ALBA LLOPIS SÁEZ

SHEKSPEARE MEETS CERVANTES

Chapter 1

Sara lived in Texas and moved to England, she was sorry that she would meet new people and have
many friends but the people in England laughed at her because of her accent and each one had
their group of friends and she feels bad
The teacher introduces David, a teacher from Spain who is going to spend a year in England
David told them about the life of Cervantes and what it was like. At the end of the class, Sara asked
him something and David told him to do some volunteer homework on the lives of the two writers.

1. Give three reasons why Sara was excited to move to England.

➢ To make new friends and learn abaut English culture and customs

➢ She looked forward to living in a place that was much older than her small western town.

➢ Sara imagined that her new Classmates would think that she was interesting because she
was American.

2. What did David want to prove to the students about Cervantes?

Beacuse Don Quixote looks like an old, serious and probably boring man, but he was a
man of action and adventure who had a very interesting, exciting life.

3. In your own words, explain briefly two important things that David tells the students
about what happened to Cervantes.
➢ He was a soldier
➢ Cervantes lost the use of his left hand
➢ He was ill from malaria and he wanted to fight

4. Why did Sara like the idea of the independent project option?
The idea of spending less time in the class and, instead, studying something that she
liked without other students laughing at her now
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Chapter 2

Sara ran to the auditions for the Romeo and Juliet play, she began to be nervous and during the
audition she forgot a part, she was very sad and her mother wanted to cheer her up, the next
day Miss Kirk told her that if she wanted to be his stage manager

1. What advice did Miss Kirk give students who were nervous and made mistakes at the
audition?
She asked them if you do, stop for a moment, try to relax and then begin again. When
you've finished, you'll be free to leave.

2. How did Sara's mother try to make her feel better?

Her mother ask sara that she arent stupid,and she thiks that Sara is brave . She tell her
that never auditioned for a play when she was a student because she was very
frightened of being alone on a stage in front of so many people.

3. Why did Sara change her opinion of the other students after the audition?
Because anyone didnt laughted from her audition

4. Why did Miss Kirk offer Sara the job of stage manager?
Because Kirk knew that sara loves Shekspear and theatre

Chapter 3

1. Why was the information about Cervantes moving from Spain to Italy confusing for Sara?
Because she found three different versions explaining the reason why he moved.

2. How were the second and third versions similar? In your opinion, what made Sara think
that these versions were possible?
3. What did Sara think she had imagined in her room?
She imagined in her room that the photo of Cervantes was looking her
4. What version did Sara finally accept about Cervantes and why?
She tried the version that Cervantes left Spain after the duel because she thinks that he
probably had a bad temper when he was young
ALBA LLOPIS SÁEZ

Chapter 4

Sara wached a Shakespeare documentary, which said that they moved a theater in one night,
she wanted to tell David, who asked what channel and time it was broadcast on, and it was the
same one where David was watching football with his friend. She was going to ask the theater
group if anyone saw the documentary, but Miss Kirk told her to fill in for Cheryl because her leg
was broken.

1. Why did Sara want to speak to David?

To tell him interesting things abaut the documentary that she wached last night

2. Explain briefly the amazing event that happened in London one night.
The Shakespeare theatre group moved a complete theatre across London in one night,
because the owner didnt want to renew the rental agreement but one of the boys read
that only the land was rented and not the theater, so they dismantled it and moved it

3. Explain why David was confused when Sara told him about the time and channel of the
documentary.
Because David an him friend were waching a football macht at the same time in the
same chanel

4. According to Miss Kirk, what made Sara a suitable replacement for Cheryl?
Sara have been at every rehearsal and she knows the dialogue better than
anyone else at school.

Chapter 5

The English literature teacher sent them to investigate the dark period in Shakespeare's life, Sara
began to investigate and told the three versions to her father, later when he opened the web page,
she heard how it came out of the speakers that he should take advantage of the day and he
listened to it several more times that made her go downstairs and watch tv with her family

1. What does the 'dark period' in Shakespeare's life refer to?

There's a period of seven years in Shakespeare's life, what Shakespeare did from the time he
lived in Stratford with his wife and children from 1585 to 1592, when he became part of the
London theatre world.

2. What did Shakespeare do that was illegal and what was the result?
Shakespeare often hunted deer on Lucy's land. However, this was considered illegal so Sir
Thomas Lucy imprisoned Shakespeare several times.

