As a student, when I started studying Shakespeare, I hated it. It was really difficult to wrap my head around and the ideas trying to be communicated were so complex. But Once I stepped back and looked at how he was trying to communicate very simple ideas, my writing drastically improved. Now I see Shakespeare not as a compulsory prescribed text BUT as a very good avenue for important lessons about life and the world.
I now see a lot of students absolutely fume about the fact they have to study Shakespeare and they walk in, grumpy asking about his importance. I try to explain but what I have found is I need to show and not tell. So I start analysing with them and as we go I relate the ideas in Shakespeare to ideas in the real world, to things they have noticed. This really helps them understand what they are reading instead of reading it for the sake of it. The turnaround of most if not all of my students is really shocking. Once explained they understand what he is saying despite the funky language he may be using. And I use this as a way to teach them to analyse any text whether it’s a short answer source in Common Mod or a creative stimulus in mod C.
Ultimately by confronting the difficulties in reading and understanding Shakespeare, I have helped my students improve their overall understanding of a multitude of texts which results in an even bigger improvement. So despite any lack of enthusiasm in the beginning, I find customising the experience of reading and analysing texts to suit your student is always best and makes sure they improve in grades and in their views/beliefs about how to find meaning in texts.
Olga-Liana Athanasatos
