Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice
Ⅰ.Brief Statements Based on the Unit
The Merchant of Venice is the most outstanding “romantic” comedy written by William Shakespeare, the greatest British playwright and poet of Renaissance. This play is mainly about the process of a story that Shylock, a cruel and greedy moneylender, is punished by Antonio, a merchant of Venice, with the help of his friends-Portia and Bassanio. The central theme of the play is the triumph of love(between Portia and Bassanio)and friendship(between Antonio and Bassanio)over insatiable greed and brutality(as presented by Shylock).A happy ending is brought about when Shylock is punished.Here we can see the true progressive significance of The Merchant of Venice and of its author:consistent hatred for the oppressors and sympathy for the oppressed.Meanwhile,it provides us an opportunity to learn some language points as well as revising Direct and Indirect speech.
Ⅱ.Teaching Goals
1.Talk about Shakespeare and his plays.
2.Learn to recount detail in conversation.
3.Review Direct and Indirect Speech.
4.Write a short play.
Ⅲ.Background Information
1.William Shakespeare
For any Englishman,there can never be any discussion as to who is the world’s greatest post and dramatist（劇作家）.Only one name can possibly suggest itself to him,that of William Shakespeare.Every Englishman has some knowledge,however slight,of the work of our greatest writer.All of us use words,phrases and quotations（引用語）from Shakespeare’s writings that have become part of the common property of English-speaking people.Most of the time we probably don’t know the source of the words we use,rather like the old lady who was taken to see a performance of Hamlet and complained that it was full of well-known proverbs and quotations!
Shakespeare,more perhaps than any other writer,made full use of the great resources of the English language.Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal employment of English;Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand! There is probably no better way for foreigner to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways in which Shakespeare uses it.Such a study is well worth the effort,even though some aspects（方面）of English usage,and the meaning of many words,have changed since Shakespeare’s Day.
It is paradoxical that we should know comparatively little about the life of the greatest English author.We know that Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon,and that he died there in 1616.He almost certainly attended the Grammar School in the town,but of this we cannot be sure.We know he was married there in 1582 to Anne Hathaway and that he had three children,a boy and two girls.We know he spent much of his life in London writing his masterpieces.But this is almost all that we do know.
However,what is important about Shakespeare’s life is not its products,the plays and the poems.For many years scholars have been trying to add a few facts about Shakespeare’s life to the small number we already possess and for an equally long time critics have been theorizing（理論化）about the plays.Sometimes,indeed,it seems that the the poetry of Shakespeare will disappear beneath the great mass of comment that has been written upon it.
Fortunately this is not likely to happen. Shakespeare’s poetry and Shakespeare’s people (Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Falstaff and all the others)have long delighted not just the English but lovers of literature（文學）everywhere, and will continue to do so after the scholars and commentators and all their works have been forgotten.
2.Hamlet
The play Hamlet is considered to be the summit of Shakespeare’s tragedies（悲劇）.It was written in 1601~1602 and first published in 1603.
The action of the play is laid in medieval（中世紀的）Denmark.The King suddenly dies.Gertrude,Queen of Denmark,within two months marries the new king,Claudius,brother of her husband.
The son of the late king,Hamlet,returns from the university,where he has received his education.Heavy is the heart of the young man.The country is in a state of unrest.There is said to be war.He thinks his father was murdered but he does not dare to tell others.One night Hamlet dreams of his father.He talks to his father,who tells his son he has been murdered by his brother Claudius.Hamlet hates the murderer very much and he decides to kill Claudius.
The ghost made a sign to Hamlet
that he should go with him
The struggle between Hamlet and Claudius is increasing.Claudius pays close attention to Hamlet.Hamlet pretends to have gone mad.
To expose Claudius,Hamlet thinks of a plan:a group of actors are engaged to perform a play which recalls his father’s murder.When Claudius appears deeply affected by the performance and leaves the hall before the play is ended,Hamlet knows he is right.To get rid of Hamlet,Claudius sends off Hamlet to England with his two men,who used to be Hamlet’s friends and now are ordered to spy on him and kill him.
While at sea,Hamlet discovers a letter,in which Claudius orders the two men to kill him.Hamlet manages to escape from the ship and returns to his homeland,Denmark.
In the end,Claudius is killed by Hamlet.His mother is poisoned and dies.If you want to know whether Hamlet is alive or not,Please read the play or see the film.
But soon Laertes made
a deadly stroke at Hamlet
Ⅳ.Teaching Time:Five periods
The First Period
Teaching Aims:
1.Learn and master the following:
(1)Words and phrases:
merchant,duke,masterpiece,mercy,enemy,pay back,as well as,after all
(2)Everyday English:
Correct me if I’m wrong,but…
One of the most important facts is…
As far as I know,…
You shouldn’t forget that…
You could,for example,say…
After all,…
What shouldn’t be forgotten is…
The way I would go about it…
But in this particular case…
2.Train the students’ listening and speaking abilities.
