Websites on Shakespeare, Freud and Feminism in AP

Websites on Shakespeare, Freud, and Feminism in an Advanced Placement English Class

As an English teacher I’ve had my share of successes, and failures, but I find myself confused more often than not with regard to one of my classes this year. I’ve been teaching Advanced Placement and college level English for eight years now. When I was informed that I would be teaching both the Junior and Senior AP classes this year, I cringed. I did not wish to inherit the seniors. British Lit is not my thing. I love teaching the junior classes of Language and Composition, and I’m pretty savvy with regard to American Literature, but teaching literature analysis, as well as the plethora of British and classical authors and the period genres, is not a gig I’m fond of.

Yet here I am, with an AP Lit and Composition class of 17 seniors. I knew that most of these students were not going to be very excited that the previous senior AP teacher had been promoted to the reading coach position, and I did wish to be understanding. Of these 17 students, 13 of them are female, and most (or all) of them had (and have) a very close and nurturing relationship with the female teacher they thought they’d be returning to. I on the other hand, am known for an intensity in the classroom, and demanding curriculum that borders on eccentric.

This was okay, though, because once the school year began I knew that those who found my disposition and expectations to be more than they had bargained for would willingly drop the class. At that point, I would be left with those who were willing to undertake the process which traditionally has become the much talked about ‘experience’ of one of my English classes. I do take a certain pride in my reputation.

As was expected during the first week of school, several students filed their paperwork to drop the class. Much to their (and my) surprise, though, the administration had decided on a hard line approach to the drop adds. I was informed that no student would be allowed to drop my class. To me this was unheard of. In a traditional AP classroom all students are usually given the entire first semester to transfer into a class that was not so heavily weighted. I understood that the AP program was fairly new to this school, and I did voice my concerns to the Principal, but with regard to the seniors, my concerns were mute. So there I was, and here I am, with this class of AP seniors, many of who have no desire to be in my class, and some of who have no business being in this class. Not what I was used to for and Advanced Placement class.

I began the year attempting empathy, but I’m not very good at being nice. I am good at engaging and challenging the students. It is in this process that nice happens and I develop the relationships with the kids that inspire them. Empathy, in retrospect, was not a very good idea. By the second week, everything I did and graded was questioned. The students were uninterested, vocal, and bordering on mutinous. I was somewhat flustered, and not at all pleased with the direction of the class, and I’m pretty certain that the students liked the class even less. When, during the third week of school I began managing the class as I deemed necessary, moving the students around and giving them an updated list of expectations and policy changes, most of the class was furious. I had several teachers come to me that day wondering what I had done to upset ‘the girls’ so badly.

Having this class first period was not helping matters at all, because I now found myself dealing with an abundance of tardies and absences that I could not have imagined possible within an AP class. Lessons I had designed to engage these kids fell flat. Activities that were intended to be fun were viewed with suspicion, nor were they very fun. Presentations were hit and miss, as many students were absent on days they were to present. Testing days became ridiculous jokes, with half of the class conveniently absent. When I handed back graded assignments, they were received with anger, hurt, and disbelief. Planning and prep became a matter of anticipating absences. Grouping the class for activities became a matter of ‘who’s here today’.

There are many in the class who are certainly capable of AP work. There are also some who are not. I have adjusted my curriculum, and my mind set. The groups have been adjusted several times, and I’m aware that I’m not done adjusting them. I find myself creating lessons that will appeal to the students on different levels, and offer them alternatives within projects. And in truth, I find that there are days when I enjoy this class. Not always, but sometimes, and these days grow more frequent.

