My freshman year in college I took a class in English literature from its beginning through the time of Shakespeare. Several of the early selections were written in a hard to recognize variation of the English language, Middle English. My professor, who was such an interesting teacher throughout the quarter, could speak that Middle English so well. He was absolutely fascinating to hear as he read to us excerpts from The Canterbury Tales. He could make anything he taught come alive to the point that I could almost fancy myself back in time listening to the stories in the time they were written. Shakespeare had been up until that time hard for me to follow, but the way my professor taught King Lear made the whole story crystal clear. It was not always typical at the university I attended to get full professors in freshman and sophomore classes, but I was certainly fortunate to get one of the best full professors I ever had in my English class that first year.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Joseph Smigelski: How to Enjoy Reading Shakespeare (huffingtonpost.com)