Teaching Important Points:
1.Improve the students’ listening ability.
2.Improve the students’ speaking ability and learn some useful phrases as well as everyday English.
Teaching Difficult Points:
1.How to help the students get the general idea of the listening material and find the answers to the listening exercises.
2.How to get the students to finish the task of speaking.
Teaching Methods:
1.Talking,speaking and listening to improve the students’ ability to use English.
2.Individual,pair or group work to make the students finish each task.
Teaching Aids:
1.the multimedia
2.the blackboard
Teaching Procedures:
Step Ⅰ Greetings and Lead-in
T:Good morning/afternoon,everyone.
Ss:Good morning/afternoon,Mr/Ms.
T:Sit down,please.Class begin.First,please tell me if you are interested in plays,especially some of the world-famous plays.
Ss:Yes.
T:There was a great British playwright and poet in the world’s history of literature.He wrote about 37 plays and a large number of poems in his life.Here’s a picture of him.Do you know who he is?
(Teacher shows the picture.)
Ss:William Shakespeare.
(Bb:William Shakespeare)
T:Quite right.He lived from 1564 to 1616(Bb:1564~1616).He is considered to be the greatest playwright and poet of the Renaissance(14th~16th centuries)in Europe.As a playwright,he wrote tragedies,comedies,historical plays.As a poet,he wrote narrative poems and sonnets.Can you follow me?
Ss:Yes.
T:Today,we are going to learn Unit 19.The Merchant of Venice (Bb:Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice).In the first period of this unit,we’ll learn something more about his plays as well as 玊he Merchant of Venice.獸irst,Let’s learn some new words and phrases.Look at the screen.
(Teacher shows the screen and deals with them as usual.)
merchant/′ｍ/ n. 商人
△Venice/′ｖｅｎｓ/ n. 威尼斯（意大利港口城市）
△Bassianio/ｂ′ｓｎI/巴薩尼奧（男子名）
△Portia/′ｐ/鮑西婭（女子名）
△Antonio/′ｔ/安東尼奧（男子名）
△Shylock/′ａ /夏洛克（男子名）
pay back 償還；報答
△ducat/′ｄ/ n. 古時候在歐洲通用的金幣
duke/ｄｊｕ:ｋ/n. 公爵
masterpiece/′ｍｓｔｐｉｓ/ n. 杰作；最佳作品
mercy/′ｍｓI/n. 憐憫；仁慈
△revenge/ｒI′ｖｅｎｄ/ n. 復仇；報復
enemy/′ｅｎｍI/ n. 敵人
as far as 到目前為止；就某種程度或范圍而言
after all 畢竟
Bb:pay back,as far as,after all）
Step Ⅱ Warming up
T:Well.Now please open your books at Page 65.Look at Warming up.Look at the pictures and read each quotation one by one.Try to understand each one of them.Then tell from which plays,of which the titles are below the pictures,they come.Work in pairs to prepare for a few minutes.
(A few minutes later.)
T:Are you ready?
Ss:Yes.
T:Who’d like to have a try?Any volunteer?
S1:The first one and the third one are from Hamlet; the second one from/King Henry Ⅳ;the fourth one Romeo and Juliet;the last one Troilus and Cressida.
T:You did a good job.Sit down,please.Then what do you think these famous words mean?Can you explain them in English?
Ss:Yes.But not clearly and exactly.
T:So,let me explain them to you.Listen carefully and tell which one I am referring to.Do you see my point?
Ss:Yes.
T:No.1:Why must you be the son of my family’s greatest enemy?Refuse your family for my love.
Ss:“Romeo,Romeo,why are you Romeo?Deny your father,and refuse your name…”
T:No.2:That is a question whether to live on in this world or to die,that is,to take action or to do nothing.
Ss:“To be or not to be;that is a question.”
T:No.3:It is best not to lend(money) to others and not to borrow from others.When we lend something.We risk losing both the thing we lend and the friendship with that other person.
Ss:“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
T:No.4:A person who has great responsibilities,such as a king,is constantly worried and therefore doesn’t sleep soundly.
Ss:“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
T:No.5:Empty words,not real thoughts or ideas from the heart.
Ss:“Words,words,only words,no matter from heart.”
T:Great.However,I still want to suggest you find these plays,from which the quotations come from,to read or watch them if you haven’t before.Do you think so?
Ss:Yes.
T:What other plays of Shakespeare do you know?
Ss: Twelfth Night; King Lear; Othello…
(Teacher writes them as well as those talked about just now.)
