Not Just for Actors: Shakespeare and Emotion in the Literature Classroom

• Published in: Theatre topics 2012-09, Vol.22 (2), p.163-171
• Main Author: Reynolds, Paige Martin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actors; Adult Students; British & Irish literature; Classrooms; College students; Drama; Emotional Response; Emotions; Employment; English literature; English Teachers; Instructional Materials; Law, Jude; Occupations; Parents & parenting; Portfolios; Psychological Patterns; Rose, Charlie; Scholars; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Students; Studies; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Theater; Young adults
• ISSN: 1054-8378; 1086-3346; 1086-3346
• DOI: 10.1353/tt.2012.0031

Teaching People Disregarding emotion in any college classroom is difficult-after all, while they are in college, our young adult students might get married, divorced, watch their parents fall in and out of love, grieve the loss of a loved one, have babies, serve in the military, work full-time jobs, lose jobs, or find out that they or others they love are seriously ill. Students' portfolios include: a log of meeting activities outside of the classroom; a brief explanation of why they chose their particular scene; their vision for the scene; their justification for the medium they have chosen (stage or film); their assertion of the scene's significance to the play as a whole; their explanation of design choices and casting preferences (along with examples); an annotated bibliography of scholarly sources used to inform their analysis of the scene; and visual aids. [...]my students and I attended a preview performance of the show. For old Hamlet, to not act is to not remember. [...]memory, and the messy muddle of emotions it produces, is what makes Hamlet (and Hamlet ) work.