Henry IV Part 1 Lesson Plan

Freytag's Triangle and the Five-Act Structure

Kind of Activity:

Classwide Discussion

Objective:

Students will practice placing plot points on Freytag's Triangle and discuss the conventions of the five-act structure.

Structure:

Watch this video with your students on Shakespeare's plot structure. Afterward, have students plot the events of the play so far on a Freytag's Triangle like the one the presenter describes. The play may not graft onto the triangle perfectly. Allow for discussion and disagreement. Have students discuss and identify the climax, and where the play is left at the end of Act 4.

Next, have students refer to this description of the role of each...