Are We Teaching Shakespeare Too Soon In Schools Essay

Have you ever read something that didn't make any sense to you? Well that happens to almost everybody when they read Shakespeare. While Michael Mack gave a speech to incoming college freshmen telling them that Shakespeare is remarkably difficult to read he makes his point stand out even better. Mack develops an effective argument that explains to the readers that just because you may not understand something at first doesn't mean you shouldn't try again. He learned this through his use of past experience of working with Shakespeare’s work, and appeal to audience.

In the grand scheme of things, it seems quite odd that the vast majority of people have decided it is important to perform, study, and read plays written by a man who has been dead for over four hundred years. This of course, refers to William Shakespeare. For many people, the mention of his name brings up a faded memorized line or two from high school, but his impact on the world stretches farther than the perimeters of a classroom. Shakespeare revolutionized the English language to the point where half the time people are blissfully unaware of the fact they are quoting him. Whenever someone says, “What a sorry sight,” or, “I’m tongue tied”, they are not only empirically unoriginal, they are spouting Shakespeare.

So, in conclusion, as you can see I have pretty strong feelings about Shakespeare and his plays. In the 21 st century, spending time with the confusion that is Shakespeare is about as useful as training doctors in the value of bleeding their patients as a means of correcting a problem with the four humours. By examining the great works of other cultures and religions we can learn about a major part of the world. Through the literature of many different parts of the world they're concerns will be understandable to us and we'll show our willingness to meet the rest of the world, not throw forts built of iambic pentameter with the occasional rhyming couplet to securely glue the walls together. If we ignore the future to sort of celebrate the western literary past we'll have a disaster of global

First, Shakespeare is irrelevant. “The board's work don’t reflect the cultural perspective need in today’s classroom.” (Deblasis).“The trouble is that most school children today don’t like him and don’t get it.” (Robshaw) This is true, most students in the U.S don't find the boards work interesting.

William Shakespeare is known to be the “greatest English-speaking writer in history” and an England’s national poet, actor, and an extremely successful playwright. During Shakespeare’s acting career in London, he started writing all about “European geography, culture, and diverse personalities (History.com).” Willm Shakspere or William Shakspeare, as written by him, then went on to write plays. His first three plays were all created around or a little before 1592 and captured the core studied categories; tragedy (Titus Andronicus), comedy (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew), and history (Henry VI trilogy and Richard III). He wrote plays and sonnets for many theater companies, was one of the main playwrights for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which was renamed the King’s Men when James I was in charge, and formed the Globe theater in 1599 with other partners. Shakespeare’s unique language, themes, verses, format, characters, and plots makes his writing universal to every culture and time period. Shakespeare is still taught in school nowadays due to its’ educational and transitional purposes. Shakespeare continues to influence modern-day life and I believe will for a long time to come.

On the other hand, Baldwin also shows signs of fear and anxiety. This isn’t directly towards Shakespeare himself, but more towards the results of having such linguistic skill. He has described in many ways how not only Shakespeare himself, but how language has affected him. He experiences mixed feelings caused by the talent of the writer. Baldwin’s study reveals how his struggle resembles larger concepts of love and darkness within life.

To teach Macbeth, or not to teach Macbeth-- That is the question. Shakespeare has added over 1,700 words and phrases to English. With works translated into almost every language, Shakespeare has a heavy influence on today’s culture. But should we still be reading material that is over 400 years old? And which book from Shakespeare’s collection should be taught? Students should be exposed to Shakespeare’s Macbeth to refine analytical skills, to understand difficult concepts, and to assess current history.

With most lexile levels above 1200, Shakespeare’s plays are too difficult for high school audiences who have lexiles far below that. These plays also consist of words that cannot even be found in a dictionary anymore, therefore students do not have the possibility to look up their definitions and struggle to understand their context. Not only do the plays’ lexiles tower over those of students and the language made to seem aristocratic, but Shakespeare mainly sets his plays overseas within a series of abnormal events, incomprehensible to those who have never experienced these setting types before. With the use of technology to modernize William Shakespeare’s plays, students may find there to be less hatred towards these dramas because of the difficulty to understand and more enthusiasm about reading this legendary playwright’s

Pursuing further why Shakespeare should not be taught in school is because Shakespeare is very difficult to understand. “Shakespeare's way with words can be tough for students to grasp”.(DeBlasis) Shakespeare is a lot to comprehend because the way Shakespeare speaks is very different from today's text”.(DeBasis) Shakespeare is very tough to understand now days

Shakespeare’s language is extremely complicated to read, it is vital in education to teach the art of this literature to understand the depth and meaning. Although Shakespeare may be difficult for the modern generation to understand, it’s because of the sophistication of his work. 21st century’s English has been so simplified to the point where we are unfamiliar of this classic form of English used in his playwrights.