To address the British Lit component of this class, I needed a platform, or starting point, and I decided to assign Shakespeare. I know Shakespeare’s works fairly well, and I enjoy reading him. I’m comfortable teaching several of his plays, so Hamlet and Macbeth became a focus for me. The class, having read the plays (outside of class) and worked with the use of language and such (in and out of class), I felt, had not really reached any conclusions on Shakespeare’s works, and they hadn’t really accomplished anything aside from reading the plays. When I thought of topics within these plays, I kept coming back to the three characters the students had seemed to talk about most: Ophelia and Gertrude within Hamlet, and Lady Macbeth. The portrayals of the females in the two plays were seemingly polar opposites, but in both there was this Freudian and feminist context that I thought might connect with the students. Also, I admit, I felt that these characters were very archetypical of the female personalities I was attempting to work with within my class.

The assignment I designed for these plays is in the handout below. Keep in mind that I was attempting to allow a student at any level the opportunity to excel on this assignment, but I was also wishing them to think of both the Shakespearian tragedies from an analytical perspective. For this, I felt that both topics of Freud and Feminism would offer the platform from which the students could research and interpret. The videos and Powerpoint presentations that were completed for this assignment were mostly good—well above average work, though I didn’t feel that they were spectacular. They were the products of students doing what they were asked in the hopes of getting the grade they wanted. The web sites, on the other hand, were impressive. Those students who chose this option seemed to engage with the topic on a completely different level—the analysis more penetrating. Also, students seemed to have had some fun while creating their pages. Most were proud of the work they had done.

Below the handout are some of the websites that were created for this assignment. For the teacher seeking an alternative to a typical critical essay assignment on Shakespearian themes (or any other topic in literature), these sites speak for themselves. The bios are a little silly, but I think that’s part of what makes it interesting. The artistic choices for the visual requirements are incredible. I offer these student samples for several reasons, but primarily because I think it would be neat for the students to have other students from different schools look at their work and sign their guest books. They make good examples for the teacher wishing to do something similar. I wish my students had had a place to look where they could have seen some student sites that had gone before them.

Handout:

Shakespearean Tragedies—Hamlet and Macbeth

Class Project for AP English IV.

Of the two, individual or group, you are required to inform me of your choice so that I may plan appropriately for the dates and time needed for presentations. Note due dates for each project—they are different.

Individual Assignments:

Create either a video or Powerpoint presentation that identifies and interprets either the (1) Freudian / Oedipal complexities, or the (2) feminist portrayals and characteristics within the Shakespeare tragedies of Hamlet and Macbeth. This presentation should use some specific quotes from both of the plays, and should be distinctly interpretive with regard to your thesis on the topic you choose. All video and power point presentations will be due beginning one week from today, and ready for presentation when called upon.

Group Assignment (2 people max. 1 person may do this as well, but still must satisfy all requirements):

Create a web site that is devoted to either (or both) of the topics listed above. The web page you create should have a clear point or thesis about the topic you chose. The title of your web site is important, so keep it relevant to your topic, yet creative enough for others to want to check out. This site should include a short bio on each of you, some helpful links to others interested in the topic, and a link to a criticism on the topic(s). Also, it should include a link to a page of juxtaposed images from various artists that incorporate a similar theme to the topic you chose—be careful of copy rights. With these images there should be quotes (from the tragedies) that qualify your thesis. Finally, there needs to be some type of topic discussion on this site—it can be in the form of a link, or on the opening page, and it should include a guestbook, or response tool, that would allow others on the internet to reply to your hypothesis, as well as to your web site. All web-site presentations will be due for final presentation two weeks from today and ready for presentation as planning allows.

Free web pages can be found @:

http://geocities.yahoo.com

http://www.angelfire.com

http://www.bravenet.com

Above are some decent free sites or you can just go into Google or Yahoo and search “free web pages” for a more in-depth listing. Most of these sites will offer some great tools for easy web page construction. Note: You will need an email address for this assignment, and will need to sign up as a member to the site domain that you choose. Do not offer anybody a credit card number or bank info—if they ask, go somewhere else.

All projects should make a decided effort to represent an ability to analyze literature at a college level. Since both of these plays have been analyzed for a couple of centuries, you will need to provide a fresh and original approach to your hypothesis on the topic you choose. Please Note: I reserve the right to modify or adapt this assignment at any time—including the due date.