When introducing a Shakespeare unit or play in a high school class, one will often hear a group UGHHHHHHHH followed by a do we really have to read this crap. High school students do not often understand the beauty that is seen when reading a Shakespeare play. To be honest, I really didn’t see it either. When asking my fellow students (not fellow future English teachers) what they think about Shakespeare they often say that they do not understand it and that they do not have any interest in having to read it. Then I proceeded to show them the Romeo and Juliet manga book, and they suddenly had an interest in Shakespeare. It amazes me that reformatting a classic can change the way a student will look at a text. I think that these manga versions of Shakespeare will really strike an interest in wanting to read the plays. After reading the manga version I decided to see if there were any other manga Shakespeare works and came across this website http://www.mangashakespeare.com/ I found it incredible how many different works there were.
I do have a question for all my fellow teachers; do you think Manga versions of classic works would be accepted in schools? Also; do you think parents will accept these works?
I also read the getting to know a play five ways, which I found quite interesting. I really enjoyed how he had three major objectives for students when reading the play. Especially the challenging students to read all the lines. I know when I would read I would often skip over anything that is not dialogue, but the stage directions are also very important in the content of the play. Also bringing the students back to the 1600’s when the plays were originally written. Thinking about the plays in their prime may allow the students to get a better understanding of why the play is important. Understanding the time inwhich these plays were written will help the students in understanding why they are written the way that they are!
I do have a question for all my fellow teachers; do you think Manga versions of classic works would be accepted in schools? Also; do you think parents will accept these works?
I also read the getting to know a play five ways, which I found quite interesting. I really enjoyed how he had three major objectives for students when reading the play. Especially the challenging students to read all the lines. I know when I would read I would often skip over anything that is not dialogue, but the stage directions are also very important in the content of the play. Also bringing the students back to the 1600’s when the plays were originally written. Thinking about the plays in their prime may allow the students to get a better understanding of why the play is important. Understanding the time inwhich these plays were written will help the students in understanding why they are written the way that they are!
I don't think it'd be too hard to have the Manga versions in school as long as we keep the classic as well. I feel like there'd be a lot of resistance to using only the Manga unless it's in a special class (i.e., some kind of elective course, maybe one that deals specifically with graphic novels). I think parents would be split on it: those who think it's important would side with the classic, those who hated having to read it in high school will probably side with the comic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nate. I think that we can't simply rely on the manga or graphic novel versions in our classroom. We need to incorporate it with the original text (and, perhaps, some films or other media concerning Shakespeare). I also think that teachers who have been in the profession may be skeptical, but I am definitely interested in using them in the classroom. For someone who is going in with a brand-new perspective, I feel that anything (within reason) is worth a try in regards to teaching our students in a way that will interest them.
ReplyDelete"Thinking about the plays in their prime may allow the students to get a better understanding of why the play is important. Understanding the time in which these plays were written will help the students in understanding why they are written the way that they are!"
ReplyDeleteI agree. More specifically, I think that teaching students a bit of background - especially political and social background - in such a way that highlights the similarities to today's political and social scheme will incite interest. Students are interested in private history. Rather than teach public history (i.e. the stuff that textbooks present) solely, bring in a bit of private history (i.e. autobiographical stuff)and get them interested in the similarity of the lives of Shakespeare's time to the lives of today. This breaking through is of appeal to all students, I think. Thomas Jefferson becomes more interesting when his public persona is enriched with his private life, right?
I agree with all points: use the original alongside the magna to spur interest and gain a better understanding of the original (helped me, so I can attest to its effectiveness) and as Amanda said, show the social/political significance the work may have in today's realm that can apply to the students' lives. And authors private life, usually good stuff!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Teaching Shakespeare 5 ways article and it's approaches...I didn't really care for the Manga myself and found it to be confusing. I think that using the text, but performing it (as the genre begs) is the best and probably least used approach to Shakespeare. Why is that? Aren't these plays for God's sake?
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