I think it's appropriate that we read Hamlet in grade 12, because high shcool mirrors Hamlet's life. Early on, we think, I'm going to figure it all out, then I'll know exactly what to do with my life and in every conceivable situation that a human being may encounter. Then, inevitably, we have issues with our parents, and enounters with our girlfriend's parents. At some point(s), we despair: I'll never know anything. This is impossible, what should I do? About my brains!
Then in the summer between grades eleven and twelve, our parents try to ship us off someplace, but we end up on an adventure with pirates (!) and when they drop us back off for senior year, we understand that our knowledge of the world and life and even ourselves is incomplete, and we have to deal with it and do our best.
Then we read Hamlet and think, Wow, this Shakespeare guy is totally in my head. It's like he invented the human being in this play.
Then we think, Did a work of fiction just express some truth that is relevant and applicable in real life? Am I okay with that?
That is all. I hope you are having a wonderful spring and all your students are faithfully pursuing truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment