This Manga Shakespeare is awesome! If i strain my memory hard enough, perhaps with the aid of a nirvana cd and a ratty flannel, i can remember being taught Shakespeare in high school. And if memory serves correct i had CliffsNotes* to aid me along [read: in place of reading]. Oh, it was ungodly boring. Sweet relief came only at the end of all the assigned reading, when we actually got to watch the movie and it all began to make sense; and then i could pass the exam, no problem. It seems a shame to waste Shakespeare in high school because the majority of students begin groaning when they hear his name, even if they have never read any of his works before. They expect it to be difficult, the dialect to be daunting, and they feel they already know the jist of the work anyway.... so why read it? Honestly, i would have to agree with them. Shakespeare's talent in intertwining characters for stage, IS a hinderence to the reader without being able to actively visualize each character to keep them all straight. Secondly, the dialect is obtrusive to understanding, after all we do not continue teaching Shakespeare in an effort to keep Middle English alive; it is because of his wit and cunning in storytelling. Thirdly, Shakespeare's works are so often imitated that students may get a false sense of security of knowing a text, to which they do not. What to do, what to do? MANGA Shakespeare! This is the complete tale, but with a modern spin on the language (which we would normally have to do for the students) and it comes with the visualizations that are in the play but not in a manuscript. It very nicely takes two or three weeks of reading and lecturing, plus the movie and squeezes it into a 193 pages and a complete understanding within an hour and a half. The only problem is, what will i do with all the extra time i've been given?
seriously, which looks more appealing to youth?Bach, Jacqueline. "One Size Does Not Fit All: Cinematic Approaches to the Teaching of Shakespeare." Changing English: Studies in Culture & Education 16.3 (2009): 323-331. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Mar. 2011.
* SparksNotes, only with a trippy YELLOW cover
* SparksNotes, only with a trippy YELLOW cover
I think it's funny that you mention how students complain about Shakespeare without ever having read it. Maybe this is the problem. They have this preconceived notion that Shakespeare is impossible and they'll never be able to read it. Wrong! With some practice and help, it can definitely happen. And I think adding different versions, like Manga or movies, can prove to be extremely helpful.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that my teachers did for Shakespeare was to use books with both modern and traditional language. If there was something we read and didn't understand, we just had to look over to more modern section. This helped me a lot when I was reading.
ReplyDeleteBrian and Cassie, I think you're right about students groaning without having ever read.
ReplyDeleteAnd Katie, what's to stop students from just reading the easy, modern (No Fear)version? I did that for a summer reading in high school. Granted, I read all of King Lear and MacBeth from the regular versions, but I couldn't tell you what happened in Hamlet even though I read the No Fear.
"Sweet relief came only at the end of all the assigned reading, when we actually got to watch the movie and it all began to make sense..."
ReplyDeleteI think the above quote from you is how so many students feel. And why should they have to wait until the END of the unit for the play to make sense?! It is our jobs to aid in understanding throughout.
I agree that Manga is the whole package with pictures and a modern plot line. However, I think that these would be more beneficial in addition to the original text rather than replacing it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I never read any Shakespeare until this point in the semester, where we were assigned the magna, did I try to read one of the original versions of Shakespeare. Like most verse from hundreds of years ago, it took time to work through. And where I didn't have a clear understanding, the magna was actually able to fill in the gaps that I had from the original reading. However, in a classroom setting, I would feel as though I were doing a disservice by not introducing some form of the original text in addition to a magna version, because learning about a guy without any of his original voice in the works just seems a little cheap. So whether the students agree or disagree for my decision to bring in the original Shakespeare, atleast they would be able to form an opinion afterward whether they really didn't like Shakespeare in its original format, or if they enjoyed it to some degree - sort of how the old cliche goes, "Don't knock it till you try it."
ReplyDeleteI also remember reading (spark notes!!!) romeo and juliet in high school.. and oh was it a drag. This mangs addition would be so amazing in the classroom. I think I would have actually wanted to read the book if that is what was presented to me in high school!!
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of this manga... drama is the key to understanding the text. Bring it alive.
ReplyDeleteHave a great summer!