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Shakespeare's family in nine objects

Judith's Diary by Jemima

WINNER

Who created it?

Jemima, age 10

Biography

My name’s Jemima and I am ten-years-old. My favourite activities are musical theatre, netball and experimenting with gymnastics. I like spending time with my family and friends. I also read lots of books, especially detective or spy books. I’m quite chatty and I like making people laugh.

About my diary

My school gave me an information sheet with the names, birth dates and death dates of Shakespeare’s family. We were also provided with an Olde English dictionary. I noticed that Judith and Hamnet’s birthdays were the same so they were twins. Then, I realized that Hamnet had died at the age of only eleven years. I started to imagine what it must have been like for his sister to have been so close to him and then suddenly never seeing him again.

       

      

Tell us how it felt to make your diary

When it comes to writing, ideas come to me in bursts. So, at the start of the task, I was struggling to find something interesting to write about. As I was getting into bed that evening, I suddenly had an idea, which I wrote down in a notebook next to my bed (to make sure I wouldn’t have forgotten it by the morning). Once I got to school, I was bursting with excitement to write. I was holding back tears at the end as it was so emotional. It reminded me of my older siblings leaving home and of how much I miss them.

What did you find most interesting about Shakespeare's life and family?

I found it interesting to be put in the shoes of someone in Shakespeare’s family. He was mostly absent because he was busy working on his plays. I wonder what it was like to be the daughter of someone so well known.

Listen to Jemima reading Judith's Diary