In almost all of shakespeare's work he uses his original words to connect to readers. Instead of using the words that we use. Like in the act of ,” No Fear Shakespeare” he uses words like :woe, beseech , bosom ,and other things that have nothing to do with regular words. Because he uses words like these he challenges young readers minds to think in a different way. The impact he made when he began to use these remarkable words was beautiful. From when he started to use these words he began to change our language. We still use his words ,but in different ways. For instance when Friar Laurence say, “What early tongue so sweet saluteth me ?” in act 2 scene 3 page 203 ,by Bloomsbury. It’s just another way of saying “called my name this early with such sweet voice”.He has improved our language and made

Simply stated, students should study Shakespeare's works in school because of the incredible value within them. In addition to exposing students to a multitude of literary techniques, Shakespeare's plays challenge the student with difficult language and style, express a profound knowledge of human behavior and offer insight into the world around us.William Shakespeare is recognized by much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists. The intricate meanings, extensive vocabulary, and powerful imagery contained within his works demonstrate the phenomenal story telling ability of the English playwright. "Shakespeare's use of poetry within his plays to express the deepest levels of human motivation in individual, social and universal

A modernized text used alongside the original text actually helps many students understand the original version better, and so it can be used as a helpful tool. Even film adaptations can help students understand Shakespeare better, whether they be tight or loose adaptations. As Annie Holleran explains in her article acknowledging the barriers students face in studying Shakespeare: “Watching such tight adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays in the classroom can help students by giving them the opportunity to experience the Bard’s work visually. Being able to watch a play after a class reads it or as they read it presents the opportunity understand the script on a deeper level, a level deeper than one achieved by simple discussion and analysis through close reading” (“How Modern Film Adaptations Can Overcome Barriers in Studying Shakespeare”). If it helps students to grasp the meaning behind the text on a much deeper level, then why is the modernization of Shakespeare even debated? The modernizations should be justified alone by the fact that they are simply a preference of many of Shakespeare’s audiences. Many authors scoff at the fact that the modernization is even considered, but since not everyone understands the way that the Bard writes, it is essential at the bare minimum in order to gradually learn to read and comprehend the original text over time. It should not be expected that modern day students automatically know how to read Shakespeare without any help, they need to be taught. The authors that scoff say that translations are for those who “don’t understand” (“Why “Translating” Shakespeare for the 21st Century is a Bad Idea”), but the important thing is that by using a modernized version as a learning tool, students are at least trying to

William Shakespeare's Relevance Today For as long as formal education has existed in Britain it has been a largely standard assumption that teaching the works of William Shakespeare is relevant and necessary. Perhaps the relevance of his writing is taken for granted, perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the role of Shakespeare for the modern audience. There are indeed many people who question the relevance of this 440 year old playwright to a 21st century audience, taking it even as far as perhaps the greatest heresy of all, questioning the necessity of GCSE pupils learning Shakespeare at all. This “proposed vandalism from the policymakers” (Guardian 09/02/01) is opposed wholesale by supporters

William Shakespeare was born April 23rd 1564. Shakespeare was and currently still is an inspiration to so many minds now a day. Never the less should he still be in the classrooms in the 21st century that would be believed to be a negative; Shakespeare no longer belongs to be in the class room of grades 9 to 12. When teachers tell their class that they will be reading Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, etc. nobody is jumping for joy. Most of the children in the class is bored out of their minds nobody understands Shakespeare anymore. Reading the article “Much Ado About Nothing Much” by Peter Beech, has helped further explain this by making excellent points that will help everyone understand that Shakespeare is the problem and not the people