Part 1 Acknowledgments Part 2 Preface Chapter 3 1. Two Models of Teaching and Learning Chapter 4 2. Techniques of Active and Close Reading Chapter 5 3. The Socratic Method of Teaching and Learning Chapter 6 4. Theory behind the Socratic Method of Teaching and Learning Chapter 7 5. Introduction to Socratic Seminars on Five Tragedies of Shakespeare Chapter 8 6.The Tragedy of Hamlet (1601) Chapter 9 7.The Tragedy of Othello (1603) Chapter 10 8.The Tragedy of King Lear (1606) Chapter 11 9.The Tragedy of Macbeth (1606) Chapter 12 10.The Life of Henry V (1599) Chapter 13 11. Introduction to Socratic Seminars on Five Comedies of Shakespeare Chapter 14 12.The Taming of the Shrew (1595) Chapter 15 13.Much Ado about Nothing (1600) Chapter 16 14.As You Like It (1601) Chapter 17 15.The Merchant of Venice (1602) Chapter 18 16.Measure for Measure (1603) Part 19 References Part 20 Recommended Follow-up Readings Part 21 About the Author
Victor Moeller currently teaches English at McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, IL. Previously, he taught Rhetoric, English, American, and world literature in private and public high schools and colleges. He was also an in-service field instructor for the Great Books Foundation in Chicago and an area director of professional development in Minnesota. During his years with the Chicago Foundation, he conducted the Great Books Basic and Advanced Leader Training Course in 36 states.He may be reached at http://user.mc.net/~moeller/ or by e-mail at moeller@mc.net. Since 2000, he has also been a reader of the Advanced Placement English Literature and Language Exam for the College Board.
Writing for secondary and post-secondary school English teachers,
Moeller explains how to teach Shakespeare using the Socratic
method, while also teaching students to think critically. His
further aim is for students to use Shakespeare to learn about
themselves.
*Reference and Research Book News*
A teacher's teacher, former Great Books leader-trainer Professor
Victor Moeller applies the insightful questioning methods of
Socrates to selected works of Shakespeare with detailed time-lined
lesson plans incorporating films, time-saving quizzes and original
essay exams. Every English department's treasure and every English
teacher's must-have, this busy-teacher-friendly resource is indeed
the gift that keeps on giving and is never returned.
*Greg Secora, high school English Honors 9 teacher*
Finally, I have found a most useful book that has already helped me
to conduct good discussions that involve all my students with the
plays of Shakespeare that I take up in my Advanced Placement
classes (on a two-year cycle)—Macbeth, Hamlet, Much Ado, Henry V,
King Lear, and Merchant of Venice. The focus of the book is not on
expert critical opinion but on helping teachers and students to
arrive at their own individual interpretations based on a close and
active reading of the text. Comparison-contrast discussions of the
film versions of these plays involves today's visually-minded
students in ways that I have been unable to do until now.
*John Bardin, Jacobs High School, Algonquin, IL*
If the goal of secondary English education is to foster in our
students the ability to read texts closely and well, and an ability
to think independently and critically, then Victor Moeller's
Socrates Does Shakespeare: Seminars and Film is spot on. The book
is not burdened with theory over practice, but it is thoroughly
grounded in sound theoretical and pedagogical principles. For the
beleaguered secondary and college English teacher facing all those
students in classes or blocks every day, the practical helps in the
book are life-savers. For anyone who wants to help the process of
effective learning in the Shakespeare classroom, this book is a
'must have'. Do yourself a favor; read the book-and use it.
*Michael Travers, Ph.D., professor of English, Southeastern College
at Wake Forest (NC)*
Moeller's book is very helpful to a high school teacher interested
in better teaching his students how to think about literature.
After laying some helpful groundwork about how and why his Socratic
method works, Moeller offers seminar guidelines for students to
co-lead fifteen-minute discussions of specific Shakespeare plays.
In addition to useful film guides and writing assignments, the
lesson plans feature effective scaffolding techniques which lead
students to compose their own effective Socratic questions for use
in a class discussion to facilitate thinking and understanding.
Supplemental reading suggestions, such as John Updike and James
Thurber stories for Macbeth, invite students to make connections
beyond the Shakespeare text, and are well chosen and relevant to
students' lives. Socrates Does Shakespeare is a framework that will
equip teachers like me, already employing Socratic methods once in
a while, to do it more consistently with texts I already teach, and
to consider new units basedon texts and films not yet part of our
curriculum. Moeller has done much of the work for us by creating
thought-provoking questions which lead students to explore the
ambiguity of the plays and appreciate their complexity. I know my
own students will bene
*Utah English Journal*
To emphasize the performance aspect of Shakespeare, [Moeller] pairs
each play with a filmed version to create a unit of study. In these
units, he provides extraordinary detail. Teachers unfamiliar or
uncomfortable with Shakespeare might be thrilled to discover a text
that relieves them of so much preparation.
*VOYA*
Moeller's book is very helpful to a high school teacher interested
in better teaching his students how to think about literature.
After laying some helpful groundwork about how and why his Socratic
method works, Moeller offers seminar guidelines for students to
co-lead fifteen-minute discussions of specific Shakespeare plays.
In addition to useful film guides and writing assignments, the
lesson plans feature effective scaffolding techniques which lead
students to compose their own effective Socratic questions for use
in a class discussion to facilitate thinking and understanding.
Supplemental reading suggestions, such as John Updike and James
Thurber stories for "Macbeth", invite students to make connections
beyond the Shakespeare text, and are well chosen and relevant to
students' lives. Socrates Does Shakespeare is a framework that will
equip teachers like me, already employing Socratic methods once in
a while, to do it more consistently with texts I already teach, and
to consider new units based on texts and films not yet part of our
curriculum. Moeller has done much of the work for us by creating
thought-provoking questions which lead students to explore the
ambiguity of the plays and appreciate their complexity. I know my
own students will benefit from the carefully thought out sequences
he employs. I recommend this volume to teachers of upper division
or honors high school students or adults.
*Utah English Journal*
Vic's excellent manual illustrates his unique ability to describe
in clear and concise language the 'how-to's' of preparing for and
leading a meaningful discussion. It [is] a boon to education and a
great gift to all faculty from grade one through 16.
*Dorothy Lamberton, former Minneapolis and Suburban Area Adult
Great Books Coordinator*
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