Merchant of Venice Essay help

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Antonio's legalistic cruelty: Interdisciplinary and The Merchant of Venice
This extensive essay explore the role of law in the play.

Bad guys don't always wear black hats: Is there more than one villain in The Merchant of Venice?
Students examine the text to examine negative behaviours in other characters and compare those with Shylock's actions.

"I am not well": Unspoken Endings and Unscripted scenes
Students hypothesize the content of unscripted moments and responses, search for evidence in the actual text to support their hypothesis, and explore how this hypothesis would affect characterization.

Merchant of Venice
Scroll down for questions for writing and discussion.

Merchant of Venice
This 9-page document addresses 37 vocabulary words drawn from the play. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or compatible application for access.

The Merchant of Venice
Plot summary, themes, a discussion of anti-Semitism in Elizabethan England, more.

The Merchant of Venice
Summary, commentary, and a variety of activities. Access to this 26-page document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or compatible application.

"Pausing Upon Portia; The Lady of Belmont"
This essay, written in response to a performance, examines the concepts of justice and mercy in the play.

Portia in The Merchant of Venice
This character analysis is critical of Portia.

Shakespeare and Anti-Semitism: The Question of Shylock
This site explores antisemitism in the Elizabethan culture in general and in The Merchant of Venice in particular.

She's a Lady...Or is She? Examining dress and behaviour in As You Like It and The Merchant of Venice
In this unit, students will analyze the dress and behaviour of Portia in The Merchant of Venice and Rosalind in As You Like It. Students will read a primary source to understand the expectations of women in the sixteenth century and help them understand how transgressive dressing as a man would have seemed. Students will analyze the characters' choices, their effects, and their implications for themselves and others.

A Teacher's Guide for The Merchant of Venice and Othello
These lesson plans and classroom activities are provided by PBS as part of the ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre series.

Visualizing Shylock
Students examine and analyze historical works of art that present a wide variety of interpretations of Shylock's character.

Welcome to Venice
Students read the opening scene of The Merchant of Venice multiple times without any background information. They will be forced to rely on the text to form judgments about characters, which they will later evaluate as they study the rest of the play.

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
This site supports the 2004 Michael Radford film starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. Follow the links to the study guide, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for access.

www.Merchant of Venice
Students use an online concordance to examine patterns of imagery in the play.