Review: Shakespeare on Toast

Title and author: Shakespeare on Toast by Ben Crystal

Publisher: Icon Books

Pages: 263

Release Date: September 11, 2012

ISBN:  9781848310544

Source: NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads):

Who's afraid of William Shakespeare? Just about everyone. He wrote too much and what he did write is inaccessible and elitist. Right? Wrong. "Shakespeare on Toast" knocks the stuffing from the staid old myth of Shakespeare, revealing the man and his plays for what they really are: modern, thrilling and uplifting drama. Actor and author Ben Crystal brings the bright words and colourful characters of the world's greatest hack writer brilliantly to life, handing over the key to Shakespeare's plays, unlocking the so-called difficult bits and, astonishingly, finding Shakespeare's own voice amid the poetry.

Told in five fascinating Acts, "Shakespeare on Toast" sweeps the cobwebs from the Bard - from his language, his life, his time - revealing both the man and his work to be relevant, accessible and full of beans. This is a book for everyone, whether you're reading Shakespeare for the first time, occasionally find him troublesome, think you know him backwards, or have never set foot near one of his plays but have always wanted to ...It's quick, easy and good for you. Just like beans on toast.

My Thoughts:

Ben Crystal attempts the “impossible”: to make readers feel relaxed, calm, and comfortable with The Bard. If the title does not relax you and lure you into reading it with a cup of coffee, then Crystal’s writing style surely will.

The author has a relaxed style that is inviting to even the most hesitant reader. After all, we’ve all read books on and/or about Willy Shakes, right? Well, this is not a typical biography. Actually, it’s no biography at all. It is a well-executed piece of literature that covers all facets of Elizabethan England as well as James I.

The layout of the book mirrors that of a Shakespearean play, Acts I to V. He brings readers into the world of Shakespeare with a light-hearted, realistic approach to Shakespeare’s life and work. The historical context in which he places readers helps create a world that is accessible instead of one that is ancient and far past. This is not about Shakespeare, or Queen Elizabeth I, or King James I – this is about how life and culture merge and how Shakespeare created a theater experience through his writing.

There are biographical elements, ones that I found interesting and plan to share with my students. These biographical snapshots are necessary for context of the information, not just there to say, “Hey, look at me and what I know about Shakespeare!” and I appreciate that.

With interesting tidbits such as an American Civil War soldier finding himself so wrapped into the world of one of Shakespeare’s plays that he found it necessary to act himself, Crystal makes Shakespeare’s writing accessible to even the most novice reader.

But what I loved most about the book as a whole is how approachable the material truly is. The author teaches readers how to relish the words of Shakespeare, and through providing a meter lesson with Hamlet and Macbeth, he helps teachers like myself to take his strategy and apply it within my own classroom. I even found myself counting meter with him as he explains Shakespeare’s genius in not only using exact meter but also in breaking it, begging the audience to pay attention to the character/plot at that particular moment, asking themselves why, and opening a discussion about meaning.

And while this is not a teacher’s guide to Shakespeare, Crystal made me feel so comfortable with the book that I found myself nodding along, counting along, cheering and laughing as he delved into the writing of Shakespeare. I teach Hamlet, and I plan to take his meter lesson and using it in my own classroom, which is a sneaky way to teach students how to measure meter without realizing they are truly “learning.”

I recommend this book to everyone – teachers and anyone who has felt he/she did not understand Shakespeare.

And a final plug for why you should read this book: "A brilliantly enjoyable, light-hearted look at Shakespeare which dispels the myths and makes him accessible to all. I love it!” – Judi Dench

Judi Dench has spoken. If it's good enough for Judi, a Shakespearean actress of awesomeness, it's good enough for you too!

For more, visit Shakespeare On Toast online

Review: Falling for Hamlet

I am always looking for novels to bring into pieces that I teach. I feel that it gives the piece credibility that extends past the author's own words. It's as if I can say to students, "Well, you may not think this piece is important, but let me introduce you to others who would disagree..." I especially love it when novels I introduce are YA novels because they speak my students' language.

This is why I had to buy and read this novel. I had to find other ways to connect Shakespeare to modern times, to prove to my students he is not antiquated nor are his ideas. He lives on...even in the world of YA lit. 

Summary (from Goodreads):

Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course.

Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia.

My Thoughts:

Author Michelle Ray brings Hamlet into the twenty-first century, rife with all the modern “drama” that can be seen on television.

But this book is not a focus of Hamlet or his characterization.

Enter Ophelia, whose father is a loyal worker to the Hamlet household and whose brother is a college student full of warnings. But when King Hamlet suddenly dies, the household falls into a spiral, taking everyone living there down with it, including Ophelia – with exception, it seems, to the King’s brother and Ophelia’s father.

While Hamlet struggles to find the truth of his father’s death, readers of the famous play will recognize sprinkled elements of the original, almost a wink to the audience that Hamlet is not forgotten; however, the star is Ophelia, and it shines bright on her relationship with Hamlet, her father, the royal household, her friends.

The novel is not plot-driven but character-driven. Readers must first invest in Ophelia as a character in order to buy into the plot. I not only bought into Ophelia but also all the minor characters as well. I feel the author brought Shakespeare’s most popular play into modern times in an authentic way.

The characterization of each character matches that of Shakespeare’s, and there are clever additions that answer questions that my students always ask while reading the play.

• Where is Ophelia’s mother?
• What kind of relationship does Ophelia and Hamlet really have?
• How close is Ophelia to her father and her brother?
• What role does Polonius play in the Royal household?

These holes are skillfully filled throughout the novel, allowing me to bring up Ray’s ideas to my own students when these questions arise during the reading of the play.

But…I do have a complaint.

For me, I found the opening and closing of each chapter to be a distraction from the storytelling itself. The novel would have been stronger without the talk show antics and police interrogation. After quite a few chapters I found myself skipping them completely, and by novel’s end I did not feel as if I had missed out on anything.  

While reading this novel, I could not help but notice parallels between Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship and that of Kate Middleton and Prince William (while they were dating). There were a lot of similarities, and it is clear that the Royal couple is where she drew inspiration. After all, if you are going to bring characters like Ophelia and Hamlet into modern society, what better way than through Kate and William?

While this is an interesting and authentic update to Shakespeare’s tale, it does not live up to Klein’s Ophelia. I am sure that others have made the same comparison. The two novels are presented in different ways and serve two different purposes. If you have read Klein’s Ophelia, do not miss out on this novel. While it may not live up to Klein’s novel, it is still a strong re-telling.

Hooray for having two YA novels to introduce to students when teaching Hamlet! At the conclusion of teaching the play, I plan to book talk both novels to my students.

Have you read either novel? What are your thoughts?

Do you have a YA novel that you use when introducing/teaching classical literature to students? Share your title(s) in the comment section.

Happy Reading!

Happenings in Hodgensville

Happenings in Hodgensville is me sharing myself with you - not reviewing a book or discussing what I am reading, but sharing what I am doing in my classroom and/or in my life. This first post is a classroom post, and I hope you find value in it.
 

Last week I did a post titled YA in the Classroom? YES You Can! In that post I mentioned an outside reading project I have my AP students work through as their final reading assignment of the year. I want to share it with you, getting your thoughts and ideas on how to make it even stronger.

The project itself came out of desperation of an AP teacher who felt the grading overload on her back. Spoiler alert: the “her” is ME. I wanted to do something new and different with my students where they would not have to complete another dialectical journal or DIDLS assignment. (Actually, I was convinced that had I given them one more, they would have taken me up by my pinky toe on the flag pole in the front of the school.) I sifted through reading strategy books I owned, a research project our AP Lit. teacher used, and read through a few sites on the Internet. 

Thus was born “The Final Outside Reading Project.”

It holds a lot of educational value while also allowing students the freedom to read what they choose (as long as I approve it) and work on those reading/writing/thinking skills.

This is the top of the handout I give to students. They must choose a theme and tie their novel into it. 

My favorite comment on this part is, “I want to read _____ novel but I don’t know what theme I would place it.” OR, “Is it wrong if _____ (novel) is sold to you as ____ theme? What if you don’t agree?” Here’s what I tell my students: can you sell it to me? If you can justify why you have placed your novel with that particular theme, then the answer is YES!

Once students have chosen their novel, I have them write their name and choice on a sticky note and leave it on my desk. I sort through the sticky notes. If I have an issue with a title, I write the student a note and stick it on his/her desk. If they do not hear from me, their book is approved. This saves a lot of class instruction time. It also makes it easier on me because I have a spreadsheet where I write down their titles.

I do not allow more than one student to do a book for this project per class period. I may have four students who want to do Divergent, but they all must be in different classes. If my kids did all the same books, it becomes a stale project.

Here is how I explain the project from the get-go, as a three-step assignment. 

 

Here are the journals I assign. There are two, and they each serve a different purpose.

