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Much Ado About Nothing

Explore resources related to William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Overview

One of Shakespeare’s most frequently performed comedies, Much Ado About Nothing includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid.

Most Popular Resources

Choral Reading: Much Ado About Nothing 1.1

Let the comedic insults of this play get your students excited about reading Much Ado About Nothing!

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Paired Texts: Ma Rainey from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Beatrice of Much Ado About Nothing

What new understandings about race, gender (and so much more) will be unearthed when students pair soliloquies from Beatrice and Ma Rainey?

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Introducing Much Ado About Nothing with 2-Line Scenes

A favorite and essential way of introducing a play!

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Lesson Plans

Text Set: AMERICAN MOOR Talks Back to OTHELLO

What happens when a Black American actor gives the word “Moor” a whole new set of meanings?

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Text Set: Maya Angelou Talks Back to Romeo

Students confront Romeo’s racist language, with help from Maya Angelou.

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The Tempest, Colonialism, and Early America

Teaching The Tempest means creating a space for classroom conversations about race, power, indigeneity, slavery, and the painful making of America.

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Trump, T’Challa, and Shakespeare: How Do Speeches Incite Collective Action?

How do Donald Trump, Mark Antony, T’Challa, and Henry V incite crowds to bold action?
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Professional Development

Juicy Lesson! Paired Texts: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing 2.1

Get students thinking deeply about control and power by pairing soliloquies in two plays: August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Walk through the what, how, and why of this paired text lesson with the teacher who created it: Amber Phelps, Baltimore City College (MD).

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Wide World of Folger

Shakespeare Uncovered

A look inside the popular PBS documentary series about Shakespeare and his works, with special mention of Much Ado.

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Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare in China

Who was Tang Xianzu, and what does he have to do with Shakespeare?

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Kenny Leon on Much Ado About Nothing

How do Shakespeare’s comedies speak to our present moment, and what does Much Ado have to do with race in America?

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