37 replies to this topic

[calvinandhobbes]

I don't know why I just randomly thought of this, but why is Shakespeare required in HS? Honestly, I remember not understanding most of it, having movie parties with my friends to watch the BBC productions to try and gain a vague understanding of what the heck was going on...buying the copies of the book with everyday english on one side and shakespearean english on the other side... What's the point of it?

Also, which books did you learn in HS?
We did:

9th: Macbeath
10th: Merchant of Venice
11th: King Lear
12th: Hamlet

oh, and we did Julius Ceasar in 8th grade.

[Savannah]

The point is to be an educated person.

9th: Romeo and Juliet
10th: Macbeth
11th: Hamlet
12th: Um
College: Othello

[calvinandhobbes]

and how exactly does Shakespeare educate you?

[Savannah]

and how exactly does Shakespeare educate you?

Being an educated person means having a liberal education.

[LoveToLaugh]

Being an educated person means having a liberal education.

Yeah. I think Shakespeare is pretty dumb but supposedly its THE place where history and literature and arts all meet and is neccesary to know to be an edcuate and cultured person.

I don't remember what years but we did
Macbeath and Julias Caesar.

Drawing a blank as to what else we did.

We watched and did Merchant of Venice in College.

I feel similarly to Charles Dickens' works btw, though I know how highly touted he and his works are.

[calvinandhobbes]

I feel similarly to Charles Dickens' works btw, though I know how highly touted he and his works are.

oh I forgot about that...we did a tale of two cities in 9th grade but I couldn't be bothered to read it so I completely winged it (which didn't work). Same for Great Expectations although I did take out the newer version with Gwenyth Paltrow from the library.

[Savannah]

We did a Tale of Two Cities also and I also found it boring. I read Great Expectations on my own and I liked it. I think I probably would have liked the classics more if I could have read them at my own pace rather than when they were assigned and had to be read in like a month or whatever.

[LoveToLaugh]

We did a Tale of Two Cities in 7th Grade actually but the teacher was amazing and would read to us and act out the parts so I very much enjoyed it. I could never get through it on my own.

If I'm not mistaken, Dickens was paid per word to put that (and other books?) in a serialized newspaper so there is a TON of extra, unneccesary stuff in there.

God bless Cliff Notes inventors.....I used them A LOT.

[Savannah]

We did a Tale of Two Cities in 7th Grade actually but the teacher was amazing and would read to us and act out the parts so I very much enjoyed it. I could never get through it on my own.

If I'm not mistaken, Dickens was paid per word to put that (and other books?) in a serialized newspaper so there is a TON of extra, unneccesary stuff in there.

It's a myth that he was paid by the word.

http://dickens.ucsc....y-the-word.html

I don't know how you can say that there's extra things. Does every long book have "extra" things in it? I don't think so. And anyway, Dickens's books aren't that long. Amazon says that a Tale of Two Cities is 371 pages. That's no War and Peace.

[LoveToLaugh]

well still he was paid by the installment which means it was probably longer than it should have been so it could be more installments. There does seem to be a lot of extra stuff but I'm drawing a blank as to what...

[Savannah]

well still he was paid by the installment which means it was probably longer than it should have been so it could be more installments. There does seem to be a lot of extra stuff but I'm drawing a blank as to what...

Just because something is boring doesn't mean there's even one extra word.

[Shaina]

I can't imagine life without Shakespeare.

Cliff notes are an abomination

[calvinandhobbes]

Shaina are you kidding me? you don't seem the type to have patience for Shakespeare.

[Shaina]

I am mortally offended. My life would be nothing without classic literature. Sheesh!

[Bezalel]

We did:

9th: Macbeath
10th: Merchant of Venice
11th: King Lear
12th: Hamlet

oh, and we did Julius Ceasar in 8th grade.

9th: Romeo and Juliet
10th: Macbeth
11th: Hamlet
12th: Um
College: Othello

Exactly how do you remember what you studied and when you studied it?

In elementary school, I found Romeo & Juliet in the library and read it.

In high school, I believe we covered Julius Caesar, Othello, and Macbeth.

I may have also studied Henry VIII, but I don't think Shakespeare published that until after I graduated high school.

[calvinandhobbes]

a) because I'm smart like that
b) because even though it was from 11 years ago and less, I remember the torture I went through
c) I found my notes from HS when I was at my parents' house sukkos time

[Savannah]

Exactly how do you remember what you studied and when you studied it?

I don't remember exactly, but I think I remember the plays more than I remember which books we read because we only did one per year.

Hmm, maybe it was:

9th: Romeo and Juliet
10th: Julius Caeser
11th: Macbeth
12th: Hamlet
College: Othello

[Shaina]

We only did Julius Caesar (10th) and Macbeth (12th). The rest were deemed assur I guess.

[TheDuncePolice]

.

[Spiffy]

I can't remember grades but we did Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare, though, is really meant to be seen and heard, not just read. I saw a Shakespeare in the Park production of Cymbeline and enjoyed it so much more- even if I didn't catch everything that was being said- because it was more engaging being performed. That being said, we did watch Much Ado About Nothing- a great movie.