3. Briefly explain the connection between Shakespeare and Lord Strange's Men, according to
one theory.
Many of the people in Lord Strange's Men were later in the Lord Chamberlain's Men. That
was the company that Shakespeare was a member of years later, so there's definitely a
connection between him and Lord Strange's Men
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4. Why do the experts believe that the Queen's Men offered Shakespeare a job?
The days before this performance, two of their actors fought after a show in a town near
Stratford. One of the actors took out his sword and attacked the other, who was seriously
wounded in the neck while trying to defend himself. He died in less than thirty minutes.The
Queen's Men arrived in Stratford without one of their actors it was a perfect opportunity for
Shakespeare to prove himself to the Queen's Men and for them to offer him a job.

5. In your own words, explain what made Sara go downstairs and watch television?
When he opened the web page, he heard how it came out of the speakers that he should
take advantage of the day and he listened to it several more times

Chapter 6

The next morning he decided which version was correct, when he got to school, Miss Kirk said that
he was going to postponed the play, she was happy, and the same afternoon, she went to the
library, where she felt the book and it just opened to the page where Hamlet gave tips how to act
and it also appeared in her imagination Shakespeare, the next day at the performance she was the
one who did the best and when came out Geoffrey I waited for her and talked to her

1. When did the Queen's Men start producing Shakespeare's plays?

It was only after his plays had had some success that the Queen's Men began performing his
plays.

2. Why was Sara happy that Miss Kirk postponed the rehearsal?
Because she have more time to learn de dialogue because the English of Shakespeare’s time
and its dificult for her

3. What did Sara learn about acting while reading a monologue by Hamlet?
Good acting should be like a mirror that reflects how people act in real life. He talked about
the danger of exaggerating and also explained that when they were on stage, actors should
be as natural as possible.

4. Why did Miss Kirk think that Sara had a real talent for acting?
Because is the only person that she didnt have to tell not exagerate
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Chapter 7

Sara and Geoffrey became good friends, but he was the only one she had. One day she realized that
she had left her backpack at school and seeing she went to pick it up, she heard two of her
classmates criticizing her, she went home angry and then she talked to her mother, who told her
that she had many things to do and that she should give something out and she decided that she
was going to give out the play and continued with the work, she was very tired and decided to close
her eyes but after a while she a light woke up and looked back and was cervantes

1. Why did Rebecca and Ian's conversation upset Sara?

Because they were criticizing her way of being and acting

2. According to Sara's mother, what was the reason that Sara wasn't making friends?
Because she dont have time, she is working in her independet proyect, her homeworks and
the play

3. What did Sara decide to tell her teachers?

That she was going to leave the play

Chapter 8

Cervantes appeared and was telling Sara about his life so that she would realize that she could
continue working with everything and that things would happen, suddenly her mother woke her up
because she had fallen asleep and the next morning she told her parents that I wanted to continue
with the play

1. Why did Cervantes decide to visit Sara?

He wanted to talk to her to ask if she had learned anything from the past to apply to the
present

2. According to Cervantes, when did life become especially hard for him and why?
When he stops being a slave

3. Explain briefly the circumstances that led to Cervantes' unjust imprisonment.

A man named Gaspar was mortally wounded outside him house. Cervante’s wife and he
brought him into the house. She tooks care of him while Cervantes went to get the doctor.
They learned later that Don Gaspar loved to seduce women. One of his lovers was the wife
of the man who had attacked him. His name was Galván. However, Don Gaspar was a
nobleman with very important friends and one of these was the Mayor. So, instead of
arresting Galván, Cervantes’s entire family and hebwere arrested

4. What did Sara think was ironic about Cervantes' life?

She thought it was ironic that he died poor
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5. What did Sara finally realise about Cervantes and how did that make her feel?
She has always considered Cervantes to be a great writer. She has never thought of him as a
normal person with problems,she thinks that it's difficult to imagine that he probably felt
very frustrated during his lifetime. It's sad to think that he died without the success he
deserved, but she admire him for never giving up on his dream, and Sara decided to
continue with the play

Chapter 9

One day after the performance Geoffrey asked Sara if she wanted to meet on Saturday for lunch,
when they met they were talking about everything and Sara told him that two classmates were
laughing at her. Sara sat under a tree and suddenly Shakespear appeared to her. He told her that
there was a man who criticized him a lot and that was because he envied him, Sara thought about it
and realized that her classmates criticized him because the Kirk congratulated him on his
performance.

