Prototype 2.0

Mr. Silas A. Ramsbottom

McGraw-Hill Education

P.O. Box 182605

Columbus, OH 43218

Dear Mr. Ramsbottom,

Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play marketed to a middle school student? With all the editions of Shakespeare plays on the market there is essentially a non-existent Shakespeare market for middle school aged persons. Because of our love for the arts, and of course Shakespeare, we believe that an edition to suit this particular audience would be whole-heartedly embraced by teachers, students, and over ambitious parents who want their children to be well cultured. It is not only our love for the Bard that has inspired us to create an edition of As You Like It that is suitable for a middle school audience, but because of the many benefits that such an edition would bring to middle school students and their teachers.

Usually the first experience that students have with Shakespeare is in high school; plays like Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet are common choices of high school teachers. These dramas lend themselves to the more serious and tragic side, with rather depressing or gruesome endings. In a general sense, when high school students hear the word “Shakespeare” their adolescent frames tremble with fear or their developing minds dread the experience. They associate the wondrous name of Shakespeare with words like: boring, difficult, not important, outdated. We desire to ease this reoccurring problem by exposing students to Shakespeare at a younger age through a more humorous and light-hearted play, with the hopes that doing so would lay the ground for future enjoyment and involvement.

One very probable reason why teachers do not introduce Shakespeare to middle school students could be due to the noticeable lack of appropriate editions for that particular age range. While there are a variety of choices for high school teachers to choose from, no such selection exists for middle school teachers. Editions like the Folger Library: General Shakespeare Readers As You Like It have simplified texts and even explanations of unfamiliar words annotated on each page. A middle school teacher could use the front matter, which is more appropriate for a high school audience, but it would require vast amounts of elaboration and selected paragraph readings for the students. Manga offers a simple and creative edition of As You Like It in the form of a graphic novel. However, while this text may be accessible to students, teachers might find it challenging to teach from given that it has no other materials for them but adapted text and drawings; some of which hinge on inappropriateness. Despite the accessibility of these editions, they do not adapt the gender/cross-dressing issue in a manner appropriate for a middle school audience.

Our edition is both accessible and appropriate for middle school students. The text of the play is edited and adapted for their particular needs, while still maintaining the integrity of the Shakespearean language. Unfamiliar or difficult words are annotated at the bottom of each page, but not overwhelmingly so. Rather than emphasizing the ambiguity of gender or homosexual undertones, our edition effectively talks about the role of men and woman at that time and in the present, all the while maintaining the humorous nature of the play. Also, between acts there are short educational readings to help students to have a better understudying of Shakespeare, the theater, and themes in As You Like It. Taking it a step further there are also several critical thinking questions that will encourage the students to develop and use analytical skills. This is especially important, as this is a skill covered in the common core across multiple grades. Please, peruse through the manuscript that we have included and it will speak for itself.

A lack of appropriate editions might not be the only obstacle preventing middle school teachers for teaching Shakespeare. The teachers themselves could be the obstacles. Perhaps these teachers feel that their students would not be able to grasp the complexities of a Shakespearean text or perhaps they are unsure on how to go about teaching Shakespeare to twelve and thirteen year-olds at an appropriate level. Our edition, too, addresses this possible problem by supplying a teacher’s edition of the text. In essence the teacher’s edition is identical to the students in order that there is no confusion when reading together as a class or assigning homework. But in addition to that, the teacher’s edition is a more in-depth look into historical content and references of sources where to find more information if so desired. This allows the teacher to choose how much of and what to share with the students. More analytical and summative questions are included that the teacher may use for more discussion or test questions. This allows teachers to feel comfortable and confident teaching As You Like It in an appropriate and engaging manner for their middle school classrooms.

