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I'd agree that at one fell swoop, there has been a sea change in attitudes to Shakespeare. We can no longer expect modern youth to be exceedingly well read. Ultimately, there's no rhyme nor reason why Shakespeare should be taught forever and a day, and it's high time things changed. I say good riddance to Shakespeare.
Forsooth, a late-arriving riposte! The milk of human kindness is flowing in me today so I suggest you read the remainder of the thread and revisit your point here, as you may wish to adopt a different angle.Yes. We absolutely can expect our youth to be well read. What exactly does it solve to lower the expectation of our youth? Given the resources available we should expect more of our youths today than past generations.
Forsooth, a late-arriving riposte! The milk of human kindness is flowing in me today so I suggest you read the remainder of the thread and revisit your point here, as you may wish to adopt a different angle.
The point was my posts were all in jest - while seemingly knocking Shakespeare, each of my sentences had a Shakespearean idiom. The others twigged after a while.No need to adopt a different angle. I like my point as it is.
Inspired by this:
Do students really need Shakespeare in 2015?: Red/Blue America | PennLive.com
:roll:
exposure to a work by shakespeare would not seem to be an issueIf the goal is to get young people to read, write and communicate with clarity, forcing Shakespeare on them may not be the best route.
Yes!
He's a bit dry, but a necessary read imo, the guy's one of the greatest writers in the history of the western world, a timeless man. This is a western nation, his legacy is of paramount importance -- everyone in this country should read at least one of his works. This whining about the classics annoys me, though it's not like I didn't do my fair share of it when I had just started my high school years (not that long ago by any means).
I hated Macbeth though.
Considering in 50-100 years half the country will be speaking some bad version of Spanish or Chinese and the other half will probably be behind a wall, something tells me whether Shakespeare is taught or not is largely irrelevant. Things are on a course now that cannot be stopped in any respect.
Takes on similar stories come all the same as we are forced to read translations of ancient nearly foreign texts (Beowulf, for example).
Hardly irrelevant.
Perhaps it's more productive to look at the issue in terms of culture rather than ethnicity. No-one would dispute that English culture and German culture are significantly different, despite our peoples sharing some common ethnicity.We're in the land of the Asiatic Amerindian good sir. This is not Europe. And most English racially are merely lost Germanics. Beowulf is not foreign at all to the European American (American is such a futile term racially as it means nothing, European American is more accurate).
We in America have Australian white women coming to America at 16 years old having dropped out of HS to become and emulate black American rappers and you seriously think "Shakespeare" holds any weight at all in our world today?
Iggy Azalea’s post-racial mess: America’s oldest race tale, remixed - Salon.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iggy_Azalea
Ahh...Shakespeare.
Most people that go to Shakespeare plays for the first time understand about 30-50% of the language. Children will probably understand even less.
It's silly to teach something that most will not even understand.
Especially with the GIGANTIC amounts of social media/internet sources, almost anyone in the West can see just about any Shakespeare play on their phones whenever they wish...what on Earth is the point of teaching it to children? Just go to YouTube and most (if not all) of them are there for free. And the written text is also easy to find...it's called Google.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Shakespere+play
If it's a private school? Knock yourselves out...it's private money so they can teach (within reason) whatever they wish.
But public schools wasting tax dollars to teach children plays that will be only partially understandable when these same students can barely do math or have a clue where most countries are on a map is just that...a waste.
U.S. students improving in math and science, but still lag internationally | Pew Research Center
Make sure students have the basics down pat and to a world standard and then start teaching them non-essentials that they can learn on their own, any time they want and for free (off of the web).
Ahh...Shakespeare.
Most people that go to Shakespeare plays for the first time understand about 30-50% of the language. Children will probably understand even less.
It's silly to teach something that most will not even understand.
Especially with the GIGANTIC amounts of social media/internet sources, almost anyone in the West can see just about any Shakespeare play on their phones whenever they wish...what on Earth is the point of teaching it to children? Just go to YouTube and most (if not all) of them are there for free. And the written text is also easy to find...it's called Google.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Shakespere+play
If it's a private school? Knock yourselves out...it's private money so they can teach (within reason) whatever they wish.
But public schools wasting tax dollars to teach children plays that will be only partially understandable when these same students can barely do math or have a clue where most countries are on a map is just that...a waste.
U.S. students improving in math and science, but still lag internationally | Pew Research Center
Make sure students have the basics down pat and to a world standard and then start teaching them non-essentials that they can learn on their own, any time they want and for free (off of the web).
Of course. It is part of the heritage of Western Civilization. They should not only read Shakespeare, they should watch first-rank productions of his plays on video, like Kenneth Brannagh's Henry V, Polanski's MacBeth and Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet.
The language may be dated but there is timeless wisdom about the human condition in his plays.
Even some of the modernized versions, like the DeCaprio version of Romeo and Juliet, have virtue as a decendent of that legacy.
Kids need more than Xbox and SpongeBob to be acculturated adults.
Inspired by this:
Do students really need Shakespeare in 2015?: Red/Blue America | PennLive.com
:roll:
I would have them read ROMEO AND JULIET and then watch WESTSIDE STORY to show them that the themes and characters are timeless.
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