The Tempest (Bantam Books, Bevington ed., 1988): Teaching Strategies
Think-Aloud Annotation (During Reading)
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Source
Arnesen, Karen. Telephone Interview. 20 February 2012.
Purpose
This method is designed to help students identify, understand, and effectively
navigate literary elements in Shakespeare’s text, and the specific words that indicated their
presence. Annotation will also help the students to be more prepared for their final
project when that time comes, as they will already have a wealth of textual resources from
which to choose when making their analysis.
Rationale & Context
This would be a great activity to do at any time with the students. In fact, I would do
it several times at the beginning of the year with any literary text to get the students used
to it, and then repeat it with various texts until student responses indicated that they are
“getting it.” This activity is specifically contextualized to 1) introduce the students to the
concept of annotations and 2) guide the students to effectively annotate their own texts.
Practical Note
It may be difficult to annotate every text in a high school classroom, due to the fact
that there may be classroom copies that do not belong to the students. There are, however
various possibilities to overcome this barrier:
Where possible, have the students purchase books. They can often purchase classics
very inexpensively online. The problem with this the possibility of having different
editions of the text: provide an ISBN or purchase the books on the school account
and have students reimburse.
Have the students use an online version of public domain texts and annotate using
diigoTM highlighting and sticky note tools (www.diigo.com). You can also use this
feature with iPads.
Have the students bring sticky notes of different colors that they can put in their
books and write notes on. Alternatively, they could use the sticky-note flags for the
passage, and then write notes on a separate piece of paper with the reference.
Directions
Step 1. Explain to the students that the purpose of annotation is to help them
understand what is going on in the text and to be more prepared for their final
projects.
Enoch Hunsaker, BYU, 2012
The Tempest (Bantam Books, Bevington ed., 1988): Teaching Strategies
Step 2. Let the students know what you want them to watch for as they are reading,
and suggest a color scheme they might use (they will need to have colored pens,
pencils, markers or sticky notes). An example might be as follows:
o Red—Theme
o Blue—Characterization
o Green—Setting
o Purple—Style (i.e. tropes, etc.)
o Orange—Vocabulary
o Yellow—Plot
o Black—items related to their project or assignment
Step 3. Model the skill of annotation for the students using a think-aloud strategy
for Act I, scene 1 of the tempest. (See https://english378.wikispaces.com/Think+Alouds) for
more information on think-alouds. There is also a specific strategy for Act I scene 1
below). You could show students how you’re doing this by using a diigolet app on a
projected computer screen, a doc camera, etc.
Step 4. Practice the skill. Read the text (Act 1, Scene 2) aloud with animated, almost
performative inflections. Have the students yell out a literary element or color as
you are reading, so that everyone can mark the passage in the corresponding color.
Occasionally, suggest an element yourself, especially when they are still grasping the
concept. Eventually, you want the students to be able to do this independently.
Step 5. Have the students practice independently. They can read either silently or
in a whisper, and annotate the text as they have learned in the think aloud and
guided practice. Walk around the room and monitor understanding; help students
who don’t seem to be understanding.
Assessment
You can informally assess the progress of the class as a whole during the guided
practice: when it gets to the point that you don’t need to make suggestions any more, you
know they are ready to do it on their own. It is also rather easy to see if they have grasped
the concept by merely glancing through their annotated text.
Enoch Hunsaker, BYU, 2012
The Tempest (Bantam Books, Bevington ed., 1988): Teaching Strategies
Think-aloud Annotation Script
The Tempest: Act I, scene 1
Text (Annotate as you go)
Teacher’s Script
ACT I
SCENE I. On a ship at sea: a tempestuous noise
of thunder and lightning heard.
Enter a Master and a Boatswain
Master
Boatswain!
Boatswain
Here, master: what cheer?
Master
Good, speak to the mariners: fall to't, yarely,
or we run ourselves aground: bestir, bestir.
Exit
Oh! Look at this, this stage direction here tells
us the setting. I’m going to mark that in green.
Boatswain. Hmm.. I wonder what a Boatswain
is and how you might say that. I’m going to
mark it on orange, so that I remember to look it
up later.
