Shakespeare--a new must

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FeManJay
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Shakespeare--a new must

Post by FeManJay »

There was a study done recently by a gentleman who urges everyone to read more works by Shakespeare. His study started as a curiosity on how the brain reacts to Shakespearean prose, and ended with some fascinating and inspiring results. William Shakespeare often misuses nouns and verbs to great effect. However, this causes some interesting changes in the brain. There are two different parts of the brain that deal with noun usage and verb usage. When you are learning in elementary school nouns and verbs, you are teaching your brain. When you learn a new language, you are ingraining that new information into your brain as well.
There is something called the N400 which describes the 400 nanosecond response to something that your brain believes does not make sense. There is also something called the N600 which describes the 600 nanosecond response to something that your brain recognizes as something that does not make grammatical sense but still makes sense in its meaning. Usually your brain has the N400 response or the N400 in tandem with the N600. However, whilst conducting this study, they found that some phrases Shakespeare uses only inspire the N600 response. This is a rare phenomenon that has been proven to open new path ways in the brain and cause you to increase your ability to learn new things as well as your level of intelligence. In conclusion? Read more Shakespeare and become more smarter. :wink:
So while this wasn't really a review for a book, I do think it qualifies for this section because I urge everyone to go pick up a copy of your favorite Shakespearean work, or even a brand new one. Because there is no easier way to increase your intelligence than by reading a tragedy/history/comedy/romance.
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migrodsky
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Post by migrodsky »

I couldn't agree more with you. When I was in college I needed one elective to fulfill my full time student hours requirement as a second semester senior, and being a self proclaimed book nerd I chose an English class that only focused on Shakespeare. We read six of Shakespeare's plays throughout the semester as well as watching different interpretations of them in film. Our professor also had us act out assigned scenes and write papers relating topic in the plays to current event. The class was filled with mostly junior and senior students (non-English majors) just trying to fill up their schedule but let me tell you, that class was hands down my favorite class in college. I was excited for the homework and other assignments and I truly felt smarter just for reading them. The drive that I had for completing these assignments and completing them well totally rubbed off onto my other school-work. I credit Shakespeare for not falling into the 'senioritis' mentality that so many of my fellow classmates did.
Shakespril
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Post by Shakespril »

Shakespeare is my favorite author. I think that reading him requires patience. I am not surprised with the findings bacause reading Shakespeare is more fun indeed.
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asmaahsan
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Post by asmaahsan »

I remember reading Shakespere in school, starting with The Merchant of Venice. It was hard to read as his writing style is more poetic than prose but once I got the hang of it, I realized that his real talent was to say more in less words using a lot of imagery and metaphors. It sure challenged my brain!

My personal favorite was Much ado about nothing.
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DATo
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Post by DATo »

The best way I can describe "adjusting" to Shakespeare is to ask you to think of some activity of which you are not usually a participant. I will use the example of going to a swimming pool or beach and suggest that this is not something you do very often. At first one must make the mental shift of accepting the presence of people who are scantily dressed. We are conditioned to seeing people mostly clothed in our day to day affairs and the thought of walking into a mall, the workplace, or church dressed for the beach is enough to make one shudder. But once you have acclimated yourself to the beach or pool you very quickly feel that this mode of dress is normal and totally acceptable to you.

This is sort of what I undergo whenever I read Shakespeare after not having read him for some time. His prose seems alien and indecipherable at first. As I continue to read I begin to slowly acclimate to his mode of writing and soon find myself perfectly at ease with it. I think many people who are new to Shakespeare are unwilling to take the time or make the effort to acclimate to his style of writing and give up too soon. I do tend to read annotated versions to help me with words like fardels (Without an annotated version I would have no idea what a fardel is for instance, nor would I be able to distinguish one from an ape if my life depended on it).
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
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Maud Fitch
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Post by Maud Fitch »

DATo wrote:.....At first one must make the mental shift of accepting the presence of people who are scantily dressed. We are conditioned to seeing people mostly clothed in our day to day affairs and the thought of walking into a mall, the workplace, or church dressed for the beach is enough to make one shudder. But once you have acclimated yourself to the beach or pool you very quickly feel that this mode of dress is normal and totally acceptable to you.....
Enjoyed your descriptive analogy. Not hard for me to conjure because the coastal regions of south east Queensland are full of scantily clad individuals. However, I believe Shakespeare wrote his works to be performed and perhaps the best way to understand his prose is to see a theatre performance. It gives the characters flesh and blood and breathes life into those immortal words.
"Every story has three sides to it - yours, mine and the facts" Foster Meharny Russell
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EM29
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Post by EM29 »

Wow, thanks for that information. I have read quite a bit of Shakespeare's work. This has encouraged me to read more Shakespeare and perhaps revisit some of my favorite works. Thanks.

