Words, words, words - How to teach shakespeare

How to teach: English - Chris Curtis 2019

Words, words, words
How to teach shakespeare

For years, I placed too much emphasis on teaching the ’big guns’ of literary analysis, such as simile, metaphor and repetition. You could guarantee that at some point I’d get students to draw the images in a play. I often neglected the simpler words. To be honest, we neglect the simple words in analysis all too often. Students can get a detailed understanding when the focus is narrowed onto one simple word. Take my teaching of A Christmas Carol and the introduction of the Ghost of Christmas Present. I simply ask students to come up with three reasons for Dickens’ choice of the words ’jolly’ and ’green’. I present the task like so:

Jolly

Reason 1:

Reason 2:

Reason 3:

Green

Reason 1:

Reason 2:

Reason 3:

The great thing about looking at things like this is that it declutters the thought process and places emphasis on the understandable. Students offer a vast array of ideas. Green could suggest new life, nature or natural experiences. This narrowing of focus really helps to tease out meaning.

I think we underuse students’ intuition when it comes to vocabulary. I often ask them to give me the definition of a word. ’Tom, what does the word “jolly” mean?’ Tom returns a definition. Making vocabulary a common point of discussion helps maintain an ongoing working knowledge of it. I take issue with teachers providing a glossary for every text studied because it promotes parrot definitions rather than active thinking. I’d rather have students mine their brains than look for the answer in a prepared response. If we don’t get students to think about words, then we are not getting them to explore meaning. If we don’t get students to actively construct definitions, then how are we going to get them to read independently?

Let’s go back to the exchange between Cassius and Brutus. Cassius uses the word ’breed’ when persuading Brutus to consider his position in relation to Caesar. Brutus, in response, uses the word ’villager’ when considering what Cassius has said to him.

Breed

Reason 1: controlled selection of the family line.

Reason 2: superiority in relation to others.

Reason 3: without imperfections or weaknesses.

Villager

Reason 1: an insult.

Reason 2: something basic/not sophisticated — would rather make sacrifices than live in these conditions.

Reason 3: Brutus wants to distance himself — clear division between city of Rome and village.

There are hundreds of possible reasons for Shakespeare putting these words in the mouths of these characters. Here we see the class issues and the ’them’ and ’us’ attitude of the noblemen of Rome — their attitude to class is bubbling under the surface.

In addition to narrowing the focus down to single words, I teach students to learn single-word quotations about characters. This approach has been far more effective than learning large swathes of text. Recalling that Romeo is referred to as a ’lamb’ and ’effeminate’ has helped my students structure decent arguments when exploring the role of masculinity in Romeo and Juliet.

Finally, one last thing to do with a single word: get students to write a paragraph on a single word choice. Believe me, the results are interesting, developed and detailed. Write one paragraph explaining why Dickens used ’Twist’ as a surname for Oliver. If students start with a word, they often produce some of their best answers. They have a focus but they can bring in other literary devices and link those to that original word.