Heads resting on hands, slowing sliding to the desktops. Eyelids fighting to stay open, while other eyes follow each word, as they are read aloud. Some students gaze at the pages, but daydream and never really look at what is on the paper in front of them. Meanwhile, others hide cell-phones, as fingers are quickly texting away. This is a typical day in school, as the students in the English class are struggling to pay attention. The teacher recites the lines from Shakespeare’s classic, Romeo and Juliet, but to most of the students, the words go in one ear and out the other, resembling the voice of Charlie Brown’s teacher. Shakespeare’s work has been around for centuries and has had a great impact on literature. Sure Shakespeare is …show more content…
This is where you can find most students now a days with their butts planted on a seat, playing attention to nothing else. Movies are not common to the school zone, so it is always a relief to get away from the work, relax, and hopefully watch something interesting. Since the students read Romeo and Juliet the day before, now is their chance to get another perspective of it, and that is through a movie. Movies are a step up from the textbook because this way it gives students the chance to see and hear the emotions of the characters. They are able to get a sense of what Shakespeare wanted his audience to experience; however, with Hollywood, it isn’t always what people think. Sure, they make movies interesting, but they tend to be people-pleasers. They can change whatever they want, so it may not be what Shakespeare originally intended. The 1996 version, Romeo and Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, is the best example of how Hollywood changes Shakespeare’s classic. In this movie, the setting is modern day, which instead of swords and castles, there are guns and skyscrapers. The words remain the same, but it does not give the students the correct timeframe in which Romeo and Juliet was written and based on. Unlike the 1996 version, the movie made in 1968 was based in the timeframe in which Shakespeare wrote it. Therefore, this movie would
While reading the write up of this play, students are in a constant state of confusion with the complicated language used. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou
During high school, students will tend to read multiple plays written by William Shakespeare in school. In fact, part of the English Language Arts (ELA) Standards set by Common Core included William Shakespeare’s plays. For ninth and tenth grade students, standard CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.9 expected them to be able to examine how an author draws on and transforms source materials in a specific work (Common Core State Standards, 2017). The examples given included how an author draws on a play written by Shakespeare and how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible (Common Core State Standards, 2017). In regards to high school students in the eleventh and twelfth grade,
The morals and values presented in his works speak to the audience, often offering a new perspective on the world in which they live. Students are affected by the powerful and complex characters and are rewarded with profound insights into human nature and behavior.I firmly believe that Shakespeare's works, like no other literature in the high school curriculum, challenge and invigorate the minds of students. Because of the complex characters, difficult vocabulary and style in which he writes, students must elevate their level of learning to grasp a clear understanding of his works. Shakespeare's plays hold intricate meanings and messages. His
When Romeo and Juliet comes up in school curriculum any observer can see students eagerly signing up for roles, puzzling over Juliet’s eagerness to marry a stranger, or rehearsing their own unique interpretation of the play. In these moments students are released from the usual monotonous class period and allowed to enjoy a timeless piece of literature. While some may claim that Shakespeare is outdated or difficult to read, the positivities of including it in ninth grade curriculum far outweigh any struggles of comprehension.
When you hear the word Shakespeare, you probably think that it is meant for the people that use intellectual language, the literary types, or even the people who have a higher reading level than the average person. Well, a college professor named Michael Mack argues that Shakespeare can be for everyone once you understand it and it can relate to the real world or be a reflection of it. Mack produces an effective argument that although Shakespeare is difficult, it is worth the effort. Through his use of rhetorical devices and counterclaims.
The language of Old English, a harder language to understand than modern day English, makes people work harder to figure out what it means. Doing this will help people understand the harder papers, essays, and books they read later on in their lives. So, if people ever read more challenging texts than Romeo and Juliet, they will prepare them to take on the challenge. Also, with the tough vocabulary that occurs throughout the story, it helps enhance students’ vocabulary usage from using mono-syllable words to tri-syllable words. “Tempering extremities with extreme sweet” (Shakespeare act 2 prologue). This sentence, filled with difficult words, shows how great this story can help people strengthen their vocabulary. This also helps them seem more prepared for the future; by understanding words that people speak and able to have an intelligent
High school students have a negative attitude towards Shakespeare and his work. In the article “Kill Bill: Why We Must Take Shakespeare Out of the Classroom” it’s forsaid that “His words were chosen to be spoken or heard, not to be read and deadened behind a desk” (Powell). Teaching Shakespeare in high school is already too late, most students think it’s boring when coming to the topic “Shakespeare.” As read in the article, “Kill Bill: Why We Must Take Shakespeare Out of the Classroom.” it says that “plays are not meant to be taught like this,” (Powell).
