Week 4

What students do

Read Titania's "What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?" alongside Bottom's "let them play it in blank verse".

Task

Mark the prose/verse switch on the scene.

Success criteria

Identifies the switch and explains it signals status / comedy / supernatural.

What students do

Define dramatic irony: audience knows Bottom has an ass's head; Bottom does not.

Task

Perform a 90-second extract in pairs. Discuss what makes it funny.

Success criteria

Names dramatic irony, absurdity or transformation as a source of comedy.

What students do

Model: "Shakespeare creates comedy through dramatic irony when Titania declares 'I love thee' to a man wearing an ass's head."

Task

Write a paragraph on how Shakespeare creates comedy in Act 3.1.

Success criteria

Uses "dramatic irony", embeds a quote, infers audience effect.

What students do

Analyse Bottom's obliviousness: "I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me".

Task

Write a paragraph zooming in on "oblivious" or "absurdity".

Success criteria

Explains how Bottom's lack of awareness deepens comedy.

What students do

Recap: name method, embed quote, explain effect.

Task

How does Shakespeare make Act 3.1 entertaining?

Success criteria

Two distinct methods (e.g. dramatic irony, prose/verse contrast), each with quotation.