Journal 1

Each prompt needs to have at least 5 THOUGHTFUL sentences, but no more than 8, of commentary. Then, I want you to find three quotes to solidify your commentary. Yes, three quotes PER question.

1.      The theme of this novel is…

2.      This character reminds me of…

3.      This description makes me feel…

4.      The setting gives the effect of…

5.      Details seem to be out of place/effective/important…

6.      I didn’t expect the character to do this/to react this way…

7.      The attitude(s) of the author/characters makes me feel…

There are 18 questions total for journal one, and I’m giving you a sampling of the first seven. The rules for the journal are above as well. It is time consuming. It asks students to think about what they are reading. Most of all, it is asking students to find text evidence. By the time they finish with journal one, they have written 90 sentences and found 54 pieces of text evidence.

Journal 2:  

For the ending of the novel—you will answer all six questions using quotes as support for your answer. Each answer should be 5 to 8 sentences in length, including your supporting evidence (quotes).

1.      What is your final impression of the novel? Explain.

2.      How do you feel about the ending? Could the novel have ended another way? Explain.

3.      Sometimes novels leave us feeling there is more to say—did this novel do this? What do you think 

         could have happened?

Journal two deals with the ending of the novel and students have six questions to work through on this one. This journal is all about reflecting on what they have read, finding meaning, and finding a way to work it into their synthesis and/or argument essays on the AP exam.

What is above deals with the written portion of the assignment. There is also a presentation, and this is where students have an opportunity to be artistic, which is a gift because in AP, that opportunity is rarely there. Some students really shine with this portion of the presentation and others do not – and that’s okay. It is about hitting all of their strengths.

For the presentation, I do not give a lot of guidelines. I inform them of what is required for the artistic element of the project, but the presentation is 100% up to them. 

The Presentation

After you have completed your project, we will have presentations for everyone’s novels. This way, we get to experience, even if only for a moment, what everyone read.

What you need for the presentation:

·  Your novel is being made into a movie—you are in charge of creating a movie poster. (If your novel

    has already been made into a movie, you must choose different actors.)

·  A book jacket of your own design

·  A bookmark for your novel (You only need 1, but feel free to make enough for everyone in class if

    you have the time/energy.)

·  A magazine advertisement (I will show you a few examples)

Remember, you are working around a theme. Your poster, book jacket, bookmark, and magazine ad should reflect this theme without you having to directly state it.

Presentation Day:

·  Everyone will be “stationed” around the room. You will set up your poster, book jacket, bookmark,

   and magazine advertisement in your area.

·  First, we will take a few minutes to mingle and go around the room to look at what everyone created.

·  Then, you will be given the floor for a two-minute pitch of your novel. What you tell us during the pitch

   is 100% up to you.

Now, as I teacher I understand that visuals are quite important. I have made five collages with nineteen examples of my students’ work. 

This is just one example of The Book Thief. I believe this was 100% hand-painted, but don't quote me on that.

I loved the work the student did on this one. It was original, there was an interesting use of color, and I could tell you really enjoyed her book choice.

 

Here are four examples: The Princess Bride, If I Stay, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

It does not show in the picture, but the Hitchhiker's had lights that wrapped around and lit up - which was cool. The If I Stay was breathtaking in person with the choice of color. The student used photo paper for all of her presentation pieces.

Here are two interesting ones: A Clockwork Orange and Thirteen Reasons Why

The clock really worked, and it was so cool because you could hear the "tick tock" as time passed. I loved her book cover as well, which she hand-drew.

He did a great job with Thirteen Reasons - I was really impressed.

Here is a sample of magazine ads. Students seemed to struggle with that the most. They were fine with all other aspects, but they were not too sure what to do for the add.

Many used quotes from the book jacket, and others did this...

Here are five other examples of what students designed for this project. I tried to take pictures of all artistic levels to share with my students for next school year. Some are very lovely and done by hand, others are interesting and technology was used to create it. All I was looking for was original ideas.

And that is my Final Outside Reading Project I assign to my AP Lang. students. This was their best project of the year. During the presentations of the books, many had a lot of energy because they really enjoyed the book they chose.

Some students chose books they had previously read, and I allowed it. To me it did not matter if they had already read the novel. What was important was the level of thinking they were going to get out of it. After all, they could not complete those journals without re-reading or glancing through those books.

I would love feedback on this. Do you have other ideas that I could incorporate? I am always looking for ways on how to make this project even more interesting for my students.

What do you do in your classroom that is interesting?

If any of you would like  a copy of this project, shoot me an email with "Reading Project" in the subject here and I will send it to you.