This is the one! YAY!
Special thanks to Claire Buffie (this girl is a genius with the camera) and Liana Rodriguez (for managing to make me look a little more glam than usual, while keeping it natural).
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Teaching Shakespeare: The Interview Series
I've been interviewing a variety of individuals in the fields of education and Shakespeare for the development of my Shakespeare program (under the guidance of Dr. Celest Woo), and I've found their experiences and insights to be incredibly illuminating. I'd like to share them with you here!
The first interview in the series is between myself and Dr. Corey Abate. Enjoy!
DR. COREY ABATE
Please describe your background with Shakespeare, and with education.
I hold a Ph.D. in Shakespeare from NYU and have been teaching Shakespeare among many other authors for almost 15 years now. I have published articles on Shakespeare and other Early Modern authors, and chair the Columbia Shakespeare Seminar at Columbia Univ.
At what age do you think it's appropriate to teach Shakespeare to students?
I think children should be exposed to Shakespeare at an early age, but with the understanding that they really won't begin to understand his plays until middle school (possibly) and high school (definitely). For example, I think grammar school kids can study a unit on him, his life, and perhaps build a Globe Theatre, but they shouldn't be assigned a play. Middle school kids can get Julius Caesar if it's connected to something going on in history class, and certainly they can be taught Romeo and Juliet because they know the story and it's about teen rebellion. But to teach Shakespeare with the goal of really having the students understand more than the basics, I don't think it can begin until they are 14 or 15.
What about Shakespearean study do you think causes resistance in high school aged students?
I don't think students are provided any help or enough help with learning how to read his language. It's like learning a foreign language in a lot of ways, so I provide my students with rules: pay attention to repeated words and phrases because they are the most important, try to pick out the words they recognize and ignore words that are unfamiliar, etc. Also, another reason they have trouble is due to pacing. With my freshmen, for example, we study an Act a week. My seniors we go a bit faster --two Acts a week-- but the point is that they need time to read it and to go over it in class. Finally, all teachers should build time into the unit to show it being performed. Not an entire movie perhaps, but enough snatches here and there so they can hear how the language sounds coming out of the mouth of someone who knows how to properly breathe the lines. Something else that makes it difficult is if the teacher insists on going over every line. That doesn't help either.
Are there practical/ administrative challenges that exist when teaching Shakespeare to high schoolers?
I think the timing issue as I mentioned above, and also resources: if a teacher can't get hold of a movie then that will be difficult to show them the words being performed. (That, by the way, is another difficulty: the students are reading a script, something which is meant to be seen. So there is an onus put on their imaginations to imagine how a line is read or what the stage directions should be, etc.)
What are your thoughts on plot-driven Shakespeare education (with shortened and translated text) vs. text-and-language-driven curriculum for high school students?
Translated texts are not Shakespeare. No teacher should ever use them. If they don't have time to study Shakespeare over 5 or 6 weeks, then they should only study part of an original play in the time they have and show a movie for the rest of it. But shortened or translated texts are never the answer. How will that help the students develop strategies for when the time comes --as it inevitably will-- for them to study Shakespeare for real?
Do you think certain Shakespearean plays are better suited for high school students? Less suited? Which ones, and why?
I hold a Ph.D. in Shakespeare from NYU and have been teaching Shakespeare among many other authors for almost 15 years now. I have published articles on Shakespeare and other Early Modern authors, and chair the Columbia Shakespeare Seminar at Columbia Univ.
At what age do you think it's appropriate to teach Shakespeare to students?
I think children should be exposed to Shakespeare at an early age, but with the understanding that they really won't begin to understand his plays until middle school (possibly) and high school (definitely). For example, I think grammar school kids can study a unit on him, his life, and perhaps build a Globe Theatre, but they shouldn't be assigned a play. Middle school kids can get Julius Caesar if it's connected to something going on in history class, and certainly they can be taught Romeo and Juliet because they know the story and it's about teen rebellion. But to teach Shakespeare with the goal of really having the students understand more than the basics, I don't think it can begin until they are 14 or 15.
What about Shakespearean study do you think causes resistance in high school aged students?
