Help with A Midsummer Nights Dream

[HopeSpringsEternal2017]

Posting here for traffic. My 12 year old has been assessed as having a reading comprehension age of a 7 year old. She has muddled through other books but now has to read a midsummer's nights dream and she just does not get it.

She has fallen behind on the homework because of it and despite talking to the teacher and explain she doesn't get it the teacher is punishing her for not handing in homework and as yet has been unable to offer any suggestions to help her understand it.

Can anyone help? I have tried reading with her to no success.

vimeo.com/68294795

This is a good animated version... I don't know how to post links sorry

Oh hey, that worked!

I'm an English teacher and love teaching Shakespeare. Definitely needs to be seen not read. I have no idea what your DDs teacher is thinking of. CBeebies version was excellent and. Great starting point.

Make sure you follow up with the teacher...and if necessary the HoD.

Look for the Shakespeare Animated Tales on YouTube.

The cbeebies one is excellent - it is currently available on iplayer and although abridged uses the original language

Not for now, but maybe later, the BBC retold version was rather funny.

Also, YouTube has a fab Macbeth in 96 seconds- wondering if there is a Dream version?

Bit naff of the teacher to just dump it on them like that (if that's what she's done- the meeting will tell you that)

If your daughter has a reading age of 7 then her teacher is doing her a huge disservice by forcing her to read this.

Quite frankly it's outrageous and it's the teacher's job to challenge your daughter appropriately.

I'm angry on her behalf!

Tbf Shakespeare can be difficult.
Perhaps explain that the language is outdated and not how we use it today.
They get her a readers copy - one with the original on the left page and the 'modern english' on the right page x

I'm an Eng Lit postgraduate and couldn't fully grasp shakey until A level x

As my lecturer drills into us often, Shakespeares plays were written to be WATCHED not READ

I wish someone would drill that into everyone responsible for ks3 education. Seems to me that primary schools quite often manage a good age- appropriate introduction to shakespeare, but then quite often it's ruined in secondary by kids being forced to read it.

Anyway, OP, in addition to the good advice from experts, my offering is one line of The Dream which is comprehensible and accurate: 'Bulldogs are adorable, with faces like toads that have been sat on.'

It's quite an accessible play, as far as Shakespeares go, so for DD to not get it shows the teacher is doing something wrong. Agree wholeheartedly with the previous comments on watching rather than reading - the actors know what the lines mean and the expressions and gestures that they make help translate the old English into things that make sense in your head. Reading Shakespeare cold will put anyone off for life.

I agree with virtually everyone else! I'm currently preparing this play for a summer school with adults. Your DD definitely deserves to watch this play (in multiple, different versions!) rather than reading it.

But please do tell her that the language just is difficult sometimes. Back when this play was written, you could travel across England and come across far more differences in accents and dialect than you do now. Shakespeare knew that people might not catch every word of his play. One reason we know this, is that copies of his plays exist, which were written down by the actors who first acted in them - and they're not the same as the 'official' versions! Those actors didn't always understand exactly what was meant.

Your DD may not catch every word. If she watches the plays, she'll get a sense of the overall plot. She can then focus on the words she does understand - but she shouldn't feel bad if there are still some words she struggles with.

(Btw, not that it matters, but it's early Modern English, not 'old English' as pringle suggests. Old English is several hundred years earlier.)

well done, cluelessnewmum. Perfect summing up. Saw it last summer for the 200,00000,0000,000th time and you've got it spot on!

LRDtheFeministDragon Happy for the correct distinction to be made. But as far as a 12-year-old is concerned, there are really only two types.

You'd think, wouldn't you?! But no, they enjoy it. It's older people who can't keep up.