Shakespearean Role Models?

    The article I decided to read focused upon the various characters present in Shakespeare's plays. The author describes these characters as role models even though a good bit of these characters are negative people. But, regardless I feel the reason Shakespeare has remained so relevant is due to the universality of his plays. His plays have remained increasingly popular in all areas of the world for their universal messages. He presents us with characters that are larger than life and maintain roles of power. The audience sees the internal struggles these characters have with their positions of power or the others trying to gain power. For instance, in The Merchant of Venice we see Portia, a wealthy female, left alone due to her Father's death. But, she is a strong powerful woman who does not feel the need to acquiesce to a man. However, subjected to her Father's proclamation she must succumb to his process of getting a male suitor. I think she would be a good role model for young women because she is intelligent, beautiful, and tenacious. She is by far the smartest person in the play and uses that to her advantage. I'm sorry I wandered onto a tangent about The Merchant of Venice, but it is my favorite Shakespearean Comedy.
     Last semester, I began my first Shakespeare class with a notoriously hard professor. Before the semester started I was dreading this class and was ignorant of most Shakespearean works. However, the intense work and the powerful attitude of my Professor helped show me the light. I now understand why he is considered the best and how his plays are extremely relevant in today's world. You just have to dig a little bit deeper than most texts. Flick on the TV and you will see the many shows that are based on Shakespearean plays (e.g. Sons of Anarchy, Star Trek). Therefore, Shakespeare's works cannot be ignored.
     Also, I definitely think his characters act as a great models, but not necessarily role models. They are faced with huge challenges and either rise or fall to the occasion. The adverse situations can give excellent leeway into discussion with your class. Life is full of struggle along with happiness and why not explore intense themes of decay, corruption, and power with the best possible material available. Once students begin reading Shakespeare they will see the universality they hold in the world today. It just takes one teacher to enlighten them.

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Shakespeare in American Life

Decline of the Literate Culture

      I chose to read the article "Decline of the Literate Culture" by Mark Bauerlein and Carol Jago from Mark's website. This article made me question my ideas about American culture. Why has literature become so devalued in our society? Teenagers want almost nothing to do with it unless the novel contains online lingo. Maybe parents are to blame for this decrease in literary culture. They go to work all day from 9-5 and when the parent arrives home they ignore their kids by allowing them to play the newest video game console. This sickens me, sickens me. Yeah, I said it twice. When has playing Super Mario become more important than reading Hemingway? Literature teaches us amazing life lessons and wonderful values; students cannot learn values from Call of Duty Black Ops. So with this decrease in literary interest comes a decrease of human values. Teenagers are increasingly disrespectful, rude, and antisocial. Maybe reading Tuesdays With Morrie would be more beneficial than watching Jersey Shore. So as future English teachers how do we compete with technology? Well you could incorporate technology in the classroom through laptops/computer based classrooms. Students could be asked to respond on discussion boards online because they are sitting in front of a computer regardless. We could ask students to start an online book club with some of their classmates in order to facilitate more outside reading and discussion. I think we just have to be willing to implement new ideas because the old ones aren't working. I see the classroom as a trial and error environment, so experiment! Try different techniques and read all the latest teaching articles.
      With this decrease of literate culture comes the decline of society, and this is something that must be stopped. As educators we must work with parents, colleagues, and administrators to motivate students to open a book. Is Facebook going to make students better people? Or will reading stories about other cultures from different perspectives. As a teacher I do not want to simply bombard my students with information, but I want them to transform into better individuals. If we can have students to view the world from another point of perspective then we will have one more enlightened person. It is quite unfortunate the world is becoming an increasingly ignorant place where literature is devalued. I know students don't necessarily want to read classic literature, but I didn't want to play soccer at first until I got involved. There are so many things we don't like until we try it. There are so many novels I didn't want to read, but once I did I became a better person. So we need to encourage and push students to read no matter how much they disagree. Our society depends on it.

Just for a laugh, here are some great screen shots from The Great Gatsby Super Nintendo game:

Sick graphics, bro.

