Once again to make up for lost days, I’m putting up two things. This week’s “Oh-Ten” Gazette, and a poster I made for the guerilla art thing. I wanted to try to do something a little more hardcore, but I ended up making something that will probably be spotted as not-school-mandated and taken down fairly quickly. Ah well. At least I like how it came out. Two pictures of it because it didn’t quite fit in the scanner, and “to” is there twice becuase I couldn’t remember if I had included it in the first picture. >_<
The “Oh-Ten” Gazette
Your source for what’s not going on in Sophomore IB
Volume 2, Issue 23
How to Read and Understand Shakespeare
This is high school. This is the International Baccalaureate program. There is no way to escape that infamous, confusing, but apparently genius Elizabethan writer. Welcome back to Shakespeare. Julius Caesar is a little harder to wrap your head around than Romeo and Juliet, and not having the book to look over at home isn’t helping anyone. Try these tips so you won’t be biting your thumb at Mrs. Strate when you see your grades.
The main difficulties with Shakespeare are pretty closely linked: Either you can’t tell what they’re saying, or you can’t tell what’s going on. Shakespeare had an annoying habit of mixing the words in sentences in a way that Yoda would have difficulty understanding. To translate an odd sentence, locate the subject and the predicate (what happens to the subject) of the sentence, and arrange them properly in your head. Don’t do this when reading aloud, though, because it takes away from the poetic merit of the piece, and English buffs in your class will probably correct you. It also helps to read the notes in the margins. You have a lot less of a chance of understanding the combination of old vocabulary and figurative language if you don’t.
There are tons of things you can do to get a better idea of what’s actually going on. Pay attention when Mrs. Strate stops the reading to explain what has just happened. You may want to take notes when she does that, as she is probably telling you the answers to the next quiz. Ask questions about parts that confuse you, or write down the scene and line and ask the internet later. The copyright on Shakespeare’s work is way out of date, so you should be able to find any of his plays on the internet. Read the synopses handed out in class, or look them up online.
Maybe someday, in college, or as an adult, you will appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare’s poetry and prose. Maybe you are already beginning to. However, at the moment, it’s okay to just be interested in getting an A on the test.
Rumor has it . . .
Oh Shakespeare, long may you create awkward moments for high school students. As various female characters kneel at the feet of their would-be husbands and declare themselves whores, one begins to wonder why students are subjected to this humiliation every year. While IB sophomres struggle through Elizabethan drama in one class, they continue to teach each other the curriculum in another. Bets are being taken as to when certain teachers will actually begin teaching. Meanwhile, an ailing absentee teacher finally returns, with new enthusiasm to assign group projects and forget to grade them. The question remains: will anyone be able to successfully spell and pronounce Mr. Sczepantzki’s name on the first try?
In Case You Were Wondering
102 days/74 school days until the last day of school.
The Writer is feeling lazy and is looking for someone to help write next week’s Gazette. You know who to see.
The Polish sub’s name is probably spelled wrong here, too.
