Learning Activity

Who Wrote It Better: Taylor Swift or William Shakespeare?

Subject Area

English Language Arts

Grade(s)

12

Overview

After reading William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, students study the lyrics and video of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" to analyze how she transformed the tragic Shakespearean drama into a love song with a happy ending.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 12

ELA21.12.R2

Read and comprehend a variety of literary texts to develop a literal and figurative understanding as appropriate to the type of text, purpose, and situation.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.12.R2

Vocabulary

  • Literary texts
  • Literal understanding
  • Figurative understanding
  • Text
  • Purpose
  • Situation

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Necessary skills to read and comprehend a variety of literary texts.
  • Strategies to analyze literary text to develop a literal and figurative understanding.
  • Literary texts have different intended meanings depending on the genre, purpose, and situation.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Read and comprehend a variety of literary texts.
  • Develop literal and figurative understanding of literary texts appropriate to the text, purpose, and situation.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Literary texts can be understood on both a literal and figurative level.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 12

ELA21.12.1

Read, analyze, and evaluate complex literary and historical texts written from particular points of view or cultural experiences, with an emphasis on works of literature from the British Isles.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.12.1

Vocabulary

  • Analyze
  • Evaluate
  • Complex literary text
  • Complex historical texts
  • Points of view
  • Cultural perspectives
  • British Isles literature

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Necessary skills to read, analyze, and evaluate complex literary and historical texts.
  • Strategies to identify and describe various points of view and cultural perspectives.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Read complex texts.
  • Analyze elements within complex texts.
  • Evaluate text based on specific criteria provided by the teacher.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Texts written from various cultural perspectives and viewpoints can provide them with valuable information about the thoughts, opinions, and experiences of others in the present and in the past.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 12

ELA21.12.1a

Read, analyze, and evaluate a play by William Shakespeare, including an examination of its contributions to the English language and its influences on other works of literature.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.12.1a

Vocabulary

  • Analyze
  • Evaluate
  • Examination
  • Contributions
  • Influences

Knowledge

  • Necessary skills to read, analyze, and evaluate a play by William Shakespeare.
  • Strategies to identify the impact of Shakespeare's plays on the English language and other works of literature.

Skills

  • Read, analyze, and evaluate a play by William Shakespeare.
  • Examine a play by Shakespeare and determine its contributions to the English language and its influences on other works of literature.

Understanding

  • The plays of William Shakespeare contributed to the English language with certain figures of speech and terminology and influenced other literary authors.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 12

ELA21.12.7

Compare and/or contrast the perspectives in a variety of fiction, nonfiction, informational, digital, and multimodal texts produced from diverse historical, cultural, and global viewpoints, not limited to the grade level literary focus.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.12.7

Vocabulary

  • Fiction texts
  • Nonfiction texts
  • Perspectives
  • Informational texts
  • Digital texts
  • Multimodal texts
  • Historical viewpoints
  • Cultural viewpoints
  • Global viewpoints

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Strategies to identify the perspective of fiction, nonfiction, informational, digital, and multimodal texts.
  • Strategies to identify the historical, cultural, and global viewpoints of a variety of texts.
  • Methods to compare and contrast texts.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Compare and contrast perspectives in fiction, nonfiction, informational, digital, and multimodal texts.
  • Compare and contrast diverse historical, cultural, and global viewpoints demonstrated in a variety of texts.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • The texts they read will have a variety of historical, cultural, and global viewpoints, which offer a multitude of perspectives on different topics.
  • Similar and different ideas and themes can be presented in a variety of textual formats.

Phase

During/Explore/Explain
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  1. Students will be able to analyze how Taylor Swift, a contemporary songwriter/author, draws on a classic drama from Shakespeare as source material.
  2. Students analyze how Taylor Swift takes from and manipulates material from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Activity Details

1. Students will view the music video of Taylor Swift's song "Love Story" in a whole class setting (the teacher will project and play the video). Give students copies of the lyrics for "Love Story" for students to refer to throughout activity.

2. Individually or in groups, have students complete the TRANSFORM chart. Students can make a copy of the TRANSFORM chart in Google Docs and complete it online, or the teacher can print copies for each student or group.

3. When complete, have students individually complete a 3-2-1 Exit Slip:

  • THREE: List the THREE most important/critical ways Taylor Swift transformed Shakespeare's original story.
  • TWO: List TWO reasons why Swift may have changed Shakespeare's story so drastically.
  • ONE: In a paragraph, tell which ONE you prefer, Shakespeare's story or Swift's song, and explain why.
Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

  • Evaluate student understanding by assessing the work product (TRANSFORM chart) and/or exit slip.
  • Informal observation and discussion throughout activity will reveal the level of understanding as well.

Variation Tips

Teacher may choose to allow students to view this website that reveals information about why Taylor Swift chose to manipulate Shakespeare's drama into a love song.

Approximate Duration

Total Duration

31 to 45 Minutes

Background and Preparation

Background / Preparation

  • Students should have already read William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
  • The teacher should print the song lyrics for each student. Lyrics can be found here.
  • The teacher should have access to a device with an internet connection and projection capabilities.
  • The teacher should test all links on the school network before the scheduled lesson.

Digital Tools / Resources

Taylor Swift: "Love Story"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

julie0830
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