“Out you green sickness, out you baggage, you tallow face, you worm!”
“Get you gone, you dwarf, you minimus of hindering knot-grass made, you bead, you acorn!”
These are the insults eighth-grade students in Jennifer Woods’ English class recently hurled at one another. Quotes from Shakespearean literature, the insults made little sense to students out of context, but nevertheless, acclimated them to the language of another era in an entertaining, low-stakes way.
“Our goal is for students to become comfortable with Shakespeare's language before ever diving into the text,” said Woods. “It is the first time the students have studied Shakespeare, and they often have an innate fear of understanding it, a fear that must be overcome if they are to make sense of the text. We use these types of vocal warm-ups to help students realize that working with Shakespeare doesn't have to be scary. In fact, it should be fun!”
During Woods' class, eighth graders will focus on the first three acts of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Julius Caesar, a play that chronicles the ultimate demise of the powerful ruler.
“This is a great play to introduce Shakespeare because the students usually bring some prior knowledge to the text (the assassination of Julius Caesar), making the plot easier to follow. Because they are not spending as much time trying to figure out what will happen, it gives them more time to focus on understanding Shakespeare's language,” said Woods. “Not only do we use the text to introduce students to Shakespeare's language, we also use it to explore the theme of people's tendency to wear facades and thus keep hidden their genuine nature."
The study of Shakespeare in the eighth-grade is part of Whitefield’s preparation for Upper School English.