1、Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice.Brief Statements Based on the UnitThe 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
2、 moneylender, is punished by Antonio, a merchant of Venice, with the help of his friendsPortia 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 hap
3、py 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 revis
4、ing Direct and Indirect speech.Teaching Goals1.Talk about Shakespeare and his plays.2.Learn to recount detail in conversation.3.Review Direct and Indirect Speech.4.Write a short play.Background Information1.William ShakespeareFor any Englishman,there can never be any discussion as to who is the worl
5、ds greatest post and dramatist（剧作家）.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（引用语）from Shakespeares writings that have become part of th
6、e common property of English-speaking people.Most of the time we probably dont 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 write
7、r,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 la
8、nguage 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 Shakespeares Day.It is paradoxical that we should know comparatively little about the life of the
9、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 a
10、nd 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 Shakespeares life is not its products,the plays and the poems.For many years scholars have been trying to add a few facts about Shakespeares life t
11、o the small number we already possess and for an equally long time critics have been theorizing（理论化）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. Sh
12、akespeares poetry and Shakespeares people (Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Falstaff and all the others)have long delighted not just the English but lovers of literature（文学）everywhere, and will continue to do so after the scholars and commentators and all their works have been forgotten.2.HamletThe play Ha
13、mlet is considered to be the summit of Shakespeares tragedies（悲剧）.It was written in 16011602 and first published in 1603.The action of the play is laid in medieval（中世纪的）Denmark.The King suddenly dies.Gertrude,Queen of Denmark,within two months marries the new king,Claudius,brother of her husband.The
14、 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
15、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 Hamletthat he should go with himThe struggle between Hamlet and Claudius is increasing.Claudius pays close attention to Haml
16、et.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 fathers 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
17、 Hamlet,Claudius sends off Hamlet to England with his two men,who used to be Hamlets 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,Denma
18、rk.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 madea deadly stroke at Hamlet.Teaching Time:Five periodsThe First PeriodTeaching Aims:1.Learn and master the following:(
19、1)Words and phrases:merchant,duke,masterpiece,mercy,enemy,pay back,as well as,after all(2)Everyday English:Correct me if Im wrong,butOne of the most important facts isAs far as I know,You shouldnt forget thatYou could,for example,sayAfter all,What shouldnt be forgotten isThe way I would go about itB
20、ut in this particular case2.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 ge
21、t 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
22、finish each task.Teaching Aids:1.the multimedia2.the blackboardTeaching Procedures:CStep Greetings and Lead-inT: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.
23、Ss:Yes.T:There was a great British playwright and poet in the worlds history of literature.He wrote about 37 plays and a large number of poems in his life.Heres 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 fr
24、om 1564 to 1616(Bb:15641616).He is considered to be the greatest playwright and poet of the Renaissance(14th16th 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
25、 19.The Merchant of Venice (Bb:Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice).In the first period of this unit,well learn something more about his plays as well as The Merchant of Venice.First,Lets learn some new words and phrases.Look at the screen.(Teacher shows the screen and deals with them as usual.)merchant/
26、V:tFEnt/ n. 商人Venice/I/ n. 威尼斯（意大利港口城市）Bassianio/EB:IEQWEJ/巴萨尼奥（男子名）Portia/C:FiE/鲍西娅（女子名）Antonio/AnE JnIE J/安东尼奥（男子名）Shylock/FIlEk /夏洛克（男子名）pay back 偿还；报答ducat/QkEt/ n. 古时候在欧洲通用的金币duke/:/n. 公爵masterpiece/B:E:/ n. 杰作；最佳作品mercy/V:I/n. 怜悯；仁慈revenge/IV/ n. 复仇；报复enemy/EI/ n. 敌人as far as 到目前为止；就某种程度或范围而言a
27、fter all 毕竟Bb:pay back,as far as,after all）CStep Warming upT: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 i
28、n pairs to prepare for a few minutes.(A few minutes later.)T:Are you ready?Ss:Yes.T:Whod like to have a try?Any volunteer?S1:The first one and the third one are from Hamlet; the second one from/King Henry ;the fourth one Romeo and Juliet;the last one Troilus and Cressida. T:You did a good job.Sit do
29、wn,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 familys greatest enemy?Ref
30、use 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 a
31、nd 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 doesnt sleep soundly.Ss:“Uneas
32、y 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 havent before.Do you think s
33、o?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:Id like to talk about Othello.Othello,a dark-faced Moor,se
34、rves 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 senators protest is over
35、ruled 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 theref
36、ore tries to destroy the Moors happiness by convincing him of Desdemonas 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 f
37、it punishment.T:Anybody else?S3:Id like to talk aboutCStep ListeningT:Well done.Weve talked much about Shakespeare and his plays.Next,lets 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 th
38、e 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 th
39、e answers.)Suggested answers:Ex.1 1.Venice2.three months3.three thousands ducats4.a pound of his fleshT:Well done.Now please read through the requirements of Exercise 2.Then Ill play the tape again for you to finish the following chart.(After the Students prepare for a while,teacher begins to play t
40、he tape.At the end,check the answers with the whole class.)Suggested answers:CStep SpeakingT:Up to now,weve 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 dif
41、ferent 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
42、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 mi
43、nutes later,teacher asks some pairs to act out before class.)Sample dialogues:Situation 1A:In The Merchant of Venice,Shylock gets the chance to kill Antonio,and he would.Whats even more,he refuses the Dukes persuasion to have mercy on Antonio.But when the the roles are turned around,the Duke shows m
44、ercy 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 w
45、ith me in future,I will forgive him.After all,a friend is better than an enemy.A:I agree with you.What shouldnt 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:Its worth reading.The ideas behind i
46、t are still important to todays people.Besides,Ive 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 2A:You know,in The Merchant of Venice,Bassanio cannt marry Portia because he doesnt have enough money.What a pity!And this happe
47、ns 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 m
48、any things,but it can not buy you happiness.B:Yes.Great minds think alike.CStep Summary and HomeworkT:In this class,weve mainly talked about Shakespeare and his plays.While we were doing each task,weve learnt some useful expressions,such as pay back,as far as,after all.After class,I hope you can pra
49、ctise using them again.Besides,remember to preview the Reading part in this unit.So much for today.Goodbye.Ss:Goodbye.CStep The Design of the Writing on theBlackboardUnit 19 The Merchant of VeniceThe First Period.William Shakespeare (15641616)King Henry /Hamlet/Romeo and Juliet/Troilus and Cressida/Twelfth Night/King Lear/Othello.Phrases:pay back,as well as,after allCStep Record after Teaching