EM
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DATo
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Post by DATo »

EM29 wrote:Wow, thanks for that information. I have read quite a bit of Shakespeare's work. This has encouraged me to read more Shakespeare and perhaps revisit some of my favorite works. Thanks.

EM
Maude,

Apparently I missed your reply when it was first posted. I agree that actually seeing a play can be a good introduction to Shakespeare. It is much easier to understand the meaning of the script when it is being performed. Voice inflections and body language can add tremendously to the meaning of the words being spoken.

EM29,

I'm not sure if your comment was in response to my post or to all of the people who have posted to this topic. If it was to mine you are most welcome. I strongly encourage you not to give up on Shakespeare. Anything of true value is worth working for and Shakespeare's plays are certainly worth the effort. As mentioned in my earlier post, once you get used to his writing you will find it much easier to understand. And don't feel bad about using things like Cliff's Notes or other explanatory guides to aid you with your reading.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
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adventureads101
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Post by adventureads101 »

William Shakespeare is by far my favorite author of all time. Being a poet by nature, I love the ebb and flow of his words. The imagination takes flight and the reader is brought to a place in the mind unattainable prior to reading these eloquent and provocative lines. Whenever I am stressed out, I sit down with a cup of coffee and some Shakespeare. Within a few pages, I am feeling the anxiety leave and the calmness settle in. Shakespearean work requires you to "think" as you are reading. If you get lost in thought, you miss the magic. I believe Shakespeare should be required reading for all students from junior high through college levels. This type of writing is food for the brain.
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Biscuits and Books
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Post by Biscuits and Books »

I love Shakespeare's works! The Merchant of Venice is a favorite as well as Romeo and Juliet. I have always found his stories to have a twist in the tale as well as a good lesson learned. His words always have more meaning than just the letters on a page. Shakespeare invites you into deeper thinking and reevaluation of human nature1
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Post by AliceRose »

I haven't read any Shakespeare for a while. I think, after having to read so many of his plays for school, I saw it as more of a chore than anything else. Now I have left, I'd like to read some of his works for pleasure and look at them in a different light. :)
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Zannie
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Post by Zannie »

I had to study his plays to be able to perform them. I remember photocopying the play larger and creating a border to circle words and write their definitions in. By the time opening night came I understood every word and meaning. It certainly made me feel smarter and made me think faster.
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emmy grace
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Post by emmy grace »

Fascinating! I always thought that Shakespeare's works were sophisticated and beautifully written. I appreciate Shakespeare's works as classic and one of a kind, though I do wish there was a modern Shakespeare that was just as beautiful and sophisticated while still being one of a kind.
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read_on
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Post by read_on »

I love reading Shakespeare but I've got to say nothing beats actually going to see a performance of one of his plays.
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Jenn+books
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Post by Jenn+books »

To echo others in this topic, I also love Shakespeare--now! I absolutely HATED him when we read "Romeo and Juliet" in high school because it felt like he was speaking a totally different language. I understood absolutely nothing, and I felt stupid for it! For years afterwards, I never attempted another play. When I start my Master's in English (almost 20 years later!), I knew that I had to do something about my Shakespeare-phobia so I took a class on Shakespeare in my first term. Now I'm addicted. I love how Shakespeare gets down below the surface of his characters. He doesn't shy away from the difficulties of human nature. (I just finished "King Lear" yesterday. Talk about some in-depth human characters!) Current authors are still fascinated with Shakespeare, and I love to find his characters, plots, and issues alive and well in new novels and stories.

Of course, his language takes some getting used to. My daughter (14 yrs old) asked me a few days ago if I understood Shakespeare, and so we talked about his language--how you have to adjust your reading expectations, read more slowly, expect to have to work at it. I showed her some examples of how the order of his words and phrases is sometimes different from what we would expect as English speakers today, and how it helps to read to the punctuation rather than the line breaks. No one ever told me any of those things when we read Shakespeare in high school. I think that if we students had been better prepared to encounter the language of the play, I might have been more successful and might not have been scared off for decades! Luckily, I have conquered my fear, and I really enjoy Shakespeare now.

Great discussion--thanks!
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