January 2011
Julia Markham teaches English at North Little Rock High School-West Campus, North Little Rock, AK
Plays/Scenes Covered
Twelfth Night 3.4
What's On for Today and Why
Promptbooks are copies of scripts that contain notes about performance-blocking, delivery of lines, setting, costumes and so on. In creating them, students have the opportunity to envision the scene, make choices about line delivery, suit movement to words and experiment with different but equally important ways to stage a scene. Essentially the students are interacting with the language to bring the scene to life.
In this lesson, students will conduct a close reading exercise of Twelfth Night 3.4 and create promptbooks pages for two sections of this scene.
This lesson will take 3 x 90 minute class periods.
What You Need
Folger edition of Twelfth Night
Available in Folger print edition and Folger Digital Texts
What To Do
1. Have students read the play up to 3.4.
2. Have promptbook examples to show your students. Explain the concept and importance of these books.
3. Distribute Handout 1 Stage Directions to your students and explain the layout of the stage.
4. Use the following questions to map out the setting of the scene with your students using an overhead or digital projector:
- What does the text reveal about the scene?
- What does the scene need?
- Is it set outside or inside?
- If inside, what does the room look like?
- If outside, what is the location?
- Is there any reference to props, costumes, etc?
Discuss options butcome to a unified decision.
5. Have students draw the set as it is drawn on the overhead projector.
If you used this lesson, we would like to hear how it went and about any adaptations you made to suit the needs of YOUR students.
