Prime Time 7, Coursebook plus Semester Self-checks

S Unit 10: Shakespeare live Listening–writing: Interview with an actor (B2) a) Listen to an interview with Nasir Moyat, an actor, who took part in the Globe to Globe Othello world tour. Take notes of the most important issues he talks about. b) As you have always been interested in the theatre and possibly in becoming an actor you would like to get in touch with Nasir Moyat and decide to write an e-mail to him. In your e-mail you should: explain why you are interested in the theatre comment on his career as an actor ask for advice on whether a career in acting is something you should pursue Write around 250 words . Reading–speaking: Why do we still care about Shakespeare? (B2) a) Read the text below, highlight the main aspects and make a list of these points. 1  22 3.10 2  Four hundred years have passed since William Shakespeare wrote his last play. Yet his prose, plots and characters are as alive today as they were when the plays were originally staged during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The plays have been performed in almost every language, on stage and screen and at popular festivals around the world. Alan Craven and Mark Bayer, two literary scholars from the University of Texas in San Antonio, are frequently asked to explain Shakespeare’s staying power in traditional literature. What is it about a long-dead poet and playwright that makes him such an important element of contemporary culture? “He is the greatest dramatist, the greatest poet and the greatest prose writer in the history of the language,” said Craven. “He has a presence like Lincoln or Washington in American history.” The language is rich, the characters are complex and many of his basic themes – love, treachery, honour, bravery and political intrigue – still resonate today, said Craven. “There are two poles of debate about Shakespeare’s long-lasting impact,” said Bayer, an associate professor and chair of the Department of English. “One is to be seen in the plays’ universal appeal. But also, one could plausibly argue Shakespeare has been manufactured into what he is today through popular culture.” High school students typically read one play each year. Outside of the classroom, there are movies, ballets, live theatre and Shakespearean festivals. Even popular music and television commercials have been built around notable Shakespearean characters like Romeo and Juliet, Bayer added. Nonetheless, Shakespeare manages to shape the experience of many who have never even seen one of his plays, Craven said. Pretty much everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet, and most people can recite at least a couple lines from Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy. “A lot of people are affected by Shakespeare even though they don’t think that they know a lot about him,” Craven said. Still, Shakespeare most likely did not regard his works as reading matter for high school English classes in distant centuries. He was a man of his times, writing for his contemporaries on topics that were the hot-button issues of his day. “Those early modern audiences would enjoy the ghosts, the political intrigue, the murder plots, the nations at war. These were things that were on people’s minds at that time,” Bayer said. Humans still experience love, loss, betrayal, war, humour and tragedy, which gives Shakespeare a foothold in modern times. Still, the playwright wrote for live audiences, and so students are encouraged to get out of the books and go see the plays in a theatre. (Cindy Tumiel, www.utsa.edu ) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 b) Choose two points from the list from task 2a and summarise them in a statement about the importance of Shakespeare. 168 Semester self-checks Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv