I have always been a believer that Shakespeare’s work can and should be made relevant to high school students. The work of Shakespeare naturally seems to open itself to lively discussion as it approaches universal life themes such as love, conflict, appearances, and order. Rex Gibson’s book Teaching Shakespeare was very useful to me as it discusses how Shakespeare’s language, stories, characters, and themes all play an important role in helping students both understand and appreciate the plays. Shakespeare’s knowledge of the power of language was certainly extensive, and Gibson’s book can help future teachers such as myself understand how to use active methods to help students grasp certain language characteristics of Shakespeare’s writing and to understand the importance of these characteristics as they pertain to the overall interpretation of the text.
Rex also offers teachers active strategies for helping students to recognize and comprehend such aspects of Shakespeare’s work such as story, charaterization, and theme. Since Shakespeare’s plays were indeed meant to be presented in a theatrical manner, it naturally follows that by actively engaging students in strategies that include acting and imaginative writing we can help them to come to a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s complex works.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Nancy McKeand // Sep 24, 2006 at 9:06 pm
In a discussion with some middle and high school teachers last summer, many seemed to feel that Shakespeare just wasn’t appropriate tor students today because it is too old or too complicated or too something else. I think you have hit on the secret: showing them that it is relevant and actively engaging them in the text. I’m glad, too, to see that you are talking about writing in connection with this. Writing is the key to understanding a lot of what we read, I think.
2 EDLA 7550 » How can you help students understand the power of his language, appreciate the beauty of his speeches and recognize the universality of characters and themes in Shakespearean and contemporary discourses? // Sep 27, 2006 at 2:59 pm
[…] Ann, Veronica, and Michelle stress the importance of active methods in helping students both experience and understand music, vibrant characters, and themes that ring true in all of us.Finally, Lashley shares the ways to incorporate props in preparation for staging Shakespeare’s works. […]