Horatio's Tale Series 3--King Claudius

Description

Concept: A teacher researching Shakespeare for his English class discovers an ancient book. In it, he discovers Horatio "pressed" in the book, telling the story of his noble friend, Hamlet. The book is evidence that Horatio fulfilled Hamlet's request to "report his cause aright to the unsatisfied." The Tale: In Act V of Hamlet, Horatio promises to tell all about the "carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts" committed in the halls of Elsinore Castle. Now, four hundred years after William Shakespeare wrote his masterpiece, Horatio is telling his story. The Technology: Horatio guides users through the tragic events in Elsinore Castle by selecting key passages from the play for analysis. In single- or team-based mode, students must then interpret and analyze these passages. Seven lesson plans are included on the disc in PDF format. Each lesson contains four activities and targets a particular theme or plot line within the play. For example, Lesson Five, entitled "Consoling Hamlet on his Father's Death," focuses on passages where Gertrude and King Claudius attempt to console Hamlet. Gameplay: Before each question set begins, Horatio introduces the game's focus. The game then begins. A passage from the play is provided in text form, an audio hint is provided by Horatio, and the participant is asked to choose the missing word or definition from a list of choices. Answering correctly earns the team a ducat (or coin), and play then alternates to the opposing team. After each team is provided three separate and distinct questions, the game enters a lightning round phase. Here, "red" and "blue" teams compete in head-to-head competition as they race against time to answer a set of questions correctly. Following the lightning round, the final score is tallied and the winner is announced. The game then resets and returns to a screen whereon the participant may choose from any of the other six question sets/games. Question Sets: Question sets are organized topically: Hamlet's difficult decision: kill the King? + * Game One: At Home in Elsinore + * Game Two: Seeing Fortinbras's Army + Hamlet and Ophelia + * Game Three: Hamlet and Ophelia's "Love" + * Game Four: Ophelia's Declining Health + King Claudius * Game Five: Consoling Hamlet on his Father's Death * Game Six: The King's Internal Conflict * Game Seven: The King's Fateful Decision + Not included on this disc. Question Types: The questions are mainly fill-in-the-blank, although there are other question types: * vocabulary, and * character identification. Bonus Material: The DVD also contains a brief interview with Ophelia's ghost. The viewer may interact with her by asking her questions about her life. The full interview with Ophelia can be found on Disc 2 in the series. Creators: This DVD was written, produced, and edited by two College Instructors, Terry Pollard and Ryan Pierini.