T:Can you explain what they are about?Choose one of them and have a try.Any volunteer?
S2:I’d like to talk about Othello.Othello,a dark-faced Moor,serves as a capable general in Venice and wins the love of a beautiful,strong-minded girl Desdemona,daughter of a senator.Her father objects to her secret marriage with the Moor,but Othello is just then much needed as commander to lead troops to a war with the Turks,and so the senator’s protest is overruled by the duke and Othello goes to war on the island of Cyprus,accompanied by his new bride.After their arrival there,the Turks have already met with destruction in a sea storm and the war is over,but one of the officers under Othello hates the general for placing another man above him and therefore tries to destroy the Moor’s happiness by convincing him of Desdemona’s illicit relations with the man above him.Othello falls into the trap,kills Desdemona,and finds out the truth at last and kills himself.The officer under Othello is shipped back to Venice after his villainy is exposed to await fit punishment.
T:Anybody else?
S3:I’d like to talk about…
Step Ⅲ Listening
T:Well done.We’ve talked much about Shakespeare and his plays.Next,let’s listen to the introduction to The Merchant of Venice,the most outstanding “romantic” comedy.It will tell us how the story takes place and helps us learn about the main characters in it.Can you follow me?
Ss:Yes.
T:OK.Now please look at the Listening part at Page 66.First,read through the questions in Exercise 1.Then listen to the tape to find the answers.
(Teacher allows the Students a few minutes to prepare,and then plays the tape.After that,teacher checks the answers.)
Suggested answers:
Ex.1 1.Venice
2.three months
3.three thousands ducats
4.a pound of his flesh
T:Well done.Now please read through the requirements of Exercise 2.Then I’ll play the tape again for you to finish the following chart.
(After the Students prepare for a while,teacher begins to play the tape.At the end,check the answers with the whole class.)
Suggested answers:
Step Ⅳ Speaking
T:Up to now,we’ve learnt much about Shakespeare and his plays.Can you tell me what makes his play a masterpiece,Han Mei?
S4:The ideas behind the play are about problems which are still important to people of different ages in modern times.
T:Can you give some examples shown in The Merchant of Venice?Any volunteer?
S5:Mercy versus revenge and love versus money.
T:Quite right.Now,please read the two situations in Speaking first.Then find examples for each one in modern life and work in pairs to discuss whether it is right or wrong.Are you clear about that?
Ss:Yes.
T:And behind the situation,there are some useful expressions.Study them first,then use them in your dialogue if possible.Do you remember?
Ss:Yes.
(The students begin to work.Teacher goes among them to see how they are going on with the work.A few minutes later,teacher asks some pairs to act out before class.)
Sample dialogues:
Situation 1
A:In The Merchant of Venice,Shylock gets the chance to kill Antonio,and he would.What’s even more,he refuses the Duke’s persuasion to have mercy on Antonio.But when the the roles are turned around,the Duke shows mercy to Shylock despite the fact that nobody really likes Shylock.What would you do if you had your worst enemy in your power?
B:In my opinion,people should be kind and mercyful.The punishment on my enemy should depends on the situation.If he tries to correct his fault and is able to get along well with me in future,I will forgive him.After all,a friend is better than an enemy.
A:I agree with you.What shouldn’t be forgotten is that all the things has a limited line.
B:How do you like the play The Merchant of Venice?Have you read any other plays of Shakespeare?
A:It’s worth reading.The ideas behind it are still important to today’s people.Besides,I’ve read Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and so on.
B:Great!Would you like to tell me the stories some day?
A:No problem.
Situation 2
A:You know,in The Merchant of Venice,Bassanio cann’t marry Portia because he doesn’t have enough money.What a pity!And this happens everywhere around the world.What do you think about a situation like that?
B:From my point of view,love is more important than money.If money is lost,we can earn it by our hands.However,if love is lost,it can never be back again.
A:Money is necessary,but not the most important.Money can bring you many things,but it can not buy you happiness.
B:Yes.Great minds think alike.
Step Ⅴ Summary and Homework
T:In this class,we’ve mainly talked about Shakespeare and his plays.While we were doing each task,we’ve learnt some useful expressions,such as pay back,as far as,after all.After class,I hope you can practise using them again.Besides,remember to preview the Reading part in this unit.So much for today.Goodbye.
Ss:Goodbye.
Step Ⅵ The Design of the Writing on the
Blackboard
Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice
The First Period
Ⅰ.William Shakespeare (1564~1616)
King Henry Ⅳ/Hamlet/Romeo and Juliet/Troilus and Cressida/Twelfth Night/King Lear/Othello
Ⅱ.Phrases:
pay back,as well as,after all
Step Ⅶ Record after Teaching