Turning the air blue · Thu May 18, 22:54 by Eleri Straker
Today I had fun.
It’s that time of year when we in the English department introduce the year 7s to Shakespeare. We always do a small section of Midsummer Night’s Dream to give them a taste of the Bard. But before we get into the play, we (or at least, I do) do the introductory stuff with background and facts and all that.
I started on the language. I always make a point of being extremely loud and declamatory when I start this aspect of Shakespeare because I think that to introduce the younger years to Will, you need to be totally unsubtle. So I get on chairs, wave my arms about spouting random speeches and generally making a complete prat of myself. The kids find it highly amusing and I get a chance to be totally silly. Today I taught my class to insult each other. In Shakespearean.
I found a web site that provided a list of Shakespearean words divided up into three columns with the simple instruction of choosing one word from each column then prefixing them with “thou”. The effect is hysterical. Once I’d explained to the class what they had to do, they were away. Within moments my whole class were yelling at each other in seventeenth century English. It was noisy and apparently chaotic, but what a buzz! They were having so much fun insulting each other that they forgot they were learning! They all wanted to take the list home so they could insult their parents!
Oh yes, and before they left, I told them that they had to insult me, in true Shakespearean form, in the right language and with feeling! So they did. And we all left the room grinning.
Whatever else these kids learn about Shakespeare in the future from other teachers in years to come, I know that they will go into those lessons having learned that far from being tedious and boring, the Bard can be fun and should be enjoyed.
