Skip to main content

Holiday Hours: The Folger is closing at 4:30pm on Dec 24 and Dec 31. We are closed all day on Dec 25 and Jan 1.

Folger Teaching Homepage

Shakespeare and August Wilson

Learn how to put August Wilson and William Shakespeare in conversation.

Overview

The works of August Wilson and William Shakespeare have a lot to say to each other. Explore lessons that pair texts in surprising–and surprisingly powerful–ways.

Most Popular Resources

Choral Reading: Hamlet and August Wilson’s King Hedley II
Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Hamlet and August Wilson’s King Hedley II

Tags:

Choral Reading: Fences and King Lear
Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Fences and King Lear

Tags:

Choral Reading: Rena from August Wilson’s Jitney and Lady Macbeth from Macbeth
Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Rena from August Wilson’s Jitney and Lady Macbeth from Macbeth

Tags:

Lesson Plans

Explore more lesson plans

Choral Reading: Hamlet and August Wilson’s King Hedley II
Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Hamlet and August Wilson’s King Hedley II

Tags:

Tossing Lines: Fences by August Wilson
Teaching Resource

Tossing Lines: Fences by August Wilson

Starting with a single line is the least intimidating way to get students grappling with the language of a complex text. These juicy lines from Fences will have students owning Wilson's language in no time at all.
Tags:

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

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?
Tags:

Paired Texts: Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson and Othello 1.3
Teaching Resource

Paired Texts: Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson and Othello 1.3

What interesting ideas might students unearth when they have two characters speak across time and region?
Tags:

Professional Development

Explore more professional development

Pairing Texts Across Time, Place, and Experience
Teaching Resource

Pairing Texts Across Time, Place, and Experience

Tags:

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

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

Tags: