Hi! I am a 40 year old mom and I have a son in 9Th grade asking the same thing. It’s not you, it’s the teachers. If they are telling you it’s about the language, they are dead wrong. They have missed the point completely. The beauty of Old Will is the life lessons within the stories and why we still teach Shakespeare is these stories transcend through the ages. Take King Lear, he has a problem relating to his daughter. What dad does not have a problem with a teenage daughter? I agree, the thees and the thous are a little intimidating. Try translating it into your modern teen speak. Have fun with it and look beyond the old text. It is a great story. Then go back and tackle The Scottish Play (MB) and Hamlet. If you are in the classes teaching Shakespeare you are not dumb, far from it. I went into high school and did that groan of “not Shakespeare” too. But I had a dynamite teacher that brought it too life and continued reading and seeking out Shakespeare in college. Now I have the pleasure of reading Shakespeare with my son and someday you will too.

Smile. For twill bring the sparkle in thine eyes to the world.

The American education system is in fact failing. It’s really horrible. But yes. We read all Shakespeare’s work throughout our schooling. I heard a quote once.. While the British have more knowledge of Shakespeare, Americans have more enthusiasm for Shakespeare.

I think if it were all about appreciating the language then you could get that out of a movie. In my opinion reading things like Shakespeare (and also poetry you have to read in school) is because with them the meanings aren’t always clear. You have to think about it, analyze it, and figure out what is being said. While you may not really CARE what is being said in a Shakespeare play, the ABILITY to figure it all out will serve you very well in the future. Plus, as a bonus, being able to figure out and understand the hard stuff will make the other stuff that much easier and will improve your own skills of expression. I hated having to do it too when I was your age but now I can certainly see the value of it! So work your way through, try to enjoy it, and simply think of it as an exercise to improve your thought process and reading comprehension for those books that you actually DO want to read. Good luck!

Me thinks thou doth protest correctly…….

Shakespeare wrote in the lyrical sense to me and a few pomps praise him still today. Yawn.

I enjoyed the book Shakespeare by Another Name, by Mark Anderson “The life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man who was Shakespeare”.

Puts a different spin on the old bard.

you like writing admit it go on you wanna be a writer dont you come on you can tell me just read the book right the report and it will all be over. and on another note for say the next 5 yrs party party party live as free as you can cause on day youll be 25 and your like f u c k 30 is just around the corner.

it might as well be greek because i could understand very little when i was forced to read it. but when we discussed it in class some of it would start to make sense. anyway, i had to read and now you do too. ha.ha.

Because you need to be exposed to all types of literature so that you learn to appreciate various styles.