Personally i don't think there is a single reason why they have to include shakespeare in the English Curriculum. the shakespeare's wording is hard to understand and i don't see why we need it in real life..

I voted yes. Our english class studies like 2-3 shakespearean plays a year. The only reason why I like them is because we watch a few of them in videos and listen to some on tape and it's easy to understand with practise.

We studied Romeo and Juliet last year. It's famous.... so many remakes on video xP

i don't really like reading shakespeare with all their elizabethan talk and iambic pentameter and the old english that i don't get without the translation. but the plot itself is interesting

I voted soso. The vocabulary does require a lot of adjusting to, but aside from that, as gossip80 mentioned, the plots are very interesting.

I love his Romeo and Juliet, although the timeline could be a little longer. I mean all those happened in like a week!

Anyway, his works are like the basis of many stories I've read. The plots are very interesting, but I could use some modern words. Maybe if they apply those to modern stories, more people would understand and maybe even like Shakespeare.

I dont like shakespeare. His book r borin and hard to read. but i havent read it since HS...

i love shakespeare.. and the best one ive studied so far is hamlet..
it's so moving and interesting..
the different type of english kinda fades away once you get the hang of it and understand the story.. it's amazing

it might seem boring especially when your teacher sucks though.. but if u spend time on it.. it's such a good read..
i hate analyzing though.. it ruins books..

I voted No. We studied a few of Shakesphere's text before in high school and I found it so boring. I see no use for it in real life too.

yes I do
currently studying macbeth at school. its a little short though~

OMFG R U KIDDEN ME?!??!! SHAKESPEARE IS THE MOST COMPLICATING MAN ON EARTH!!! im doing him for english right now...on merchant of venice..we got a book and i read 3 pages...i dont get a single thing LOL...romeo and juliet might be good but its just that the language is soo fricken hard!!! :P

^ yep i gotta admit that the language is really difficult to understand as i had problems with it too but luckily i had a great english teacher

I don't find it necessary to include Shakespeare in english. It is so hard to understand, and its not like we use that kind of wording anymore.

to me..sometimes i feel the language is too abstract for me to comprehend. and although i know there's a rhythm in the plays, i jsut don't see it, or in thiscase feel it. i never really liked his plays, and when i had to read it for school..sparknotes was the way to go in order to understand it.

I find Shakespeare a man who was ahead of his times. It's sad that many people don't like Shakespeare purely based on the fact that they don't understand him. His plays have a lot of underlying themes and messages that still occur in today's world. Like ambition and what it can do to someone in Macbeth. That still happens, no? And how about love? Romeo and Juliet has become one of the greatest love stories of all time. Shakespeare wrote some beautiful sonnets in his plays and it just takes a little analysing to appreciate fully. You can't have everything served to you on a plate, think about it a litte

it's so so for me... sure he's a great writer and the plays are entertaining to read, but really.. a high school student can only read so much "old English" before they get a headache. The sexual innuendos don't do much to help either >.< King Lear dealt with being naked. So many references to being naked >.<!!!

shakespeare is so boring - currently studying macbeth, we dont really need it for the future

i don't like it at first,
but i think shakespear is very unique, and once you get it, it is the best.
i think he is wonderful in writing stories, they are boring if you do not know it, but if you do, man it is good!

my teacher was good at teaching shakespear, she made it fun, enjoyable, with watching the tv series and stuff. it made everything worth it.

don't need it after hs? but you might engage in certian dsicussions and can bring upon problems with ambitions and etc.... srsly, it impresses ppl and it is good knowledge to have.

i dont like shakespeare!! my english teacher for last year was shakespeare lover, and we did skakespeare for MOST of the year >><!!!

OMG, i hate Shakespear! It's so hard to understand, but i'm getting use to it, have to read a lot of it in school

i don't like shakespear but i don't mind readin it once in a while.... hmmm maybe when its necessary... lol

i like shakespeare because the stories are very interesting as very unique...the storyline is unlike anything else...i really enjoyed studying it at high school...

the shakespearian language is also very sophisticated and classy...

i absolutely despise shakespeare! XD

i mean how great would the world be if we didnt have ppl like shakespeare, newton, einstein etc...

=)

....NO....no offence 2 people who like him....eww shakespeare
--he couldn't make his wordings easy 2 understand--

It's not tough to understand, but your english has to be good to read Shakespeare on your own. I taught MacBeth to my juniors, personally i found it easy.

I admit that the wording is hard to understand, but I think it's never any harm to learn something new. And since Shakespeare was so famous for his works, we might as well get a chance to read them. Not everyone likes Shakespeare, but I think some of the plays are quite interesting.

i wouldn't say i hate or like shakespeare. i did read few of his books and i think its ok. his literatures are hard to analyze but i did learn something from them.

I like shakespeare~!^______^his stories are prety cute however the wording is abit hard to understand i admit!=P but once u understand the story its nice!!lol

I like Literature as a whole, so yes Shakespeare's alright with me.

Much Ado About Nothing is my literature text for my final exams...anybody studied that text already?

