Students read Shakespeare because they have to, and not all of them even read it. Many students rely solely on Spark Notes, and some just say ‘forget about it’, never picking the book back up again. I agree that Spark Notes is a great resource to allow students to be able to further understand the play. But, when many students are using Spark Notes entirely to read the play instead of as a tool to aid in the understanding, I feel there is no point in reading Shakespeare's work at all. Instead of comparing the languages, and seeing what the modern meaning is, students only read the modern English side and never practice learning Shakespeare's original text. I don’t understand the point in reading Shakespeare if people just aren’t reading it in the first place. Of course, Shakespeare isn’t impossible to understand. The flow of the writing does make it complicated and a bit troubling to read. This tough read leaves students discouraged and ultimately not wanting to read Shakespeare at all. I find reading is something that must be enjoyable and captivating or there is no motivation to continue reading. I’m not an avid reader, but I enjoy being able to be reading and being experience a different life. I personally feel books are meant to tell a story for the reader to get lost in. Well in Shakespeare I get lost, and not because the book has pulled me into a different world, because sometimes I just have no idea what's going on. Countless times I have heard or read ‘Shakespeare is “the greatest writer that ever lived”’ (Przybys 1), or ‘Shakespeare is a genius’ or ‘Shakespeare’s writing will never be forgotten’. Well to be honest it’s hard to forget having to read a piece of work that’s in different type of writing than what’s learned now days. Shakespeare's writing is not used in the 21st century, at least not commonly so no one understands the writing. If schools are not going to teach students how to properly read Shakespeare, than they shouldn't be reading it at all. Schools should be teaching the reading and writing skills based off of a type of language they not only know, but will use in the future. article published by The Guardian it states, “Shakespeare's audience didn't know the meaning of every word uttered...but the sounds and pictures they created kept viewers enthralled for hours” (Powell 1). Reading this quote makes me wonder why educators are giving students the task of studying Shakespeare’s words. Teenagers being told to read a piece of writing that was never intended to be read. It’s like telling someone to go read the script of a movie instead of seeing the movie. The facial expression, tone of voice, and movement of characters add so much emotion behind the words.
Everyone has heard the saying ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’. So, It just confuses me as to why students are expected to look at such a small part of a masterpiece that Shakespeare created. Since Shakespeare didn’t write books, he didn’t always explain the emotions of the characters because the audience could just see them. After all, there is no point in explaining something the audience can see and/or hear. Which is a small problem as Shakespeare wrote for a different audience. The type of audience who can sit down and watch. Not an audience who sits down and reads the script. It’s in the human nature to base future experiences off of first impressions. So when students don’t enjoy the initial reading the play because it was difficult and confusing, when the time comes to watch the play they don’t give it a chance. They shut off the ability to enjoy it because their opinion and impression have already been made. Having a pre-existing opinion of dislike from the original reading shuts off the chance for the students to actually enjoy the play. This ultimately doesn’t allow them to see the greatness that Shakespeare has made. I think if education systems are going to continue to leave Shakespeare in the curriculum, there should be more talk about his impact. The purpose of his work. The importance of the themes he writes about. Allow students to analyze to topics opposed to just his words. Shakespeare’s words don’t allow for students to be motivationally touched. There’s a barrier that’s created between his English, and our modern English which prevents the emotional connection between the reader and the characters. Besides, what about teaching Shakespeare to students the way it was meant to be showed, in a play. Have students watch the play, then analyze it. If Shakespeare wanted to write a book, he would have. Instead, Shakespeare chose to write a play. So why not teach kids about what William Shakespeare wanted to share with his audience. Works Cited SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/. Powell, Mark. “Kill Bill: Why We Must Take Shakespeare out of the Classroom.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Mar. 2014, www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals- network/culture-professionals-blog/2014/mar/17/kill-bill-shakespeare-classroom-theatre. REVIEW-JOURNAL, JOHN PRZYBYS LAS VEGAS. “400 Years Later, Shakespeare Is Still Relevant.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 18 Feb. 2017, www.reviewjournal.com/life/400-years- later-shakespeare-is-still-relevant/.
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