Shakespeare Post Three

        The discussion we had on twitter I thought was a really interesting and new way to conduct an in-class discussion. I have never found Shakespeare enjoyable to read and from this discussion I have found out neither do most students in my class. This is largely due to the fact that teachers in high school are teaching Shakespeare in the wrong way. This is evident in our discussion when we answered the question: Why do students hate studying Shakespeare? My response for this question is because it is confusing and not the easiest to read, which was similar to the responses from my classmates. Teachers expect us to be able to read an entire act of Shakespeare in one class and understand everything he is saying-which is almost impossible! As one of my classmates pointed out, language is evolving everyday, even if we like it or not. I agreed with this statement and had never thought of that being a reason. Teachers must understand that students today have placed a stigma on Shakespeare and the way it is written. We do not understand almost all the things he is saying and trying to read along with the cassette playing in the background of the classroom is horrible.
   
      This relates to the second question we were asked: What is your worst memory of studying a play of Shakespeare? I can relate to almost all the answers given by my classmates as I have had to read Shakespeare in three of the four years I was in high school. I have had to listen to cassettes, read on my own, read aloud with the class and watch movies. Watching movies however was the simplest way to understand the play and I'm glad that is how we are doing it in this class. As well, one of my classmates stated her worst memory of Shakespeare was having to read it aloud to her class which I can relate to. I remember having to stand in front of my class and read part of an act with a group of people. That was one of the worst assignments I was given as I had literally no clue what I was saying. Having this prejudice against Shakespeare is something almost all students have even though we know we are going to have to study it.
   
      Therefore to overcome this barrier I believe students should discuss with their teachers the difficulties they are having with it. I know this helped me greatly one year because I asked my teacher if there was anything else I could read or watch that would help me understand the play we were studying. She suggested buying a "no fear Shakespeare" book which in the end helped me substantially. Therefore Shakespeare only has to be as bad as you make it, there are a vast number of other sources that help students get a better understanding of his plays and make this chore of reading become somewhat enjoyable.