I chanced upon this book and started to dismiss it as another "You can't read Shakespeare unless it's been modernized and simplified and enervated" volume.
But a brief glance was all it took to let me know how wrong I was.
ShakesFear and How to Cure It is a thoughtful guide for teachers of all grades to what to do when the Shakespeare unit comes up in the curriculum.
Not infrequently, students will tell me that they didn't realize how wonderful Shakespeare was until they took my class. Although I'd like to take that as a compliment on my teaching methods, it's actually that they've had a bad experience with Shakespeare somewhere in the past. Sometimes, that experience had to do with the was Shakespeare was taught.
The title of the book is directed that the fear some students feel at the thought of reading Shakespeare; however, the book itself is enormously useful in alleviating the fear that teachers have at the thought of teaching Shakespeare. This is the book for those teachers out there who are flummoxed with where to begin or how to teach or what to do with Shakespeare in the classroom.
I'm tempted to provide huge extracts from the book because it's such a good resource—even though I disagree with a lot of the recommendations. But that would be neither fair use nor fair play.
But I will provide the list of "Seven Deadly Preconceptions of Teaching Shakespeare" and the way Ralph Alan Cohen addresses the first two:
By way of contrast, I'm also providing the list of nine things you should do with Shakespeare:
Most teachers will find most of this advice sound and helpful; most students will learn more and have a better time doing so. I highly recommend reading through the whole book—and then determining what will work for you and your classroom.
Click below to purchase the book from amazon.com
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
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