Shakespeare should fall from school curriculum - Professor

We went through three Shakespeare books in high school, boring as hell, even the movies sucked. However we also had works by South African/American authors as well as a Kenyan. Those were much better.

They can toss out Shakespeare IMO, there are lots of other quality literary works.
 
blunomore said:
So true.

And don't forget - Shakespeare's themes! His powerful characters! The lines we quote to this day! He created new English words!
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Anybody can create new words, whether or not they catch on is the trick.
 
Jola said:
Do you really understand English if you haven't been exposed to Shakespeare ?
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I think Shakespeare highlights a problem with modern English. Modern languages in general actually. Old English tends to have far more heavily descriptive single contextual words. What I mean is that a lot more could be conveyed in fewer words: emotion, context etc. I find the modern language a lot simpler. A very good example of this is to take two versions of the bible: King James and Good News. Good News is aimed at a much lower English level speaker and broader audience, especially folks who aren't native speakers. The King James uses a a lot of much more contextually heavy words in it's phrases and descriptions.

I believe we are losing something in our languages in the modern era and it's not an improvement.
 
Ninja'd said:
I did Afrikaans 1st Language and matriculated in 2004 and was never exposed to Shakespeare in school.

I had to suffer through Kringe in n Bos and Periandros.
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Funny, I was and matriculated in 1993.

A person about 5 years older than me, in an Afrikaans school with Afrikaans first language, related the high standards with regard to Shakespeare followed and how they loved it.
 
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Ninja'd said:
I did Afrikaans 1st Language and matriculated in 2004 and was never exposed to Shakespeare in school.
I had to suffer through Kringe in n Bos and Periandros.
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Yeah I also never had Shakespeare in the Afrikaans curriculum :D

Just be glad you didn't have to read about Raka the rapist, Kringe in die bos is much less graphic :p
 
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The problem with Shakespeare in South African schools is that they:
1) Didn't do his best works. (Romeo and Juliet for example is a load of B.S)
2) Didn't teach it in a way to appreciate the language used.
3) Don't spend enough time on it.
4) Don't do any of the historical plays.


But I guess the school system that allowed the intellectual abomination of Maths Literacy to be created must also cater for the simpletons in English now as well.
 
I have a pet peeve when it comes to how Shakespeare is taught in school...at least how it was taught to me. It was overly-reverential and uppity...like we were being taught something holy. The man wrote plays to amuse and titillate and shock...here we are reading it nowadays in hushed tones like worshippers at an altar. It's a stupid waste and just leads to people not enjoying it the way it was meant to be enjoyed (witness the guys ITT who were bored by it).
 
konfab said:
The problem with Shakespeare in South African schools is that they:
1) Didn't do his best works. (Romeo and Juliet for example is a load of B.S)
2) Didn't teach it in a way to appreciate the language used.
3) Don't spend enough time on it.
4) Don't do any of the historical plays.


But I guess the school system that allowed the intellectual abomination of Maths Literacy to be created must also cater for the simpletons in English now as well.
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What do you consider to be his best works? We did Twelfth Night and Macbeth.

What "way" are you guys talking about?
 
konfab said:
The problem with Shakespeare in South African schools is that they:
1) Didn't do his best works. (Romeo and Juliet for example is a load of B.S)
2) Didn't teach it in a way to appreciate the language used.
3) Don't spend enough time on it.
4) Don't do any of the historical plays.


But I guess the school system that allowed the intellectual abomination of Maths Literacy to be created must also cater for the simpletons in English now as well.
Click to expand...

The plays change though, not sure what the current set is but we did:

The Tempest
Julius Ceaser
Hamlet
Macbeth

Other set works were:

Animal Farm
Lord of the Flies
Mosquito Coast
Being Here ( short story compilation )
 
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