I don't think students are provided any help or enough help with learning how to read his language. It's like learning a foreign language in a lot of ways, so I provide my students with rules: pay attention to repeated words and phrases because they are the most important, try to pick out the words they recognize and ignore words that are unfamiliar, etc. Also, another reason they have trouble is due to pacing. With my freshmen, for example, we study an Act a week. My seniors we go a bit faster --two Acts a week-- but the point is that they need time to read it and to go over it in class. Finally, all teachers should build time into the unit to show it being performed. Not an entire movie perhaps, but enough snatches here and there so they can hear how the language sounds coming out of the mouth of someone who knows how to properly breathe the lines. Something else that makes it difficult is if the teacher insists on going over every line. That doesn't help either.
Are there practical/ administrative challenges that exist when teaching Shakespeare to high schoolers?
I think the timing issue as I mentioned above, and also resources: if a teacher can't get hold of a movie then that will be difficult to show them the words being performed. (That, by the way, is another difficulty: the students are reading a script, something which is meant to be seen. So there is an onus put on their imaginations to imagine how a line is read or what the stage directions should be, etc.)
What are your thoughts on plot-driven Shakespeare education (with shortened and translated text) vs. text-and-language-driven curriculum for high school students?
Translated texts are not Shakespeare. No teacher should ever use them. If they don't have time to study Shakespeare over 5 or 6 weeks, then they should only study part of an original play in the time they have and show a movie for the rest of it. But shortened or translated texts are never the answer. How will that help the students develop strategies for when the time comes --as it inevitably will-- for them to study Shakespeare for real?
Do you think certain Shakespearean plays are better suited for high school students? Less suited? Which ones, and why?
I think the more relevant a Shakespeare play is to the age group the better they will follow along. That is why I teach Merchant of Venice, for example, to 9th graders because it is a way to talk about familial obedience and prejudice (not to mention letter writing, which is something kids do dozens of times a day with all of the texting that now occurs!). Seniors understand Hamlet and Othello keenly because of the issues involving relationships and death in the former and reputation and sex in the latter, while Middle Schoolers can get enough out of Romeo and Juliet to make it worthwhile. Plays that should be avoided are the ones that are too fantastical (Midsummer) or rely too much on the visual gag (Comedy of Errors) for their imaginations to process while the other half of their brain is just trying to follow the words.
Do you think that drama should be incorporated into the study of Shakespeare? Should the texts be acted out and/ or read aloud?
Yes! Certain passages must be acted out. That is the only way, for example, for students to really see how Portia inverts expected gender roles when she gives Bassanio a ring. The students don't need to dress up or anything like that, but they do need to try and figure out how to make the lines sound meaningful. I also act out the entire final scene of Othello with my seniors because the stage directions say that Othello himself is disarmed not once but twice. If this is so, then how is he able to stab himself? Seniors need to visualize the scene as they grapple to answer that one.
Could you share some "best practices" you've encountered when presenting Shakespeare to young people?
I hope you don't mind, but I pasted into this message a part of a paper I presented on this very topic, which is providing students with help to understand Shakespeare. I think besides all that I have mentioned above--slowly going through the text but not reading every single line, reading aloud, watching certain scenes in movies-- I would also add that the teacher should provide some notes on the board as well.
For example, when I teach /Othello/, which is always a crowd pleaser, I begin my discussion of Act 4 by writing on the board: "what does it mean to be a good wife in this play?" with the word "good" appearing in quotation marks. By that point, you will recall, Emilia and Desdemona are changing places, as Desdemona becomes more obedient as the play progresses while Emilia becomes more forthright and assertive. Indeed, without her brave speech act in the final scene in which she presages her own death, the truth concerning the handkerchief would never be known: "Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak./ 'Tis proper I obey him, but not now./ Perchance, Iago, I will ne'er go home."[i] <#_edn1> Of course, my discussion question is also a trick, because both women wind up dead. So you could say that it doesn't matter what it means to be a good wife; it may be more accurate to say that if your husband /believes/ that you are not a good wife, you die.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] <#_ednref1> /Othello/, ed. Russ McDonald (New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2001). All quotations of the play will refer to this edition.
