The Merchant of Venice
Within the Scoilnet Merchant of Venice collection, you will find resources for reading, listening and engaging students with the prescribed Junior Cycle English studied Shakespearean drama. Teachers may benefit from reading the Signet Classic's teacher guide to the Merchant of Venice. The guide contains pre-reading activities and teacher suggestions to guide students during their reading.
Engage with the Script
Folger Digital Texts provides a digital text for the Merchant of Venice licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial license. Students can use the digital text when reading the drama in class or at home.
Online Stage performs the Merchant of Venice using actors. This resource is licensed under the Creative Commons Non Commercial license. Students can listen to the recordings for Act 1 - 5 using the above tracks.
Lessons on the Play's Themes
The British Council website offers lesson plans and worksheets on three key themes in the play - money, mercy, and prejudice.
For additional themes, click on the following: friendship, marriage, justice, love, isolation, choices and race.
Videos
Here are four different types of video clips on the Merchant of Venice. Encourage your students to create their own video clip to reflect and summarise the Merchant of Venice. Powtoon is one example of an online video-making tool.
- Video 1 - Portrays the character Shylock in Act 3, Scene 1.
- Video 2 - Uses images and sound to summarise the Merchant of Venice in six minutes.
- Video 3 - An extended synopsis of the Merchant of Venice.
- Video 4 - Professor Paul Cantor discusses 'Shakespeare and Politics' in the Merchant of Venice.
External Reference for Students
Below are three external links to websites with a vast amount of information on the Merchant of Venice.
Ask your class to analyse and evaluate the sources and their synopsis of the Merchant of Venice. Students could use Webwise's quick guide to critical thinking and evaluation available here.
Assessment
A selection of assessment resources has been shared through the Scoilnet database. Teachers can share their own resources using their Scoilnet account.
