a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"?
Prince Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, and is essentially Simba from The Lion King. The Lion King is really just a (G-rated and happy) retelling of Hamlet, so the two characters are very much alike, although Prince Hamlet does not overcome his grief over his father's death, and after the death of his mother and love interest (who do not die in The Lion King, but do in Hamlet), Hamlet ends up killing his uncle Claudius (who killed his father King Hamlet), but dies soon after, becoming the last character to die.
b) What do you know about Shakespeare?
Shakespeare was a renaissance era play write from England. He is seen a England's great author, and is viewed almost as England's great philosopher, as England is one of the few European countries without a famous philosopher. He was from Stratford upon Avon, and he wrote plays for the 13-sided Globe theater in England. He is best known today for his tragedies, like Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and McBeth (my favorite of the tragedies), but he is not as well known for his hilarious, ironic comedies like Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing. Everyone teaches the tragedies, which I understand the merit in, but I feel that a teacher could get much farther with their teachings if they started with the comedies, as the readers would start out liking Shakespeare, and be more willing to learn once the tragedies are reached. He also wrote historic plays, but many of these have staunch biases, as he did not want to upset Queen Elizabeth and her heritage.
c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"?
I started to explain this in the previous question. It is because Shakespeare is not taught as a great play write, but as the writer of horrifically sad plays. To make his work more popular, students should start by learning his comedies, which are very good, and then venture into the tragedies Another problem with learning Shakespeare, is that the first play that everybody reads is Romeo and Juliet, which is not a good play to start with, as it is about two whiny, lustful teenagers, who have no concept of love, just lust. Their young age leads to irrational behavior, and caused me to look back on the play as a story of irrational people doing idiotic things. I feel that we should start off learning Shakespeare not with Romeo and Juliet, but instead with McBeth, as McBeth teaches learners of a world that is not usually discussed in the classroom- the world of Northern Europe. Throughout our schooling, we learn about the seven most advanced ancient cultures, and we sample the world in history, and English, but rarely do teachers delve deeply, if at all, into the vibrant European cultures, which I feel would be beneficial for American Education, as most Americans have more European blood than any other, yet know nothing about their exceedingly interesting heritage. All aspects of history are very interesting, but I feel that European culture is forgotten. McBeth's heavy dealings with European politics, European Mythology, and European culture overall make it an ideal way to hit two birds with one stone: learning about European Culture, and learning Shakespeare. I also feel that it will be more interesting to younger readers, due to more action and dealings with the supernatural, but at the same time, it would be better for them, as they do not see the extremely erratic, almost seditious actions of two lustful adolescents. The language, or everybody's whining about the language that Shakespeare writes in makes it much more difficult for the students to understand it.
d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?
To make this learning experience unforgettable, we must fully immerse each other into the material, and make it seem like it is the most interesting thing in my life. This is what I do with almost everything I learn about, and it makes me love learning, as well as making the material much more memorable.
No comments:
Post a Comment