1. What did Sara tell Geoffrey about the people in the play?
She told him that Rebecca and Ian made fun of her for her accent and acting.

2. What reason did Shakespeare give Sara for visiting her?

He was there because he want to talk to she about her frustrations with the other people in
the cast.

3. Explain the connection between Robert Greene and Sara.

Greene said very bad things about Shakespear and Sara's classmates also talk bad about her

4. What explanation did Shakespeare give for Greene's behaviour and what did that make
Sara realise?What advice did Shakespeare give Sara?
He said that people insult and criticize because they are envious of someone's success, Sara
thought about maybe lan and Rebecca envied her because Miss Kirk always complimented
her.

Chapter 10

On the day of the play Sara was very nervous, when she got to school everyone was very nervous
too, when Sara performed the audience liked it and when the play was over and they came out to
say hello they applauded her a lot, Shakespear and Cervantes were also there but they instantly
disappeared. The next day in the newspaper there was a review of the play, in which he spoke
highly of Sara's performance and criticized Rebeca and Ian's.

1. How did Sara react when her brother wished her good luck and why?
She told him that she couldn't say that because it brought bad luck

2. What did Miss Kirk say that confused the cast and why did she say it?
She told them that she hoped they would all feel a little nervous
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3. What was the audience's reaction during Sara's performance and how did it make Sara
feel?
The audience started laughing because the nurse scenes were funny and she felt very well

4. When Sara saw Shakespeare and Cervantes in the audience, what was she not sure
about?
She wasn't sure if she had really seen them or if they were the spotlights.

5. Why was the newspaper reviewer negative about Rebecca's and lan's performances?
The writer of the review said that rebecca and ian were exaggerating a lot when acting

Chapter 11

After the play Nick, the most popular and handsome boy in school told her that if she wanted to go
out with her for something to eat after the play, she agreed, she remembered that she had already
met Geoffrey but she lied and in the end she He went out with Nick, but realized when he got home
that he had gotten bored because he only talked about himself. And suddenly Shakespear and
Cervantes appeared

1. What did Sara forget when she accepted Nick's invitation?

She forgot that she had already met Geoffrey for ice cream.

2. What did Sara tell Geoffrey and what was his reaction?
She lied to him that she didn't remember what Nick told her before they met after the play.

3. Why was Sara bored when she was out with Nick?
Because Nick talk about him all the time

4. In your opinion, why were Cervantes and Shakespeare in Sara's room at the same time?
I think they wanted to give you some advice

Chapter 12

They started talking about their lives and what theater was like in England and Spain and Sara de
while I take note, but she was very tired so the writers left and she went to bed, the next morning
she thought it had been a very dream strange but when he saw his notebook with all the notes he
was surprised but there was one more thing and that was a note from the two writers with their
signatures and that made sara believe that it had not been a dream

1. How did Shakespeare justify leaving his family and moving to London?
Shakespeare moved to london because he made a mistake and his wife was already three
months pregnant when he married her
ALBA LLOPIS SÁEZ

2. In what way did England and Spain differ in their opinion of the theatre?
In England poetry was considered a serious form of literature and most plays were
considered vulgar entertainment. In Spain plays were considered a very serious form of
literature and people thought novelas were vulgar entertainment.

3. Why were Cervantes and Shakespeare envious of each other?

Cervantes envied the economic stability of Shakespeare and Shakespeare envied the
adventures that Cervantes had lived

4. Compare and contrast the theatre in England and Spain during the lifetimes of Cervantes
and Shakespeare.
The theater was very popular in Spain and England at the time, however, the Church and
some of the authorities did not like it, they did not approve of theater companies because
they made so much money that they could build permanent theaters.
The first theater in England was built in 1576 by Richard Burbage and in Spain it was 6 years
later. Women were not allowed to be in plays in England, but in Spain they were.

5. What finally convinced Sara that Cervantes and Shakespeare had been in her room?
She saw that her notebook was open and that there were notes written on it. There were
two notes at the bottom of the page that looked like they had been written with a quill that
was still there on the table.
They said, 'Nos honras' and 'You do us honour', with both writers' signatures under them.