“Bestir”—I wonder what that means. I’ll mark
that in orange too
Enter Mariners
Boatswain
Heigh, my hearts! cheerly, cheerly, my hearts!
yare, yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to the
master's whistle. Blow, till thou burst thy wind,
if room enough!
Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO,
FERDINAND, GONZALO, and others
ALONSO
Good boatswain, have care. Where's the master?
Play the men.
Boatswain
I pray now, keep below.
ANTONIO
Where is the master, boatswain?
Boatswain
Do you not hear him? You mar our labour: keep
your cabins: you do assist the storm.
GONZALO
Nay, good, be patient.
Boatswain
When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers
for the name of king? To cabin: silence! trouble us
not.
It sounds like the boatswain is kind of excited
about something. I suppose he would be excited
since they’re in the middle of a storm at sea.
“You do assist the storm.” That’s kind of a funny
way of saying that. I think he means that they’re
really not helping the situation.
Enoch Hunsaker, BYU, 2012
The Tempest (Bantam Books, Bevington ed., 1988): Teaching Strategies
GONZALO
Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.
Boatswain
None that I more love than myself. You are a
counsellor; if you can command these elements to
silence, and work the peace of the present, we will
not hand a rope more; use your authority: if you
cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and
make yourself ready in your cabin for the
mischance of the hour, if it so hap. Cheerly, good
hearts! Out of our way, I say.
Exit
Wait, who do they have aboard? Oh, it says the
king in the line before. I’m going to draw an
arrow to remember that.
Hmmm. The boatswain is talking about
authority and power here. We talked earlier
about how power is an important theme in this
play. I’m going to mark this part in red.
GONZALO
I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks he
hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion
is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his
hanging: make the rope of his destiny our cable,
for our own doth little advantage. If he be not
born to be hanged, our case is miserable.
Exeunt
Re-enter Boatswain
Boatswain
Down with the topmast! yare! lower, lower! Bring
her to try with main-course.
A cry within
A plague upon this howling! they are louder than
the weather or our office.
Re-enter SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, and GONZALO
Yet again! what do you here? Shall we give o'er
and drown? Have you a mind to sink?
SEBASTIAN
A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,
incharitable dog!
Boatswain
Work you then.
ANTONIO
Hang, cur! hang, you whoreson, insolent
noisemaker!
We are less afraid to be drowned than thou art.
GONZALO
I'll warrant him for drowning; though the ship were
no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky as an
unstanched wench.
Boatswain
Oh! Sebastian called the boatswain a dog. That
wasn’t very nice, especially since the boatswain
seems to be working as hard as he can to keep
them from drowning. I don’t think Sebastian is a
very nice person. I’m going to mark this part in
blue.
Oh, it looks like Antonio is the same way.
Hmm. Gonzalo, on the other hand seems to be
pretty positive—he’s making jokes in the middle
of this. I’ll mark that in blue too.
Enoch Hunsaker, BYU, 2012
The Tempest (Bantam Books, Bevington ed., 1988): Teaching Strategies
Lay her a-hold, a-hold! set her two courses off to
sea again; lay her off.
Enter Mariners wet
Mariners
All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost!
Boatswain
What, must our mouths be cold?
GONZALO
The king and prince at prayers! let's assist them,
For our case is as theirs.
SEBASTIAN
I'm out of patience.
ANTONIO
We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards:
This wide-chapp'd rascal--would thou mightst lie
drowning
The washing of ten tides!
GONZALO
He'll be hang'd yet,
Though every drop of water swear against it
And gape at widest to glut him.
A confused noise within: 'Mercy on us!'-- 'We split,
we split!'--'Farewell, my wife and children!'-'Farewell, brother!'--'We split, we split, we split!'
ANTONIO
Let's all sink with the king.
SEBASTIAN
Let's take leave of him.
Exeunt ANTONIO and SEBASTIAN
GONZALO
Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an
acre of barren ground, long heath, brown furze, any
thing. The wills above be done! but I would fain
die a dry death.
Exeunt
Gonzalo really just wants to be of assistance.
It looks like the ship splits in two. That might be
an important detail to remember for later. I’ll
mark it in yellow.
It seems like Gonzalo believes in a higher power.
Enoch Hunsaker, BYU, 2012