I think first of all, i will start off by describing my own experience of reading the Shakespeare. It could be concluded in one simple sentence: My experience of literature reading is drastically ruined by reading Shakespeare. But my point is not to clean Shakespeare off our English class syllable, but rather to question some of the teaching methods most schools apply nowadays.
The first thing that hinders me from enjoying the reading is the complete random vocabularies that he throws into the text all over the places. People cannot enjoy the play no matter how fascinating a story it brings to us when people can't even understand the lines. Secondly i think it is the history background of the story that brings obstacles in understanding the play. This is a rather normal problem that frequently encountered when reading literature other than Shakespeare.
So back to the question: whether Shakespeare should be taught in class? Well, if Shakespeare is inappropriate as teaching materials, why it became the most utilized literature in high school? Students in high school averagely read one play of his every year. So, i think the right question should be: how to engage the student in the midst of teaching Shakespeare.
First of first is to solve the language problem that lays between "boring to read" and "so much fun to read". Teachers may have to have a warm-up session that covers the common-used vocabularies before starting the actual reading of the literature. Along with the background information that specifies all the trivial pieces leading up to the beginning of the play. Historical background is necessary to be cleared to students for further development of the literature, teachers may have to come up with more entertaining ways to translate these information to students. (For details you may email Mr.Darby who does it so well by applying videos, blogging, and such new teaching methods in classes.) Having solutions to those problems is having the key to engage students in the study of Shakespeare literature.
Enjoyed reading your response to this blog prompt. The inaccessibility of Shakespeare's language is a major obstacle for most high school (and even college) students. Your idea of having a vocabulary session in which difficult and/or antiquated terms are defined and discussed is a good one. I also think that teachers would do well to outline in broad strokes the plot of the play as students are reading it. That way, students can concentrate less on understanding what's happening in the play and more on the beauty of the language. Thanks for the plug at the end of your entry praising my teaching methods. I don't know if they're that great yet, but I'll get there. :) Good job.
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