What's up with all these Shakespeariana reading in high school?

[j@cko]

So, every body can be like William? Most of the students hate it, and it is useless. So, we can learn about all types of revenge? Or the bad jokes they made back then?
Why don't we do some contemporary literatures rather than those stuff?

 

[Hoeboy]

It's all about well-roundedness. You read literature from each point in time.

 

[Sealy]

Because Shakespear is a classic! He is a lot of the reason why you have the great literature you have today! He was a pioneer of sorts! When you grow up you'll appreciate Shakespear more, and wish you'd payed more attention in class!

 

[hdeck]

don't see why you should hate it. that guy was a straight up player.

 

[glen]

J.R.R. Tolkien hated him also, and said he was boring.
But, untill we reach Tolkien's level of credibility on the matter, we have to read him.

 

[Maetryx]

Shakespeare's influence cannot be overstated (I've been told). Apparently, he practically invented the story structures that we take for granted: story arcs, conflict, protragonists and antagonists.

Plus it's good to have some exposure to America's European heritage.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Because Shakespeare's plots, characters, wordplay and catchphrases have had a tremendous impact on the plays, books, movies and TV shows that have been created since his time.

Read some Shakespeare and Homer's Odyssey and you'll see them alluded to much more often than you might expect.

 

[technogeeky]

Shakespeare was a literary genius. None can argue this.

His works contain numerous literary and historic references which make his work, on a material level alone, valuable.

His use of words is nothing less than beautiful.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Hoeboy
It's all about well-roundedness. You read literature from each point in time.

ERRR wrong. we didnt read anything that was modern. we read Huck fin and The Grapes of Wrath. that was about as modern as we got. all senior year we were reading chauser and shakespear. all of it was crap

o and we read The Catcher in the Rye. which IMO was teh worst thing ever written. if i ever met Holden. i slap him silly and tell him to grow up cause lifes not perfect and to just get on with it

 

[Hoeboy]

Originally posted by: TheEvil1

Originally posted by: Hoeboy
It's all about well-roundedness. You read literature from each point in time.

ERRR wrong. we didnt read anything that was modern. we read Huck fin and The Grapes of Wrath. that was about as modern as we got. all senior year we were reading chauser and shakespear. all of it was crap

o and we read The Catcher in the Rye. which IMO was teh worst thing ever written. if i ever met Holden. i slap him silly and tell him to grow up cause lifes not perfect and to just get on with it

Of course it depends on where you goto school but for the most part, you're supposed to be exposed to as many different literatures as possible.

Originally posted by: hdeck
don't see why you should hate it. that guy was a straight up player.

play what? wasn't the guy a homosexual?

 

[StinkyMeat]

Originally posted by: Hoeboy

Originally posted by: TheEvil1

Originally posted by: Hoeboy
It's all about well-roundedness. You read literature from each point in time.

ERRR wrong. we didnt read anything that was modern. we read Huck fin and The Grapes of Wrath. that was about as modern as we got. all senior year we were reading chauser and shakespear. all of it was crap

o and we read The Catcher in the Rye. which IMO was teh worst thing ever written. if i ever met Holden. i slap him silly and tell him to grow up cause lifes not perfect and to just get on with it

Of course it depends on where you goto school but for the most part, you're supposed to be exposed to as many different literatures as possible.

Originally posted by: hdeck
don't see why you should hate it. that guy was a straight up player.

play what? wasn't the guy a homosexual?

It's believed he was bisexual. He was married at one point. But we really don't know much.

 

[Hoeboy]

Originally posted by: StinkyMeat

Originally posted by: Hoeboy

Originally posted by: TheEvil1

Originally posted by: Hoeboy
It's all about well-roundedness. You read literature from each point in time.

ERRR wrong. we didnt read anything that was modern. we read Huck fin and The Grapes of Wrath. that was about as modern as we got. all senior year we were reading chauser and shakespear. all of it was crap

o and we read The Catcher in the Rye. which IMO was teh worst thing ever written. if i ever met Holden. i slap him silly and tell him to grow up cause lifes not perfect and to just get on with it

Of course it depends on where you goto school but for the most part, you're supposed to be exposed to as many different literatures as possible.

Originally posted by: hdeck
don't see why you should hate it. that guy was a straight up player.

play what? wasn't the guy a homosexual?

It's believed he was bisexual. He was married at one point. But we really don't know much.

Regardless, he was a great writer. High schoolers don't appreciate it as much and I didn't like him then either. But to see his influences on so many modern writings, it's very intriguing. Maybe they should bump his books up to the college level.

