This study guide for The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, wasprepared by the students of John Marshall High School’s Gifted,Highly Gifted, High Ability Magnet during the spring of 2003and is part of an ongoing effort; comments, questions, orrevision suggestions are welcome at Shakespeare OnlineProject, JMHS Magnet, Silverlake, California, 90027.The TempestI. Act I Scene INarration"Boatswain:None that I more love than myself. You are acounsellor; if you can command these elements tosilence, and work the peace of the present, we willnot hand a rope more; use your authority: if youcannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and makeyourself ready in your cabin for the mischance ofthe hour, if it so hap. Cheerly, good hearts!GONZALO:I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks hehath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion isperfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his
hanging: make the rope of his destiny our cable,for our own doth little advantage. If he be notborn to be hanged, our case is miserable."SummaryA storm begins and the Master tells the Boatswain to go speak to theMariners and tell them to do everything they can to save the ship andits crew. Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand and theothers enter and start distracting the Boatswain by asking him wherethe master is; he tells them to stop distracting him and go back to thecabin. Gonzalo remarks that they are important people and shouldn'tbe talked to that way. The Boatswain tells him that he doesn't carewho they are because they are all going to die soon anyway, unlessthey are so special that they can make the storm stop. Then Gonzalomakes a joke about how the Boatswain is such a jerk that he is notdestined to drown.Reading Comprehension QuestionWho is on the boat?Analogy"fall to't, yarely, or we run ourselves aground"mercurial : fickle :: yarely : _______a. primarilyb. quicklyc. vocallyd. quietlyGrammar QuestionWhat is the subject of the following sentence?“Where is the master, boatswain?”Discussion QuestionWhat does Gonzalo think of the boatswain? (Hint: how can theboatswain be beneficial to him?)