Class Overview
Made With You in Mind
Can we talk about the elephant in the room?
Shakespeare’s works can feel like a gallery of incomprehensible paintings.
They are famous and vaguely familiar, but like many things, we need help appreciating something we don’t know much about.
Enter the transformative power of a good guide! And we don’t mean your old high school English notes. 😉
Here are some of the principles that guide our Shakespeare study.
- Thorough and supported reading is key. We read the whole play, scene by scene, making sure comprehension is solid every step of the way. Students gain exposure to new language and learn to use context clues to derive meaning.
- Complex language is paired with interpretation. Our assignments invite students to dig deep to decipher metaphors, themes and other figurative language. Higher-level thinking for the win!
- Discussion with others helps generate new insight. This class is a crowd-pleaser partly because of the class bond. Students are constantly debating the latest plot twist or a character’s blunder or daring deception. It’s “spilling the tea” for the 16th century.
- Connections are rewarding. This class offers a flurry of online resources, including the latest celebrity performances and modern-day interpretations. We read to understand how a great story relates to us, to current events, to our world. Shakespeare is still relevant in this way!
Please join us as we continue to follow our tradition of offering the study of Shakespeare's work each year.
What We're Reading
Drum roll, please...
Hark! In this semester's pursuit, prithee, let us delve into the tapestry of
📗 The Merchant of Venice! (May 6 - May 31, 2024)
This spring we will explore the world of the Shakespearean “problem comedies” with an up-close-and-personal study of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.
Students will find interesting material in this course centered on perhaps Shakespeare’s most controversial character, the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who acts as a foil to the beautiful, virtuous, and extremely intelligent Lady Portia and the beleaguered Venetian merchant Antonio. Throw in the clown, Launcelot Gobbo, a confusing courtship ritual involving the choice among three caskets, several romantic relationships, and the most famous trial in all Shakespeare, and we’ll have tons to discuss!
At Brave Writer®, we read a range of books that address a wide variety of perspectives and include time-bound references. Please be aware that you may experience strong reactions to what you read. By using literature as a teaching tool to foster understanding and growth, we have the opportunity to discuss these evolving ideologies.
We encourage you to pre-read books to determine their appropriateness for your family and to prepare to have discussions on these topics with your students as they participate in the class.
