Here are five activities to get students thinking closely about the events that unfold in Act III of Shakespeare’s King Lear. (Looking for previous acts? Here they are: Act I blog post / Act II blog post.) Thanks for following along!
Idea #1: Cliff’s Notes Madlibs
Okay, so this activity is not really Madlibs…but it is an attempt to gamify the reading. At the start of Act III, Kent provides the audience with necessary background information in a conversation with an unknown gentleman. There is a lot to unpack, so to make it a bit more interesting, I partner students up and have them read an excerpted version of the dialogue. Then, they work together to fill in the blanks from the Cliff’s Notes summary of the scene. If you’d like to access this resource free, it’s available at no cost in my TPT store (click to visit the listing directly).
Idea #2: Key Word Warm-Up
Next, it’s time to read Lear’s famous monologue delivered in the midst of the raging storm. To get students thinking about what Lear might address in the monologue before actually reading it, I do a little warm-up with them. I cut up words from the monologue and put them in a cup and have students draw one each. Then, they work in their table groups (they are seated in groups of 4-5) to write a line of text that could plausibly appear in Lear’s monologue (based on what they know of the play from Acts I and II). They must use all the words that group members drew from the cup in their line of text. Groups share their lines aloud, and often get surprisingly close to the content contained in the actual monologue. Click here for the words I use if you’d like to try this! I have 34 because that is generally my class size, but you can easily adjust by duplicating or removing words if needed.
Idea #3: Lear’s Monologue
After the warm-up, we read the text of Lear’s monologue, answer discussion questions, and watch a film version. The goal is to consider the relationship between setting and character, including the symbolism of the storm. I have this plan, with handouts and slides, available for a small fee here.
Idea #4: Table Group Scripts
Next, I have students read Act III, Scenes 4 & 6 in their small groups. If you’d like to borrow my PDF script, click here (it will force copy). Students work in groups of 4 (or sometimes 5), with these roles: Kent, Lear, Edgar, Fool/Gloucester. (For groups of 5, I split the combined role of Fool and Gloucester into two readers.)
Idea #5: Act III Film
Because we’ve focused our analysis only on the primary plot, the subplot’s details are the focus of my Act III film guide. I use the Amazon Prime version directed by Richard Eyre and starring Anthony Hopkins as King Lear. If you plan to use the same version, I’ll eventually post the video guides. I’m still working on this. 🙂
