Teaching Shakespeare in a Maximum Security Prison - Vocab
Authored by A E
English
11th Grade
CCSS covered
Used 6+ times
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About
This vocabulary quiz focuses on context clues and word meaning comprehension within the specialized context of prison education and Shakespeare instruction. Designed for 11th grade students, the assessment evaluates students' ability to determine the meaning of vocabulary words based on contextual information from sentences about teaching Shakespeare to incarcerated individuals. The questions require students to analyze complex sentence structures and infer meanings of words ranging from common terms used in specialized contexts (literally, specialty, capable) to more sophisticated vocabulary (notorious, flippant, ironically). Students must demonstrate higher-order thinking skills by distinguishing between literal and figurative meanings, understanding academic vocabulary, and recognizing how context shapes word interpretation. The content demands strong reading comprehension abilities and the skill to eliminate incorrect answer choices through careful analysis of how each vocabulary word functions within its specific sentence context. Created by A.E., an English teacher in the US who teaches grade 11. This quiz serves as an excellent tool for vocabulary instruction and can be effectively used as a warm-up activity to activate prior knowledge, as guided practice during vocabulary lessons, or as formative assessment to gauge student understanding of context clue strategies. Teachers can assign this quiz as homework to reinforce classroom vocabulary instruction or use it for review before summative assessments. The assessment aligns with Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.4.A, which requires students to use context as a clue to the meaning of words and phrases, and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.4, focusing on determining the meaning of symbols, key terms, and phrases as they are used in specific contexts. This quiz particularly supports differentiated instruction by providing multiple choice scaffolding while still requiring critical thinking about word meaning and contextual analysis.
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10 questions
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1.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
In the context of the sentence "He literally opened that door for me and ended up inviting me to begin a voluntary program based on Shakespeare, which is my specialty, for these inmates that are not only the worst of the worst, at least in the eyes of the public...," the word 'literally' means
figuratively
truly
loosely
accidentally
Tags
CCSS.L.11-12.4A
CCSS.L.7.4A
CCSS.L.7.5B
CCSS.L.8.4A
CCSS.L.9-10.4A
2.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
In the context of the sentence "He literally opened that door for me and ended up inviting me to begin a voluntary program based on Shakespeare, which is my specialty, for these inmates that are not only the worst of the worst, at least in the eyes of the public...," the word 'specialty' means
entertainment
generalization
profession
pastime
Tags
CCSS.L.11-12.4A
CCSS.L.7.4A
CCSS.L.7.5B
CCSS.L.8.4A
CCSS.L.9-10.4A
3.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
In the sentence "They had the greatest need for education and for really any kind of programming and, ironically, they had the least available to them," the word 'ironically' means:
kindly
unexpectedly
happily
absurdly
Tags
CCSS.L.11-12.4A
CCSS.L.7.4A
CCSS.L.7.5B
CCSS.L.8.4A
CCSS.L.9-10.4A
4.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
In the sentence "So these are the prisoners who, over and over and over, have been told that they are not capable, that they are certainly not intelligent, that they are not able to take on these kinds of, you know, intellectual challenges, and so here comes somebody from the street knocking on their cell door and saying, hi, would you like to read some Shakespeare"?, the word 'capable' means
able
ignorant
useless
unskilled
Tags
CCSS.L.11-12.4A
CCSS.L.7.4A
CCSS.L.7.5B
CCSS.L.8.4A
CCSS.L.9-10.4A
5.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
In the sentence "So these are the prisoners who, over and over and over, have been told that they are not capable, that they are certainly not intelligent, that they are not able to take on these kinds of, you know, intellectual challenges, and so here comes somebody from the street knocking on their cell door and saying, hi, would you like to read some Shakespeare"?, the word 'intellectual' means
body
simple
scholarly
different
Tags
CCSS.L.11-12.4A
CCSS.L.7.4A
CCSS.L.7.5B
CCSS.L.8.4A
CCSS.L.9-10.4A
6.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
In the sentence "And I have to say some of their insights were beyond those of world-renowned professors I've studied with - from whom I'm learned a great deal," the word 'insights' means
behaviors
understandings
questions
rejections
Tags
CCSS.L.11-12.4A
CCSS.L.7.4A
CCSS.L.7.5B
CCSS.L.8.4A
CCSS.L.9-10.4A
7.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
In the sentence that includes "... as they analyzed Macbeth's motives, why he's giving in to do something that he knows that he doesn't want to do, it made them question their own motive," the word 'motive' means
thoughtlessness
reason
hindrance
discouragement
Tags
CCSS.L.11-12.4A
CCSS.L.7.4A
CCSS.L.7.5B
CCSS.L.8.4A
CCSS.L.9-10.4A
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