 

[StinkyMeat]

Took a course of it this semester. It was awesome, and I got extra points because i was good at iambic pantameter:

Your seventeen-inch flat screen is so clear
Set with an eighty-five hertz refresh rate.
A CDR can always be found near,
To burn all mP3?s acquired of late.
Your mouse?s LED glows constantly,
And shines upon your keys so I can type.
Each stroke seems to go by so silently
Allowing both roommates to sleep tonight.
You were to be the most superior one,
Outshining all the others come before.
It took so long to see you finally run,
But this only endears you to me more.
Built by my hands, conceived by I alone.
Not Dell, Compaq, nor Gateway, but mine own.

 

[Soybomb]

Actually its debatable if shakespeare wrote the plays and sonnets that carry his name. Many think they were penned by someone else like Edward DeVere, earl of oxford. Its speculated that despite his marriage he was less than heterosexual. No matter its classic literature and you need to read it for a greater understanding of literature in general even if you don't like it. I don't particularly care for it, but I do recognize its significance

 

[j@cko]

my Eng teacher said that Shakespear is the biggest plagiarist. But she still loves his work though.

 

[Spac3d]

Originally posted by: glen
J.R.R. Tolkien hated him also, and said he was boring.
But, untill we reach Tolkien's level of credibility on the matter, we have to read him.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Soybomb
Actually its debatable if shakespeare wrote the plays and sonnets that carry his name. Many think they were penned by someone else like Edward DeVere, earl of oxford. Its speculated that despite his marriage he was less than heterosexual. No matter its classic literature and you need to read it for a greater understanding of literature in general even if you don't like it. I don't particularly care for it, but I do recognize its significance

Less what than heterosexual? Are you implying that homosexuals are inferior to heterosexuals?

 

[glen]

Originally posted by: Spac3d

Originally posted by: glen
J.R.R. Tolkien hated him also, and said he was boring.
But, untill we reach Tolkien's level of credibility on the matter, we have to read him.

WTF?
Why are you rolling your eyes?

 

[StinkyMeat]

Originally posted by: glen

Originally posted by: Spac3d

Originally posted by: glen
J.R.R. Tolkien hated him also, and said he was boring.
But, untill we reach Tolkien's level of credibility on the matter, we have to read him.

WTF?
Why are you rolling your eyes?

Probably cause Tolkien isn't exactly exciting much of the time.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: StinkyMeat

Originally posted by: glen

Originally posted by: Spac3d

Originally posted by: glen
J.R.R. Tolkien hated him also, and said he was boring.
But, untill we reach Tolkien's level of credibility on the matter, we have to read him.

WTF?
Why are you rolling your eyes?

Probably cause Tolkien isn't exactly exciting much of the time.

are you serious???????????????
thats blasphemy round these parts

 

[Hubris]

Originally posted by: j@cko
my Eng teacher said that Shakespear is the biggest plagiarist. But she still loves his work though.

There was all sorts of "plagiarism" back then. People shared ideas, collaborated, etc. It was a norm of the time.

Oh, and appreciation for the past in any form can be nothing but valuable.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: j@cko
So, every body can be like William? Most of the students hate it, and it is useless. So, we can learn about all types of revenge? Or the bad jokes they made back then?
Why don't we do some contemporary literatures rather than those stuff?

I had alot of it in high school, and I loved it.

 

[Hubris]

Originally posted by: TheEvil1

Originally posted by: StinkyMeat

Originally posted by: glen

Originally posted by: Spac3d

Originally posted by: glen
J.R.R. Tolkien hated him also, and said he was boring.
But, untill we reach Tolkien's level of credibility on the matter, we have to read him.

WTF?
Why are you rolling your eyes?

Probably cause Tolkien isn't exactly exciting much of the time.

are you serious???????????????
thats blasphemy round these parts

He's an amazing writer and wrote some masterful work, but it's not exactly dripping with excitement and drama. Doesn't make it bad, as he made up for it in many other ways (richness of the world being the main one).

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer

Originally posted by: Soybomb
Actually its debatable if shakespeare wrote the plays and sonnets that carry his name. Many think they were penned by someone else like Edward DeVere, earl of oxford. Its speculated that despite his marriage he was less than heterosexual. No matter its classic literature and you need to read it for a greater understanding of literature in general even if you don't like it. I don't particularly care for it, but I do recognize its significance

Less what than heterosexual? Are you implying that homosexuals are inferior to heterosexuals?

Are you joking or serious?

 

[StinkyMeat]

Originally posted by: Hubris

Originally posted by: j@cko
my Eng teacher said that Shakespear is the biggest plagiarist. But she still loves his work though.

There was all sorts of "plagiarism" back then. People shared ideas, collaborated, etc. It was a norm of the time.

He did blatantly borrow from early plays. i.e. Comedy of Errors is pretty much the roman Menaechmi