We have great confidence and faith that our edition will help middle school students (and teachers) feel successful with Shakespeare. Our edition allows for earlier exposure to this great Bard and will therefore lessen the anxiety and increase excitement for future Shakespeare encounters. Please, look through the manuscript that we have included. We hope you see the great potential and benefits that we do in having a middle school edition of As You Like It. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Ashley Campbell

Jacob Matthews

Natalie McChesney

Bethanie Sonnefeld

Changes to this version:

Cover letter:

• Full cover letter
• More comparative to other middle school editions
• More persuasive about selling it
• Fewer sweeping statements
• Actually a letter

Preface:

• Minor grammar errors
• Simplified sentences to better fit a middle-school audience
• The previous prototype had confusing sentences
• Another section feature the Globe Theater
• Images of both the interior of the Globe Theater and William Shakespeare

Table of Context:

• Minor spelling and grammar changes in the annotations

Text:

• Another fully edited and annotated scene

Critical Thinking Section:

• Grammar errors
• Reworded sentences
• More accessible paragraphs

Notes: 

• Notes to cite sources 

Middle School As You Like It 2.0

Prototype

It is pretty common knowledge that high school freshmen will encounter their first Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet being the most predominate choice of English teachers. It is also equally known that high school students dread the words Shakespeare and play. Who could blame them? They have probably been exposed to the idea that Shakespeare was difficult to understand and boring. That would not get me excited to read a text either if the only words I associated with it were difficult and boring. What can be done to get these students more excited and prepared for an appreciation of Shakespeare? How about staring them younger?

With our edition of Shakespeare’s As You Like It we aim to draw students in to Shakespeare’s world at an early stage in life: middle school. Through simplified text and accessible supplementary material, our edition will show students that Shakespeare’s plays can be understood and interesting. And beyond mere entertainment this edition will allow students to develop and use critical thinking skills, a skill that teachers and administrators would be ecstatic about.

With close to hundreds of editions available to choose from, there are little, if any, selections that would be appropriate for a middle school audience. Most editions are situated for a college undergraduate audience such as The New Cambridge Shakespeare edited by Michael Hatttaway, which has decent front
matter that covers topics such as gender, politics, and stage history in an attempt to situate the play in a historical context. There is also the daunting edition of from The Arden Shakespeare collection edited by Juliet Dusinberre, with such dense material that even undergraduates are left feeling overwhelmed. The Folger Library Shakespeare edited by Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. Lamar comes closer to a
younger audience: unfamiliar words footnoted with simple explanations, several illustrations, and brief font matter that talks about Shakespearean theater, woodland magic, the author, and stage history. This edition would be more appropriate for a high school audience rather than for a middle school classroom. Then there is the Magna Shakespeare edition of As You Like It, with very simplified text and wonderful Japan style illustrations would be very accessible to a younger crowd although not necessarily intellectually stimulating enough for a classroom setting.

 Our edition of As You Like It will offer appropriate text and material for a middle school audience. This edition will offer teachers a medium that will help middle school students understand, appreciate, and even enjoy reading Shakespeare.

• articles: Middle Ground: To like or Not to Like

• article about appropriate teaching of S. and students response
• “When I asked my 7th-graders if they thought studying Shakespeare was going to be boring, every hand in the class went up” (DeFord 85).
• “No wonder, on the end-of-year evaluations, students rank Shakespeare as one of their favorite subjects” (DeFord 86).

• What our edition will do:
• simplified text while maintaining the integrity of Shakespeare’s language 
• footnotes for unfamiliar words
• vocab words for students
• supplementary material which is written in a way that is easily accessible to students:
• preface  
• stuff between acts  
• links to more if interested in more
• end of act critical thinking questions 
• common core standards:
• 4.a use context as a clue for word meaning
• 4.c. use specialized reference materials to find pronunciation or precise meaning
• 5.a interpret figures of speech 
• 5.b use relationship of words to better understand each word
• 6 acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain specific words and phrases; gather vocab knowledge... 
• teachers edition with more info, maybe ideas to teach(?)  

As You Like It Middle School Edition Prototype