Webb's chapter 5 relates to Shakespeare and other multicultural literature. In my perspective, Shakespeare is a very important genre to study throughout middle school and high school. Unfortunately, I was only exposed to Shakespeare in my 9th grade English class where we read the usual, Romeo and Juliet. I think most students are intimidated by reading Shakespeare seeing that the English language has dramatically changed since Shakespearean times. While reading Shakespeare, much emotion has to be displayed to get the full effect of the characters and themes of the text. I wish I had not been so resilient to read Shakespeare on my own growing up considering that it can be fun to read, and there are plenty of resources to guide anyone who is struggling with the language or overall comprehension. Webb states, "As with any of Shakespeare's plays, approaches such as reading the text in class, listening to recordings, viewing taped performances (of which there are many), and enacting scenes are necessary in order to help students of all levels appreciate Shakespeare's language and stagecraft" (87). Using all these approaches when teaching Shakespeare can significantly impact anyones comprehension and understanding Shakespeare and also make it fun.
Webb also discusses a few African American literature novels like, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. I was fortunate enough to read this novel in my African American Literature course about a year ago and I found it to be very interesting. I would like to say that veering away from the typical classic novels of American Literature was a nice change. It really broadens your horizons and exposes you to what different cultures are like. I think a novel like Things Fall Apart, can be used most definitely to influence, and teach young adolescents about different cultures they really do not have much knowledge about. As a near future English educator, I would sincerely enjoy teaching multicultural novels to my students. This way students have a higher chance of engaging in the readings since we can touch on several different cultures throughout literature.
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Yes, I totally agree! Students are apprehensive about reading Shakespeare because of his use of language. At least that's what I thought in high school...This intimidation limits students interpreting his works, so using drama or reading as a whole class can help alliviate these difficulties. Addtionally, Webb stresses that the historical and cultural contexts in which Shakespeare was writing should be examined. When all of these approaches are used simultaneously, Shakespeare can begin to be "demystified."
It's still so interesting to me how different people find different books. I read your bit about how you loved "Things Fall Apart" only minutes after my roommate was telling me how much he hated that book, and it's just another example of how you simply can't impress all your students all the time because they're all different. I agree about Shakespeare, there is a lot of great information that can be taught there, and actually I think using a lot of Wilhelm's strategies might be vital in effectively teaching it, I mean, considering Shakespeare was meant to be seen not read I think a lot of the acting out Wilhelm described might help a lot.
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