I'm just saying…

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A mind is like candlelight, it needs to be still to shine brightest.


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2 responses to “I'm just saying…”

  1. Bonnie Odiorne Avatar
    Bonnie Odiorne

    Hey, Caleb, i just read your anation if Changemarticle. I’m not an English teacher any more, but when I learned how to teach ‘English literature’ I thought I was dying. When I taught French literature we talked about language, ideas, people caught in situations that our language and thinking trap us into, and students got it. But ‘English teachers’ cared more about character, plot, setting…than what people might think about what was going on, and the students were dying. One poor kid came into my writing center office and said, “I’ve never thought so hard in my life,” just figuring out what a ‘symbol’ was. He sounded as if he were dying, and I think he was. That all his thinking couldn’t help him get it: he’d just mindlessly repeat what he was told to say, and there was no life there. I’m about to see a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream, where the kids dance and sing popular songs. There was life in the clips I’ve seen. A troupe called Shakespearience does productions–edited, but no compromise in the language; the productions are highly symbolic, but they’re alive. Before and after the performance the actors would explain what they were doing and why, and answered questions. Not about analysis, but about how people get trapped into situations and have to play it out. The characters might die, but they were alive.

    1. admin Avatar

      Hello Bonnie,

      Thank you for your heartfelt message. I appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences with the education system, and thank you for bringing “Shakespearience” to my attention. I will be sure to check them out. Shakespeare By The Sea is another wonderful troupe of actors that puts on performances for free.

      Cheers,

      Caleb

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