Merchant of Venice CD-ROM

Subject: English Literature
Level: Secondary
Age Group: 14 - 16
Order Number: 5264

One of the greatest problems facing anyone who wants to study Shakespeare is the language and this resource puts Shakespeare’s complete play into language easily understood by today’s students – native speaker, foreign learner of English and person with difficulty in learning English alike. All the Classical and Biblical references are clearly explained as the text slips effortlessly along in today’s idiom.

You will, of course, need an edition of Shakespeare in the original language to refer to quotations and for examinations and essays.

• Each Act has before it a summary of the action to come
• At the end of each Act are summaries with detailed quotations on what every examiner likes to read about – character and theme
• Test yourself at the end of each Act with multi-choice exercises on plot development
• Themes pursued are appropriate to modern society. Talk about Community Relations? Talk about ‘Bend It Like Beckham’? How about ‘Revenge on the Rialto’? And are women smarter than men? – Shakespeare was way ahead of his time.

After the text there are detailed sketches of the three main characters using key words which make examination study all the easier. These notes are then précised into sample answers on character and Theme, putting together all you have learned.

Finally there’s a quiz, which you’ve not to take too seriously – the play does, after all, describe itself as a comedy. Also included is a basic ‘kit’ of words and terms you need to know to study any Shakespearean play. These are the ‘tools’ of the English Literature student. This book will prove invaluable to everybody who has ever had to cut through the jungle of ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ to get to the gems of Shakespeare’s work. But we might particularly mention the person studying on his/her own, the non-specialist teacher of English who has the task of taking an English class through certificate-level texts and of course the increasing number of non-English speakers in our schools today. ‘Merchant of Venice’ is a favourite text among examination boards. This resource provides a solid, thorough grounding from GCSE upwards.