IS THAT GATSBY???

The Ripple Effect

     This week has made me question myself more than ever and how far I am willing to go for a work of literature. In my opinion, the most challenged pieces of literature are always the best works. The are composed of powerful themes that ask the reader to examine their own lives and understand the world from a new perspective. So when I asked myself how far I was willing to go for a work of literature. My answer: I am willing to fight for something I believe in. I refuse to acquiesce to censorship and succumb to their arbitrary whims about certain literary pieces. If you are in the teaching field you must be passionate about your subject or you will be left with nothing. If you cannot fight for what you believe in then you would be better off changing your major. I have always known I wanted to be a teacher since 1st grade and I have a passion for helping young minds. I believe if we exclude certain works because of their controversiality then our classroom will be receiving a lower level product. I want to be the best I can be for my classroom but not be controversial just for the sake of being controversial.

    I also want to be aware of my student's wants and needs. If you have an accurate grasp of your class's needs then you should be able to see what literature suits them. Maybe you could hold a class poll for certain novels and whichever wins is the one they will read. I think this will to alleviate some of the stress caused by censorship. Another problem that has arisen is self-censorship. This permeates throughout classrooms more than actual censorship. Teachers see the effects of a colleague being censored and begin to self-censor themselves. Soon this quality becomes inherent and they begin to censor almost every aspect of the classroom. Thus letting the administration win. Once they get into your head there is no stopping the damage that may occur. Soon simple classroom exercises will be examined to make sure their will be nothing will insight outside censorship. Therefore, we must stand up for what we believe in or our teaching quality is going to drop significantly. If we become aware of our classroom needs then censorship will become less of an issue. We also must fight to get rid of self-censorship and work with future colleagues to promote the ideal learning environment for students; teaching controversial literature may be apart of the ideal learning environment. If we keep ourselves open to new ideas and reflect daily in order to become the best possible teachers.

     

Into the Night

Sleeping quarters in a concentration camp --how sad

  

    Wow. Wow. Wow. Those were the very words that flowed out of my mouth immediately after reading Night by Elie Wiesel . This novel focuses upon the tragic events Elie Wiesel was put through during the Holocaust. Traveling from concentration camp to concentration camp he is put through constant torture. I have always read about the Holocaust and even watched many movies/shows focusing on it. None and I mean none, have impacted me in the way this book has. Wiesel describes his journey in simplistic diction but the message was strengthened by such. No human should be put through the experiences Wiesel and his father had to tolerate. From riding in open roofed train cars with dead bodies to smell the burning flesh climbing out of the crematoria. Reading about such events have drastically altered my views of life; I cannot imagine actually experiencing such events. 

    However, I know majority of society accepts that the Holocaust actually occurred --but do they truly accept it? To be more specific.. Americans accept this event actually occurred but have not studied these atrocities outside of their 10th Grade History lesson. I would certainly love to include Night in my class curriculum. This memoir would open the eyes to so many students and I feel the impact would resonate with them forever. The themes of death, humanity, survival, and existence would be explored. I just hope I get the chance to teach many lessons on this story because its message is timeless. That we are all brothers regardless of race, religion, gender etc.  It would also be useful to draw their attention to genocide present in the world today.

     But reading this memoir has not just left me with feelings of despair and agony, rather I feel encouraged to make an impact on others. Wiesel calls for everyone to act because we are alive and it our natural born duty as humans. We must help others simply because it is the human thing to do. We must wake up from our own dreams like the children in the beginning of Night. Arise from our slumber and help others all over the globe. Ignorance is not bliss and we are called to help all people. In this crazy world we have people looking at themselves just like Wiesel, "The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me." Let's prevent other people from having to endure atrocities that destroy ones soul for the rest of their life.

  

P.S. Oprah, you made an excellent book club choice. I mean your first memoir didn't go over as well; I think James Frey realizes that. But I'm glad you chose this memoir to enlighten the spirits of many Americans. Good job :)

Here is part 1 of an amazing interview at the Auschwitz death camp with Elie Wiesel. This is extremely moving.