Tempest Context PPT and worksheet

A student-friendly, SEN-accessible PowerPoint that gets students up to speed on the context behind The Tempest. Covers Shakespeare’s life, his acting company and the playhouses they performed in, King James and why plotting against a king was a bad plan, Italian politics, the real shipwreck that inspired the play, Virginia and the start of empire, ideas about nature and “civilisation”, witchcraft and learned magic, gender, rank and social order, and how the play is put together (its genre, the masque, and the sources Shakespeare borrowed from). Comes with a matching worksheet so you can check learning later or in the lesson.

17 slides, about an hour to get through, longer if you stop to actually discuss things, which is usually worth it.

Some commentary in notes to help discussion and get students asking questions.

Built for GCSE English Literature (AQA), where context is assessed under AO3. Works as a full classroom lesson or something to set for independent study.

The Tempest, GCSE English Literature, AQA, Shakespeare, context, accessible, SEN, Jacobean England, King James I, Divine Right, colonialism, Virginia, shipwreck, witchcraft, magic, Prospero, Caliban, Ariel, Miranda, gender, rank, masque, genre, worksheet