This is an Online Internet Book Club on Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Peter Vennema. Discuss this book, share your thoughts, make comments, ask questions, offer responses...
Description
William Shakespeare was the son of a glovemaker, a small-town boy with a grammar school education. Yet he grew up to become the greatest English-speaking playwright in the world. Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare is both his story and that of a great art rediscovered in the modern world.
Drama had been forgotten since the days of ancient Greece, but it reemerged in Elizabethan London with the building of the first modern theater. Its impact can still be imagined today. There were the theaters, open to the weather and featuring neither sets nor curtains, but equipped with dramatic special effects. There were the companies of actors--the leading men, the comedians, the boys who played women's roles--and the playwrights who gave them all lines to say.
Best of all, there was William Shakespeare, who rubbed shoulders with noblemen and royalty as well as with the rowdy crowds at the foot of the stage. He was suspected of involvement in a treasonous rebellion, and his last play literally brought down the house when cannon effects set fire to the famous Globe theater and it burned to the ground.
Award-winning collaborators Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema have once again created a feast of words and pictures to celebrate the life of a remarkable person from the pages of history: William Shakespeare, a man for all time."
Book Club Questions for Bard of Avon (Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare (Fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on Bard of Avon:
- Did Peter Vennema emphasize any specific themes throughout Bard of Avon? What do you think Peter Vennema is trying to explain with this theme?
- What was unique about the setting of Bard of Avon and how did it affect the storyline?
- Could you relate to any of the characters? If so, which ones and why?
- How do characters change or learn throughout Bard of Avon? What events caused these changes? Have you or someone you know experienced the same thing?
- How does Bard of Avon reveal Peter Vennema's own perspectives about people and the world? For a lively discussion, describe why you think Peter Vennema is liberal or conservative.
- Did certain parts of Bard of Avon affect you emotionally? Why did it evoke those emotions?
- Did Peter Vennema's point of view on things lend new perspective to your own view of the world?
Book Club Questions for Bard of Avon (for Non-Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare (Non-fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on Bard of Avon:
- Did Peter Vennema make persuasive arguments in Bard of Avon? Did Bard of Avon change or reinforce your opinion on the subject?
- What did you learn from Bard of Avon?
- How does Peter Vennema present the information and did you enjoy it?
- How is Peter Vennema biased within Bard of Avon? Is there a political slant to what is being discussed and how does it impact the book?
- What, if anything, does Bard of Avon make you want to read next? Why?
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