, and structure

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    Communicate ideas clearly and effectively using short, audience-appropriate videos

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    Reflect on reading and communication strategies to improve future learning

Success Criteria

I can:

  • ✅

    Select and explain effective pre-reading strategies that support my understanding of Shakespearean language

    Expectations Covered: RLS1
  • ✅

    Demonstrate my understanding of the play’s meaning and characters through accurate video examples

    Expectations Covered: RLS1
  • ✅

    Explain the structural differences between plays and novels

    Expectations Covered: RLS2
  • ✅

    Communicate ideas clearly in short, social-media-style videos using a new technical stretch goal

    Expectations Covered: OC2
  • ✅

    Reflect on which strategies were most helpful for my learning style

    Expectations Covered: RLS4

Rubric

Category Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1
Knowledge/Understanding Demonstrates a thorough and accurate understanding of meaning, characters, and text structure Demonstrates clear and accurate understanding of meaning, characters, and text structure Demonstrates partial understanding with some inaccuracies or gaps Demonstrates limited understanding of the text and its structure
Thinking/Inquiring Selects and explains strategies very effectively, showing strong insight into learning needs Selects and explains effective strategies suited to the task Selects strategies with limited explanation or effectiveness Seldom selects appropriate strategies or explains their usefulness
Application Applies strategies and examples very effectively to support understanding in the video series Applies strategies and examples effectively in the video series Applies strategies with limited effectiveness or clarity Seldom applies strategies or relevant examples
Communication Communicates ideas very clearly and confidently, using engaging techniques and meeting the "stretch" goal Communicates ideas clearly and appropriately for the audience Communicates ideas with some clarity; delivery or organization may be uneven Communicates ideas unclearly or ineffectively
Knowledge/Understanding
Level 4

Demonstrates a thorough and accurate understanding of meaning, characters, and text structure

Level 3

Demonstrates clear and accurate understanding of meaning, characters, and text structure

Level 2

Demonstrates partial understanding with some inaccuracies or gaps

Level 1

Demonstrates limited understanding of the text and its structure

Thinking/Inquiring
Level 4

Selects and explains strategies very effectively, showing strong insight into learning needs

Level 3

Selects and explains effective strategies suited to the task

Level 2

Selects strategies with limited explanation or effectiveness

Level 1

Seldom selects appropriate strategies or explains their usefulness

Application
Level 4

Applies strategies and examples very effectively to support understanding in the video series

Level 3

Applies strategies and examples effectively in the video series

Level 2

Applies strategies with limited effectiveness or clarity

Level 1

Seldom applies strategies or relevant examples

Communication
Level 4

Communicates ideas very clearly and confidently, using engaging techniques and meeting the "stretch" goal

Level 3

Communicates ideas clearly and appropriately for the audience

Level 2

Communicates ideas with some clarity; delivery or organization may be uneven

Level 1

Communicates ideas unclearly or ineffectively