I provide four tips for how to read Shakespeare: 1) repetition is your friend: if something is important, Shakespeare will repeat it so you can apprehend while reading that it is important. 2) I encourage students to get gists of passages and speeches and not try to understand every joke and every metaphor. 3) I remind them that it is modern English, after all, just an early version of it, which means that they should be able to pick out words they recognize and make meaning from them. This observation leads to perhaps my most important piece of advice, which is 4) don't overcomplicate. Don't think that just because it's Shakespeare it must be impenetrable. I use as my example Antonio's speech that opens /The Merchant of Venice/:
In sooth I know not why I am so sad.
It wearies me, you say it wearies you;
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn;
And such a want-wit of sadness makes of me
That I have much ado to know myself.[i] <#_edn1>
If students skip over the words "sooth" and "want-wit" as sounding too weirdly Shakespearean, they should still have no trouble discerning that this character is sad for reasons unknown to everyone, even himself, and that everyone finds it irksome. Period.
Do you think that drama should be incorporated into the study of Shakespeare? Should the texts be acted out and/ or read aloud?
Yes! Certain passages must be acted out. That is the only way, for example, for students to really see how Portia inverts expected gender roles when she gives Bassanio a ring. The students don't need to dress up or anything like that, but they do need to try and figure out how to make the lines sound meaningful. I also act out the entire final scene of Othello with my seniors because the stage directions say that Othello himself is disarmed not once but twice. If this is so, then how is he able to stab himself? Seniors need to visualize the scene as they grapple to answer that one.
Could you share some "best practices" you've encountered when presenting Shakespeare to young people?
I hope you don't mind, but I pasted into this message a part of a paper I presented on this very topic, which is providing students with help to understand Shakespeare. I think besides all that I have mentioned above--slowly going through the text but not reading every single line, reading aloud, watching certain scenes in movies-- I would also add that the teacher should provide some notes on the board as well.
For example, when I teach /Othello/, which is always a crowd pleaser, I begin my discussion of Act 4 by writing on the board: "what does it mean to be a good wife in this play?" with the word "good" appearing in quotation marks. By that point, you will recall, Emilia and Desdemona are changing places, as Desdemona becomes more obedient as the play progresses while Emilia becomes more forthright and assertive. Indeed, without her brave speech act in the final scene in which she presages her own death, the truth concerning the handkerchief would never be known: "Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak./ 'Tis proper I obey him, but not now./ Perchance, Iago, I will ne'er go home."[i] <#_edn1> Of course, my discussion question is also a trick, because both women wind up dead. So you could say that it doesn't matter what it means to be a good wife; it may be more accurate to say that if your husband /believes/ that you are not a good wife, you die.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] <#_ednref1> /Othello/, ed. Russ McDonald (New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2001). All quotations of the play will refer to this edition.
I provide four tips for how to read Shakespeare: 1) repetition is your friend: if something is important, Shakespeare will repeat it so you can apprehend while reading that it is important. 2) I encourage students to get gists of passages and speeches and not try to understand every joke and every metaphor. 3) I remind them that it is modern English, after all, just an early version of it, which means that they should be able to pick out words they recognize and make meaning from them. This observation leads to perhaps my most important piece of advice, which is 4) don't overcomplicate. Don't think that just because it's Shakespeare it must be impenetrable. I use as my example Antonio's speech that opens /The Merchant of Venice/:
In sooth I know not why I am so sad.
It wearies me, you say it wearies you;
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn;
And such a want-wit of sadness makes of me
That I have much ado to know myself.[i] <#_edn1>
If students skip over the words "sooth" and "want-wit" as sounding too weirdly Shakespearean, they should still have no trouble discerning that this character is sad for reasons unknown to everyone, even himself, and that everyone finds it irksome. Period.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Scoring Shades of Gray....
My most recent contribution to artistew...
Assigning a number value to creative work seems in principle to be grossly counterintuitive. How does one judge the interpretive, individual and unique? Should a piece of art receive a high grade only if the teacher gets it? Does it warrant a failing mark if the meaning is lost on them? Should we grade simply on technique? What about students who create new techniques? Should a student who spends hours replicating what they think a tree looks like score higher or lower than the student who expertly sketches a realistic landscape in ten minutes flat? Or does everyone simply get an A for effort?