In this essay I will be arguing that shakespeare should be taught in High School. In my opinion, I think that William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the 9th grade curriculum should be taught because it relates to teenagers during this part of their life as they are going through love, jealously, and etc.. The three topics of which teenagers begin to experience during the beginning of their High School education. As William Shakespeare once said, “Nice and easy does it; those that run too fast will fall”. Just like 9th graders wanting to experience it all too fast without understanding what Shakespeare is trying to get across to the reader. In this paragraph I will show how shakespeare relates to teenagers feeling at this age. In my other paragraph I will be explaining how William became famous all over the world. My third paragraph with be an counter argument.
Romeo and Juliet, a story written by Shakespeare. Michael Mark, loves his work. He wrote a argument to a group of college students, to see if he could convince them to read shakespeare. He should be an intrest you consider learning more about, as you go through your education. Mack produces his claim with a series of well written analogy’s and paradoxes. Persuading the group of college students to take an interest and read shakespeare.
The thought of reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet for a 9th grade class may make most teenagers groan and think the worst. There are many hidden benefits when reading such a difficult piece of literature. Romeo and Juliet being taught in schools could be very helpful to students. There are multiple benefits,such as learning new vocabulary and new prespectives. After all the sweat and tears are gone, the students are left with priceless skill and knowledge.
In the American school systems, curriculum for High School English and even sometimes college literature, require that students read Shakespeare's plays. Most commonly, we read The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Why do High Schools require that their students read Shakespeare? Why do we still care about Shakespeare? The answer lies in the human condition. The human condition is what connects all homosapeians and allows us to call ourselves Human. We experience birth, in more ways than one; we grow, on spiritual levels as well as physical; we have emotions, unlike any other creatures on earth; we show aspiration; we have conflicts with one another,
In forty minutes.” What does that mean? The main reason for there to be a separation from Shakespeare and our schooling systems. Shakespeare's plays are an outdated concept that most students don’t understand the language most of the time. There is no doubt that Shakespeare’s work is very important to the development to modern literature. But to make our educations better we must stop teaching the outdated concepts of shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare is the only relic from the Elizabethan era that is still in use to teach children 400 years in the future.
For as long as Shakespeare has been taught in English classrooms, talk of whether or not this curriculum is truly necessary or educational in any way has constantly been brought up. The typical complaint from the majority of students is that it is extremely strenuous to even begin to try and understand what Shakespeare is saying. Or the usual protest that it is so boring and pointless. Perhaps they are just overwhelmed when they stumble upon Shakespeare’s use of Old English or his sonnets that have deeply embedded messages about love. Whether you agree or not, learning about Shakespeare is an amazing way of presenting to students an unfamiliar form of English used to construct scenarios that would otherwise be found as cruelly embarrassing if it weren’t for Shakespeare bringing them to light in his works of art.
For example, Romeo & Juliet supplies students with skills such as increased understanding of text based context clues and understanding intricate plots. Not to mention that Shakespeare includes multiple literary devices like similes, irony, and metaphors which allows the reader to strengthen their writing styles and assignments. Moreover, Shakespeare’s plays introduce a language that is foreign to the audience, forcing them to analyze the the text to locate the meaning. The plays provide a unique challenge because of the complex plot, language, and characters in the plays. Once readers are capable of comprehending the plays, the experience becomes enjoyable and that improves the performance of the student in the end. To wrap everything up, Shakespeare’s play are a vital benefit to students in high school due to the fact that it improves skills like comprehension and
This vacillation between seeking out a scholar to explain or verify Shakespeare’s worth and undercutting or going beyond that scholarly authority is present in a recent spate of films using Shakespeare as a nexus of conflict in a student’s relationship to teachers and traditional school. In these films, sometimes for just a moment, sometimes as a