Shakespeare’s Comedies and Sonnets

This semester-long honors course, "Lightning Literature: Shakespeare’s Comedies" from Hewitt Homeschooling, is designed for gifted high school students. It offers a comprehensive study of Shakespeare's comedies, including 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Twelfth Night', and 'As You Like It', along with eight sonnets. Students explore Shakespeare's life, language, themes, characters, symbolism, and the historical context of the Elizabethan theater and the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. The course employs a mix of live webinars, multimedia materials, and web 2.0 tools, encouraging regular writing and online discussions. Required texts include Kamath's "Lightning Lit Shakespeare’s Comedies and Sonnets Student Guide" and the original text versions of the plays, which can be in various formats. The course website also offers access to Shakespeare in Bits interactive apps.