I would prefer so much to do MacBeth instead.

Not to mention as part of our lessons we have to translate Shakespearen English into modern English.

i did much ado about nothing.... i loved it!!!
well we watched the video and Hero and dat dude (4got name) was VERY cute!
the guy was hot and the girl was pretti... dat was the turning point for shakespsear in my eyes... i mean, their acting and stuff was exactly like the book and i could understand wat it means...

i think dats why i like shakespear to an extent =D

agree with you! the greatest classics are those that you truly digest with each word. it takes time but it's worth it. i guess reading is a passion and subjective to the reader's taste. however, i collect his works so i'm bias.

shakeapear is boring for me... his plays are very hard to understand..
and at school, i need to act it out..

Ha... it would be blasphemous for me to say no, since many in my line of work believe he is a God.

I love the intelligence and depth to which he is able to delve into with limited production values. He seemed to fully understand many human conditions before the study of human conditions even fully formed.

The only thing I like about shakespear is the idea, and the basic plot in his plays. Given a choice, of course I won't study it, but then last year, I had to study the death of a salesman, which is a mordern play. After reading that play, I found shakespear so much better.
And oh, btw, is it true that in higher grades, you have to memorize an entire shakespear play for the exam. I heard (rumours mainly) that people had to write down entire quotes, and also page number, etc

My school and final year exams require us to write down the quotes and explain it in detail on how it suggests and link back to the question, but er...not to the extent of the page number as some people might be using different texts (as in, text book).

The movie...the one where Kate Beckinsale acted as Hero and Keanu Reeves as Don John?

Yeah, that was hot.

I think that was 'Much Ado About Nothing.'

I ADORE Shakespeare. If you understand the wording, his allusions and puns and sex jokes are pretty hilarious.

Which is your favorite play? And which genre of writings did you like the best? Histories? Comedies? Tragedies?

Shakespeare's books are really unique and interesting to read if you understand the language he used, I used to love reading them but currently I have no time to read them again Any-hoo I respect him, his masterpiece still stand until now, not much writer can do that! *salute him*

I don't really like Shakespeare. His language is hard to understand, but I'd agree his plays etc are very good.

I like it all haha. In grade 11, I learned the opening soliloquy of Richard III by heart. D:

Um...Shakespeare, like he is one of the most studied and admired playwrights in the world...The most funniest thing about him is that he has a knowledge of 21000 words (compared with 2000 average for a person, 3000-4000 for a high/uni student) thats why his language in his plays are so hard to understand but that itself is Elizabethan Language. Still, i don't like him, wish i had his brains though, that would've guranteed me a A+ in english or something!

Studying 'Romeo+Juliet' recently, so boring we were made to watch the old one (i wanted to see the one with the guy form titanic) and like that had full on kissing almost a quarter of the time and a sex scene...yuck!

I voted So-So.... it's always confusing at first, but after you get all the little details and stuff explained, it's really interesting and quite amazing to read. But then, we had to do exams and essays on it O_O.... It ruins the whole thing. Whenever I think of Macbeth now, I think about the next english exam I'll have to do on it in a few months.... *shudders* I'll like it.... next year, when it's all over with....

Shakespeare is a good read for people who understand I guess. Some people just won't bother to or end up understanding. But it's required in schools because his work is so famous and so brilliant. Well, that's just my take on it.

And for those who have to read shakespeare b/c it's required, sparknotes has a set of shakespeare books that has the original Elizabethan english play on one side and on the other side it has modern english's translation.

Shakespeare is really not that hard to understand and pick up. It's quite interesting with very very good images and symbol, it's really good, i voted yes.

do u believe that i have done six years of lit in sch and i have never even done one text of shakespear? i think im quite lucky becuz it would mean that i don't have to interact with the language so much as i cant stand the language. but once u have put the texts in modern language, it will be enjoyable. my fave shakespear text is "Twelves Night" and "A Midsummer's Dream"

hate it ... so boring and so hard to understand what the text talking about !

I love Shakespeare too! I love the plot line especially in Othello any1 read or watched this play before? I love that play!... I've studied Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet... but found Othello the best so far.. I'm going to study the Tempest soon- has any1 watched or know anything about this play???

Shakespeare is obviously going to be boring if u r reading if from a book as the point the play was wrote was to be performed. So I think school should arrange trips to go and see these extraordinary plays- so we can understand and visualise them more....would make more sense wouldn't it... if ur studying a play....

Most of the time I do not know what the book is talking about. Its so boring and the wording is so weird. I can only understand it when my teacher translates it to us.

the only reason i don't like shakespeare is because i don't understand what the hell their saying, it confuses me and it ruins my english mark

TO ME SHAKESPEAR WAS NOT SPECIAL...HE JUST MAKES UP WORDS AND WRITE THOSE VERY PREDICTABLE STORIES TO THE LIKES OF THE KING/QUEEN SO HE CAN HAVE HIS PAYCHQ........... SO don't GET Y PPL THINK HES SOOOOOOOO GOOD AND BLAHBLABLH