From: "Wahome, Kimamo" <WAHOMEK@uwec.edu> Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:49:34 -0500 Subject: Shakespeare & Kids :-) Message-ID: <E3F0E607B3CF71418CE725F002B5F604415A56D024@CHERRYPEPSI.uwec.edu>
There seems to be an endless war between teachers who try to feed Shakespea
re to their charges and children who stubbornly resist all their efforts.
The latest theory is that Shakespeare should not be kept for older scholars
but should be introduced as early as primary school. A BBC programme recor
ded little children playing the scene where the ghost of Hamlet's father ap
pears on the battlements of Elsinore Castle.
"Whooooooo," went the girls, imitating the eerie wind.
"Aaaaaaah," went the boys, mimicking a terrified Hamlet while joyfully scar
ing themselves silly.
So what was the verdict on Shakespeare? Great, the children said, wonderful
, fun, exciting.
But there's always one, isn't there!
"I don't like Shakespeare," growled the boy, "too many long words that I do
n't understand." Also, he complained, "too much dying and too much kissing.
"
Oh dear, said the BBC lady, and which was the worst, the dying or the kissi
ng?
No doubt about it. "The kissing!"