Despite being a tenured teacher, this is my first time to teach Sophomore English and I am struggling with Julius Caesar. I confess it is probably because no one taught it to me properly. Or maybe I was skipping school to do tequila shots that day. I dunno. Regardless, I never worried about it because I never really believed that knowledge of Caesar would ever come in handy. Fast forward almost 20 years and here I am. We are all struggling. I am not enjoying it and I know the kids would rather be playing marbles with their eyeballs than studying this. So, basically, my ignorance is smothering any love of Shakespeare that might be flickering behind those glazed-over looks.
So, any help the Dopers can give to make this more interesting/enjoyable/rewarding I’d appreciate. Basically what we are doing is watching the film, discussing it in parts and answering questions. PLEASE HELP! I thank you and my students thank you.
I think it was Richard Amour who it was that observed that Julius Ceasar was responsible for killing generations of kid’s interest in Shakespeare. His point was that it was often taught in middle and high schools because it is (a) short, and (b) clean. It is also, unfortuantely deadly dull political dishwater, aside from Marc Anthony’s “I come to bury Ceaser” speech. It bores the pants off of grown-ups, much less the kids.
Give them A Mid-Summer’s Night Eve, an Elizabethan Beverly Hills 90201. Or perhaps Romeo and Juliet, with its universal themes of tragic young love. Or the hillarious Comedy of Errors, with it’s bawdy double entendres. Or Prince Hal in Henry V, hanging with lowlifes just to piss off Dad.
Give them a play that speaks to them, and they’ll eat it up and ask for more.
I’m sorry I can’t really help you here, but i just wanted to say i almost choked on this little gem in an otherwise perfectly innocious post.
Now I’m here anyway, just a suggestion off the top of my head. Maybe you could tell them some backstory: the decline of the Republic, the transition figure that Caesar was, the battle between the older democratic values and the future autocratic system. Personally I find it easier to follow a historic story if I can put it in context. But maybe you’ve already done that, and these kids find that even more boring.
Well, I’m a certifiable Shakespeare geek, and I must admit that I’ve never warmed up to Julius Caesar either. I’ve always suspected that the only reason why it’s such a standby in high schools is that it’s the only play Shakespeare wrote that doesn’t have any dirty jokes. However, that probably doesn’t help you. Some general thoughts on how to perk up a sleepy class:
– Divide them into groups and have each group pick a scene to perform (ideally, do this over a couple of days so they have time to bring in some togas, fake blood, and such – but even an off-the-cuff staged reading would be more exciting than just looking at the words on the page).
– Have a mock trial for the conspirators, assigning various students the parts of prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, jurors, etc. Should get them used to making arguments and finding evidence in the text to support them.
– If there’s no time for that, have an informal debate on some issue about the play (the obvious ones would be whether the assassination is justifiable, or who, if anyone, is really the hero of the play, but there are some interesting, less cliched choices – e.g., is Brutus’ response to Portia’s death courageous or cold?)
Really, just about anything that gets them involved, moving around, and actively invested in the play should help.
Don’t write this down, but I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He’s a little bit long-winded, he doesn’t translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible.
[Bell rings, students rise to leave]
But that doesn’t relieve you of your responsibility for this material. Now I’m waiting for reports from some of you. …Listen, I’m not joking. This is my job!
Have a mock election where you have to elect one of the characters as Emperor of Rome. Don’t be afraid to bring certain characters back from the grave. Have debates, campaigns, speeches, and stuff like that. That’s what my English teacher did at the end of JC, and I enjoyed it.
Perhaps but doesn’t EVERYONE know the plotline? It’s like not knowing that Jesus gets crucified. But, in case you’re really worried, I don’t think we’ve given away anything major.
Unfortunately, Romeo and Juliet in the 9th grade and Julius Caesar in the 10th and Macbeth in 12th are the only exposure these kids get until college. I’m not allowed to teach any other play because of time and curriculum contraints. :rolleyes:
Oddly enough, I really liked Julius Caesar, but then, I dig the ancient politics.
So what can you do? :dubious:
Emphasize this: Ancient Roman politics was the ancestor & forerunner not only of European feudalism (or, as I call it, “when kid gangs ruled the world”) but of the Mafia. This is violent power politics with a veneer of republican rules. If they aren’t taking to it in isolation, relate it to general political truths.
Updating it might help. Will they go for a Mafia story? :dubious: A modern-politics gloss? Don’t forget that Shak’speare did all his plays in modern dress. Even the ancient Romans were in doublets.
Well, it sounds like you’re stuck with it. To avoid having another generation leave school thinking Shakespeare is only for geeks, pick up a copy of Isaac Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare.
This book is a popular treatment which puts the plays into context; it explains the little details which were part of everyday life in Elizabethan times that Shakespeare could assume his audience knew. He also explains the historical basis for the play. Knowing something of both the contemporary and historical backgrounds makes reading the plays much more interesting.
I still think you should try and sneak a little Titus Andronicus into the mix though. The blood and gore is as sure a winner as it was in Shakespeare’s time.
Who comes up with curriculum, anyway? Spending one year on each of four plays sounds like a guaranteed way to kill any student’s interest dead, dead, dead.
mfd , those are the same three plays I had to read, and which killed my interest in Shakespeare until years later. We never performed, so I agree with the poster who suggested groups picking a scene and enacting it. There’s a “Shakespeare wept” thread going in the Pit now, it might give you some ideas as to what not to do. Find a better film version if nothing else. I had a teacher for JC who did tell us to try and rewrite a scene in updated language, that wasn’t too bad.
Too bad you aren’t doing R&J. When I finally got interested in Shakespeare after seeing a performance of Measure for Measure, and started watching other plays, I realized how many jokes were in that one. And the naughtly thing the nurse’s husband once said to Juliet when she was a toddler!:eek:
PS I always thought, if the schools want to try and hook the students on the Bard they should do the comedies, especially the ones with cross dressing and sex jokes, like Twelfth Night and Measure for Measure. Get them interested *first, * and then ease into the more serious stuff. Sort of like getting one interested in Steven Spielberg by showing them Jaws first, then edge into Schindlers List.
How about dividing the class in two and have them debate whether or not the conspirators were right in killing Caesar. Choose a Marc Antony and a Brutus as leaders.