Before You Read
Before your students read this book, look at a world map to locate South Carolina, Nat's home; Cambridge, Massachusetts, the home of the American Company of Boys; and London, England, the home of the Globe Theater and Shakespeare's theatrical stomping grounds over four hundred years ago. Then, ask students what they know about life around 1600, when Shakespeare wrote and lived.

Explain that back then there were no modern conveniences, little sanitation, and little regard and respect given to London residents who were not exceedingly wealthy or members of the royal family. Because of poor sanitation and primitive medical practices, diseases ran rampant through the crowded city of London. The bubonic plague, often referred to as the Black Death, was an epidemic transmitted by rats. It infected person after person, city after city, and town after town throughout Europe. When it finally ceased to spread, half of the continent's population had died due to this bacterial infection that today could be cured with modern antibiotic medicines.

Class Activity

Letters from the Plague
When Nat comes down with Bubonic plague, his modern-day London family rushes him to the hospital, where he is placed in solitary confinement. Have students imagine that they are living in 1599 and have come down with bubonic plague. Friends and family back then could only wait and hope that their loved ones survived this horrifying disease. Ask students to imagine that somehow they miraculously survived the plague. Ask them to write about their experiences and thoughts in a letter that future generations might read. Have them keep in mind what life was like in 1600. Suggest they use details from the novel as well as their own research.

The Play's the Thing to Advertise
Have students imagine that it's 1599. They're members of the Globe Theater, and they want to help their acting company advertise its production of William Shakespeare's newest masterpiece, Midsummer's Night Dream. Their advertisements can take the form of a poster that would be posted outside of the theater's entrance or a proclamation that could be read through the streets of London by a Crier. (They might begin the proclamations: "Hear ye! hear ye!" to attract the attention of passersby.) Have them think about how English was written or spoken back then, according to what they learned from King of Shadows. In addition, have them keep in mind where Shakespeare was in his career when this play opened.

Give a Guided Tour
From the details students have read about sixteenth-century London, have them picture themselves leading a guided boat tour down the Thames. Suggest that students write a script they would read from. It should present facts, anecdotes, and opinions about the city of London during sixteenth century. But, instead of addressing a group of sixteenth-century tourists, students should write scripts to be addressed to modern-day travelers who have paid for a time-travel vacation back to London of 1599 and the days of William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I. Challenge students to be informative, make comparisons between periods of time, and indulge their imaginations as they write their scripts.

Diary of Young Person
Have students imagine that it is the year 2001. While construction workers are digging a foundation for a new London office building, they accidentally stumble upon an old, tattered book dated 1599. As it turns out, the book is actually a diary written by young Nathaniel Field, a student who had just completed work as an actor in the Globe Theater and was now on his way back to school. Have students imagine the type of journal entry that Nathaniel would have written in that time period.

Share a Sixteenth-Century Opinion
Have students imagine that they are present at the performance of MidsummerÕs Night Dream at the Globe Theater along with Queen Elizabeth I and other sixteenth-century London theater goers. Their positive or negative review of the performance will influence the career of William Shakespeare as well as his company of actors. What about the performance did they enjoy? What about it, if anything, surprised them for better or worse? Would they recommend the play to other theater goers, and why? In their review, encourage them to include details about how plays were staged and performed as well as how audiences commonly responded to actors in 1599. They can use details from King of Shadows and other research resources. Also, have them include their response to the passages from the play that are included in King of Shadows, especially the speech given by Nathaniel Field as he portrays the character Puck.