“Why do we have to grade them at all?” some may ask. “Shouldn’t they be allowed to use the arts to express themselves without worrying about performing and demonstrating these aptitudes in specific, measurable means? Wouldn’t that be more beneficial to the students?” In a word, YES, it would be. But realistically, if you can’t test it, schools don’t want to pay for it. Our society and educational system demand numbers that demonstrate progress and proficiency.
If we are to have any real hope of substantially elevating the arts as a necessary field of study for ALL students, then we’re going to need to start asking ourselves these questions. Certainly, this query is not new, and there are existing arts assessments currently being implemented- NYC has the Blueprints, NYS has the Standards, but as we move towards true subject equality for the arts (an Art Regents exam? Yes, NY, it’s coming…), we must learn not only to articulate what it is we do and why it’s important, but how we measure our success. We’re pretty confident that we know how NOT to assess learning in the arts (see cartoon above)… the flip side, however, will take a little more development.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
My Latest Contribution to Artistew
As I mentioned previously, I'm now a contributor to artistew, where I write about the arts in education. Enjoy my lastest post below:
by Imagination, Unstifled
A true statement, it would seem, according to the biased view of aptitudes viewed as valuable and non-valuable by our current education system. Artists (especially my age and older), how many of you were told that you had talent, but that you’d need to become good at something “real” as well? Coming from a small town (though this happens everywhere), I was met with hearty skepticism and blatant disappointment when I announced my plan to become an actor.
Them: “You can go to college for that?”
Me: “Sure.”
Them: “But how will you pay for college?”
Me: “I’ll work. And act.”
Them: “Then what do you do when you’re done with college?”
Me: “I’ll ACT.”
Them: “No- what will you do as a profession?”
Me: “I’LL ACT.”
Them: “What a waste- you’re a smart girl.”
That conversation is neither a joke nor an exaggeration. Because I excelled in traditional academic subjects as well, I received the respect a “smart” student garners, and many of the adults in my life thought that choosing to pursue my artistic aptitudes was a waste of other superior aptitudes. But kids with brains hardwired specifically to create, to design, to look at things differently are often met with a much less optimistic outlook for their future.
There’s an unspoken but frequently implied hierarchy of ability, talent and education that exists in our schools. Kids who are “smart” in art are very infrequently deemed “smart” by their school (and YES, schools do label kids as smart and not smart). Visual arts sit in slightly higher regard because of the tangible result of one’s work, but art in general is not viewed as intelligence by our current education system, so the students who are primarily gifted in the field of art are frequently pegged as the “dumb kids”- a grievous error on our part, because these “dumb kids” have the aptitudes necessary to invent, to design, and most importantly, to create.
The study and practice of art encourages students to become comfortable creating what did not previously exist, defining a new reality, conceiving truths before they’ve been tested and printed in a text book. And as I’ve said before, creativity is the essence of progress. We NEED these kids and their contributions, so let’s stop telling them that their gifts aren’t good enough.
An Ode to My Makeup Artist- Liana Rodriguez
I'd like to dedicate this post to the lovely Liana Rodriguez- my makeup sponsor as Miss Greater NYC 2010. Liana is generously donating her services to keep me looking polished this year (because, let's be honest, I'm kind of a mess when it comes to serious makeup...). Firstly, she's good. Really good. Our first opportunity to work together was for my headshot session with Claire, and we were hoping for both pageant headshots and acting headshots- two totally different beasts, with one makeup application. A tall order, but somehow Liana made me look polished enough for pageant, yet natural enough for my acting headshots! See images below from our session together!
Photos from my headshot session. Makeup by Liana Rodriguez. Photography by Claire Buffie.
Secondly, Liana is an absolute JOY to work with. So sweet, so accommodating, and so professional! You can tell she LOVES what she does! I'm including some samples below of other work Liana has done. You can reach Liana Rodriguez- Makeup Artist- at 347.423.3605 or via email at: lianarodriguez88@gmail.com.
