Introduction
“Be just, and fear not” –William Shakespeare, Henry VIII
Why Shakespeare?
Sweaty palms, rapid heart rate, and complete paranoia arose. I sat in the desk furthest from where my professor lectured and managed to skillfully avoid his gaze for months until one day in late October when he gestured in my direction and asked me to discuss the shift in Kate’s disposition at the end of The Taming of the Shrew. I froze. As an English major and 4.0 student, I felt immediately fraudulent and entirely incompetent in spite of having read the play several times. I knew there was a ‘right’ answer. I was also painfully aware that I didn’t intuitively know the answer he wanted. As I feared and half expected, he countered my response and followed up with his own analysis. In that moment, I wanted to run from the professor, the class, and from Shakespeare. In truth, I never stopped running from the playwright. Years later, as a high school teacher, I was assigned senior English in which I knew I would be required to teach the Bard. Sweaty palms, rapid heart rate, and complete paranoia arose, all over again.
Arguably, there is no running away from William Shakespeare as his legacy and works penetrate the world we engage in, and in time I grew more comfortable with both the writer and his words; however, the above moment in my own academic history serves as a salient reminder of the educator I do not want to be and the feeling I never want my students to experience. Aside from biblical stories, perhaps, there are no other works more prevalent than those of Shakespeare, and I can feel confident that his name will fall on the ears of my students long after they leave the confines of my classroom. When that happens, I want my students to be active participants in the discussion. I do not want them to cower away in fear and intimidation and run away as I did years ago. Instead, my intent for them is to connect, examine, and ultimately feel secure enough to assert themselves in the conversation wherever it arises. I want them to pick up on the references and get the jokes. When it comes to Shakespeare, I want them to be 'in on it'. To state it plainly, I want them to regard Shakespeare as their 'homie', someone who can give insight, provide comfort, and is relevant.
Regarding the following unit, above all else, it is the eradication of intimidation and the inferiority complex associated with the reading of Shakespeare that is central to my aims. No one wants to get Shakespeare wrong, and the goal of our class study must be transparent from the onset. It is not a goal to develop Shakespearean scholars, though if that is a happy side effect- I have no complaints. The goal is instead to foster a sense of confidence and willingness to work with Shakespeare and his texts as relevant, well-crafted works of literature, and to make sure that along the way everyone will have something to add to the conversation. Shakespeare may be long dead, but his words live on because they resonate and still harbor truths about character and circumstance. For that alone, there is a tangible measure of importance that can be associated with the teaching of Shakespeare , and the following unit focusing on The Merchant Of Venice will humbly attempt to do just that.
Demographics of School and District
Currently, I teach eleventh and twelfth grade English in Richmond City Public Schools at Franklin Military Academy in Richmond, Va. Given that my school is not a traditional comprehensive high school, there several distinctions worth noting. First, students travel from all over the city and the total student population is only around 375. There is only one teacher per subject grade level, two in my case, so all students required to take English 11 or 12 have to take my course with no alternative offered. It is a militarily run school in which each morning begins with formation and orders of the day. Students are dressed daily in army uniforms and earn military rank through a JROTC structure. Teachers are also addressed with military rank and respect; I hold the rank of Major, and the students address me as such.
Aside from the military distinction, the students are not unlike any other population of children in Richmond City. The population of our students labeled economically disadvantaged by federal standards is just over 91%. The ethnic breakdown of our students is roughly 94% African American, 4% white, and 2% Indian/Hispanic, and the gender breakdown is close to a 50/50 ratio. Due to the number of students in our school, the student to teacher ratio is smaller than that of our comprehensive school counterpart at roughly 15:1. Additionally important to note, we are entering our fourth year of federal school improvement, and although we are making great strides, we still have some areas of weakness we are continuing to work on collectively as a school.
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