Is it relevant to study Shakespeare in high school?

So, it is important to study Shakespeare at school or, better still, for pleasure because it shows you what has come before, and help you understand how our society has been built. It may seem that this is a question for the history class however, it covers every subject imaginable including literature.

Why do we read Shakespeare in high school?

Importance of studying Shakespeare. Studying Shakespeare is important because his works are rich and they can enrich a reader’s life in many ways. For instance, his works are very rich in the English language and are a good source of learning the language. The works makes one sensitive to the English language.

What percentage of high schools teach Shakespeare?

1980s: A survey shows that Shakespeare is taught in 91 percent of US high schools. The plays most often read are “Romeo and Juliet” (84 percent of schools), “Macbeth” (81 percent), “Hamlet” (51 percent), and “Julius Caesar” (42 percent).

Why do kids read Shakespeare?

Shakespeare’s writings are timeless and full of meaning. Children can learn so much from studying the works of this famous bard including understanding the history behind his writings and learning from the messages he wished to convey. It’s not enough to speak, but to speak true.

Why do we continue to read Shakespeare?

“Shakespeare’s plays and poems still matter to us because his plots still resonate, his characters still leave their mark, his language still moves and startles,” says Trapp. Shakespeare’s characters and plots are both of his time and for all time. His plays allow us to see ourselves anew.”

Why is reading Shakespeare good for your brain?

Research at the University of Liverpool has found that Shakespearean language excites positive brain activity, adding further drama to the bard’s plays and poetry. Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence.

Why do students today read Shakespeare?

It seems that the only reason that students today read Shakespeare is that some person in a governmental institution a few hundred miles away decided that they should. And every one listened. With very little reason.

How can I help high schoolers enjoy Shakespeare better?

There are a few changes that can be made in order to help high schoolers enjoy Shakespeare better. Change the default book selection. Macbeth is relatively short and straight forward, and is definitely more interesting than R and J or Midsummer.

Why do kids hate Shakespeare so much?

Because their teachers do a bad job with Shakespeare. Shakespeare is hard to read. However, it’s not worse than many other things that kids have to read at some point in their education. Because it has this reputation, however, kids start with a belief that Shakespeare is hard, boring, or simply not something meant for ‘someone like them’.

Should Shakespeare be in the English curriculum?

Indeed, contemporary novels like Let the Great World Spin contain just as much literary benefits as the Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet does, but the fact that students simply cannot relate to the latter as much as they will about the former seems to reject the hypothesis that Shakespeare is absolutely vital to our English curriculum.