She's a multi-talented lady! Versed in everything from theatre and performance makeup...
To beauty and glam makeup...
To fun, festive high-fashion looks...
And she even does weddings!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
On the Horizon...
April is off to a good start! My entertainment company, Mind the Art Entertainment, is basking in the success of our sold-out engagement at La Mama! It's amazing to think of how far we've come since we started- what was originally just a handful of friends from acting conservatory sitting around and reading plays has flourished into a thriving entertainment company representing artist from across the arts spectrum, presenting and producing innovative works of art! You can follow our blog for updates and reviews! (Can you tell
I'm proud??)
Yesterday, I partnered with my phenomenal makeup sponsor, Liana Rodriguez, for my headshot shoot with the ridiculously talented Claire Buffie (who also happens to be Miss Southeast NY 2010). Seriously- this girl is gifted. Check out her website. The proofs are amazing, and I'm having such a hard time narrowing it down- I'll post the final shot on this blog when I've decided!
Next Saturday, I'll be teaming up with NY Cares to visit the Dunlevy Milbank Community Center (associated with the Children's Aid Society) in Central Harlem, where I'll be doing arts, crafts and literacy activities with the kids at the center all morning! FUN!
Later next week, I'll also be doing a promotional photo shoot with the folks at Tough Mudder, about which I'm pretty stoked! Evidently, they don't have a ton of pageant contestants competing in their grueling 7.5 mile endurance race/ obstacle course (for which I'm currently training)... Shocking, right? I'll be running the Tough Mudder on May 2nd (proceeds benefit the Wounded Warrior Project). Check out the course map here. 27 Days, 20 Hours, 30 Minutes...
The following Saturday, I'll be teaming up with NY Cares again for their Art Explorers program in the Columbus Park Pavilion in Chinatown! Aside from my passion for the arts in general, there are few things I'd rather do than sit and make crafts.
On April 22nd, I'll be helping my friends at Brooklyn's Block Institute celebrate Earth Day 2010! I had so much fun at this event last year as Miss Brooklyn 2009 (AND got a free Earth Day T-Shirt- SCORE!), and I'm thrilled to have been invited back as Miss Greater NYC 2010. I'll be joined at this event by Miss Brooklyn 2010, Mallory Hagan.
Additionally, there's the inevitable pile of homework that sits on my desk and stares at me, along with Miss NY prep (workshop is 4/24), and my job as a teaching artist to keep me occupied.
April will be awesome. And busy. But mostly awesome.
I'm the newest ingredient in Artistew!
It is with much excitement that I announce my partnership with Artistew! I'll be contributing articles on arts in education and creative education reform! Look for my pieces under the penname Imagination, Unstifled. "Artistew is conceptually Artists’ Stew, the comforting savory escapist dish, and also tangibly where the Artist Stews, the forum. It’s a think tank for those of us with specialties to inspire, aid, warn, and collaborate about all things film and theatre." I'll be contributing articles on arts in education and creative education reform! Look for my pieces under the penname Imagination, Unstifled. Enjoy my introductory post, below!
New Ingredient for the stew!
by Imagination, Unstifled (The Crusading Beauty Queen)
As we advance in the 21st century, we must make creativity and the arts a priority in K-12 education. Yes, you heard me. And no I didn’t misspeak. I didn’t mean “should”, “ought to” or “might want to”, nor did I mean “emphasis” or “option” or “elective”. “MUST” and “PRIORITY”. Exclusive development of linear and logical thinking capacities might get students a job in today’s workforce… But what about in 2026, when this year’s kindergarten class finishes their undergraduate degrees? The world is changing more rapidly now than ever before, and the only thing we can be certain of is that if we educate them to be creative, we educate them to adapt. We owe it to our students to allow them to develop ALL of their aptitudes.
I’m a teaching artist, arts advocate, actor, dancer, writer, and human who cares about our posterity. I’m also Miss Greater NYC 2010, and I’m using this opportunity provided to me by the Miss America Organization to shine a spotlight on the possibilities our nation has to make public education serve our students better. I look forward to sharing my thoughts about the future of arts education with Artistew!
-11:51a, April 2, 2010
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