Good ol' William

I used to hate Shakespeare. Maybe because among Jr. High kids that was the popular opinion to hold, or maybe because his language was just too darn foreign. Or maybe because I never had a teacher who could make it fun and relevant to me.

The thing is that I used to hate our good friend William. When I was in high school I had the most amazing English teacher. He taught the senior English classes, but because I'd moved from a different district and was in advanced English classes, I got to have him for two years.

One of my absolute favorite units was Shakespeare. We watched the Globe Theatre production of Othello. (I may or may not have had a bad-guy crush on Iago.) It was in that class, with this teacher, that I discovered that I'm really good at explicating sonnets. And that - gasp - Shakespeare can be kind of . . . fun. (And if I'm being honest, I'll admit that learning all the dirty innuendos made Shakespeare a heck of a lot more entertaining. Just saying.)

I don't know where you are right now - a Shakespeare hater or lover - but I've found that the more I've studied him, with a variety of amazing teachers, the more I've come to appreciate him. I've heard the theory that Shakespeare was just the Stephanie Meyer of his time, writing for public consumption and not trying to create time-enduring masterpieces. But when you look at this, it's hard to discredit his contribution to our world.

So, thanks Shakespeare. Where would we be without you?