Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice

Period 1 Warming up & Listening

Teaching aims:

1. To get students to know something about Shakespeare.

2. To train students’ listening ability.

Key and difficult points:

1. To get students to present the relations among the main characters.

Teaching procedures:

Step 1 ------ Leading in

1. Ask students to say something about Shakespeare.

Tragedy: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth

Comedies: The Merchant of Venice

Step 2 ------ Listening comprehension

1. Ask students to listen to the tape and answer the following questions

(1) Where does the story take place?

--- Venice

(2) How much money does Bassanio need to marry Portia?

--- 3, 000 ducats

(3) What must Antonio give Shylock if he cannot pay back the debt?

--- a pound of flesh from any part of his body

2. Ask students to present the relations among main characters.

Antonio, Bassanio, Portia, Shylock, the Duke

3. Ask students to fill in the blanks.

(1) Antonio is a rich businessman. His ships are all at sea to trade with foreign

countries.

(2) Bassanio, is in love with Portia. Portia is a rich and beautiful lady. She loves

Bassanio but they cannot get married because he is too poor.

(3) Shylock has always hated Antonio, because Antonio has often in public shown

how cruel and terrible Shylock is. Shylock agrees to lend Antonio money, but Antonio must promise to allow Shylock to take a pound of his flesh from any part of his body if he cannot pay the money back after three months.

(4) On the day Bassanio and Portia get married, they receive a letter from Antonio

saying that all his ships have been lost at sea.

(5) In the letter it says that Portia is a learned young doctor from Rome who is young but very wise. The Duke accepts Portia to take the place of the famous lawyer and handle this difficult case.

Homework ------

Self-evaluation ------

Antonio is a rich businessman of the city of Venice. Everyone likes him because he is always ready to help others. At the time of this story his ships are all at sea to trade with foreign countries.

Bassanio, Antonio’s best friend, is in love with Portia. Portia is a rich and beautiful lady. She loves Bassanio but they cannot get married because he is too poor. Then, Bassanio asks Antonio to lend him three thousand ducats. Being short of money just then, Antonio goes to Shylock to borrow the money. Shylock has always hated Antonio, because Antonio has often in public shown how cruel and terrible Shylock is. Shylock agrees to lend Antonio money, but Antonio must promise to allow Shylock to take a pound of his flesh form any part of his body if he cannot pay the money back after three months. Antonio agrees to this, takes the money and gives it to Bassanio.

On the day Bassanio and Portia get married, they receive a letter from Antonio saying that all his ships have been lost at sea. Now he himself does not have enough money to pay back the three thousand ducats and so he must give Shylock one pound of his flesh. Portia thinks of a clever plan to save Antonio. She asks a good friend who is a doctor of law, to lend her some of his lawyer’s clothes and books. Dressed as a lawyer, she arrives at the court of the Duke, where Antonio’s case is decided.

As the Duke is wondering what to do, Portia gives him a letter from the famous lawyer whom she has visited. In the letter it says that Portia is a learned young doctor from Rome who is young but very wise. The Duke accepts Portia to take the place of the famous lawyer and handle this difficult case.