Shakespeare is Important
William Shakespeare’s plays are being made into box office film hits at an incredible rate. Films such as Much Ado About Nothing with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, Hamlet with Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, Othello with Laurence Fishbourne and Henry V with Kenneth Branagh have been seen by a surprising number of teenagers. Often they have not understood it all, or even half of it, but they have been affected by the powerful characters and by the Shakespearean magic which has affected audiences around the world for centuries. They want to know more, they want to understand, and what better motvation can any teacher ask for than that students WANT ? That alone is sufficient reason for any English teacher to start a course in Shakespeare.
The other reason is that Shakespeare is a man for our time. He may have been a man "for all times". He certainly speaks directly to the students in my charge. The passions and emotions which he describes find deep echoes in the hearts of the youngsters at the close of the 20th century. He probably was modern when he wrote his dramas. He has retained that modernity seemingly for three centuries.
Thirdly, he is the father of all western playwrights. Everybody from Ibsen to O'Neil uses techniques and ideas which can be traced back to Shakespeare. Whatever dramatist in whatever language you are required to study, familiarity with Shakespeare can only be an advantage.
Finally, it is fun to study drama. It is fun to dramatise and dress up and fall over dead behind improvised curtains and fence with blackboard pointers and cook up a witches brew and come to school with a spade over your shoulder for the Graveyard Scene. It is fun, and while all the fun is being enjoyed an incredible amount of language is pouring into these students' heads, through listening, reading, watching videos and learning lines off by heart.
To start off, Shakespeare made his plays to entertain and not to study. According to Powell, Shakespeare’s “plays are not meant to be taught like this.” Shakespeare made his plays to entertain and let people escape reality. In addition, Powell stated, “ Shakespeare made students feel stupid and not
For as long as people today can remember there has always been Shakespeare in the classroom. Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest playwrights of all time and deserves to be presented as so, however his work is very old and as times have changed so has English. Teens don’t understand his work and struggle through these units in school. The least that should be done is changing a few allusions for an easier and deeper understanding for young minds. Teachers always talk about giving their students the tools that they need to succeed and this update is one of those necessary tools. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change
In today’s world the quality of the art form called writing is said to be somewhat diminishing, it is important for English literature to keep some studies of classic literature, such as Shakespeare. I think well rounded education must have a strong foundation in both modern and classical literature, for the foundation in classical literature, an in-depth study of Shakespeare’s works would be more than sufficient. Not only was Shakespeare so skilled in his writing that he has become a significant point in the history of literature, but a majority of his works were written on such basic human themes that they will last for all time and must not be forgotten.
Shakespeare’s language is so different from the slang teens use today so by reading his plays, it can improve teens’ speaking abilities. If teens were to read Shakespeare’s plays, it could expand their vocabulary and they would use more academic
Wherever we go today, we just can't seem to get away from him. He is in movies, in the theater, even on TV. Whether modernized or back in Elizabethan times, his influence is everywhere in the things we use for our entertainment. We think we know who he really was and what his life was all about. He almost seems immortal in our eyes. Who was William Shakespeare? Who was this man we still have placed on a pedestal almost four thousand years after he lived? Was he really the man that Hollywood glamorized? Shakespeare's life, work and controversies come together to form our beliefs of who this great writer really is.
Teachers are attempting to remove Shakespeare literature. An abundance of teachers find Shakespeare's writing Romeo and Juliet irrelevant and repulsive and aspirate not to take part in the reading of the play. Other teachers find Shakespeare’s writing not only captivating, breathtaking; praising the works of Shakespeare and teaching them. Students are taught Shakespeare’s miraculous works generation, after generation, and we must remain to teach it.
Dominic, C. Catherine. Shakespeare's Characters for Students. Detroit - New York -Toronto - London: Gale Research, 1997.
Across the Universe of Time: Shakespeare’s influence on 21st century society. It is harder to imagine a more universal writer than William Shakespeare. Rarely, if ever, is one of his many plays not being performed anywhere in the world and similarly rare is the tertiary English student who has not examined his work at length. His plays, sonnets and poems are common fodder for high school English departments across the globe.
Shakespeare's life is different than mine, you're probably wondering how. Well there are many ways that are lives are the same but also there are, any ways that are life is different. One of my first ways that are life is different is they wouldn't allow women to be on stage so when there was a girl part in the play they would have boys dress up as girls. Next reason is if someone did something wrong or if the police thought they did something wrong they would kill them on the spot even if it wasn't them. Also if someone was sick they would take them to a separate room so that they would not share their sickness with other people.
Shakespeare is a play writer that many people study in school, but why? Shakespeare’s plays give may reasons to study it, reasons include how he is able to capture many emotions which help engage the audience. It also educates us of problems that are still happening today such as patriarchy and racial discrimination. The purpose of his plays such as Othello is to entertain as it is a play but inside most of his plays there is meaning such as, as mentioned above racial discrimination and patriarchy. 400 years ago many problems in today’s society were not considered problems back then. This meant that u could say anything about black people and it was allowed hence why they called Othello a moor.
Using drama in ESL class or play provides a lot of benefits to the students. Drama not only can help students in improving their academic performance but it also benefits students’ development in five areas holistically which are physical development, emotional development, intellectual development, social development and moral development.
Shakespeare is widely regarded as the world’s greatest playwright, and there’s no real reason to dispute that. People are still seeing his plays 400 years after he wrote them, not because it’s “trendy” or “hip,” but because they’re so good. His insight into the human spirit has never been equaled. This paper is a brief biography of Shakespeare and a discussion of the times in which he lived.
Shakespeare’s plays were written in the 14th and 15th century in England, yet until this day it still has a huge influence on American English class. Why? Well because Shakespeare has a universal appeal with a rich language, complex characters with a theme that is timeless. Shakespeare should be taught more, one play per semester because it is part of American literature culture, it challenges students reading levels and as it expands students vocabulary and enriches their speaking. Shakespeare plays are relevant today as the themes of the plays involved what teenagers like and experience such as love, betrayal, courage,politics and corruption.The themes can be set in such basic forms that the plays are universal and timeless, it can set in
Shakespeare’s work should be mandatory for study in the Australian National English Curriculum. Students should be exposed to Shakespeare’s works because they include timeless themes, his work enriches students language, there is a lack of another modernized alternative and finally, because Shakespeare established the modern English language. Shakespeare is one of the most widely studied writers in history, as his work has been taught for 300 years till this very day. Therefore, Shakespeare’s work should become mandatory for study in the English curriculum and will hopefully remain so for the next up-coming 300 years.
In this essay the following aspects will be discussed: Firstly, I will highlight the importance of drama in the literature classroom, and how successful the method is used. Secondly, I will look at different advantages and disadvantages of drama as medium of teaching. Thirdly, the responsibility of the teacher concerning the design of activities will be discussed and lastly I will draw a conclusion to what I have learned throughout my three years as a future English teacher.