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My daughter�s class is currently reading Romeo and Juliet which is still pretty standard 8th-10th grade material, along with Hamlet, I think.

She "fell in love" (I put her phrases in quotes) with Shakespeare after reading "A Midsummer's Night Dream". Strange, though, because I don't think she has read any more Shakespeare since then.

Then the students should fail. What are they planning to do when the students discover that they can get things removed from the curriculum by refusing to do them? Oh, wait--"business as usual" for the schools, the reason they are so increasingly dismal.

In my experience as a former teacher and a student for many (MANY!) years, usually if students won't do something, it's because the teacher isn't loving the material and sharing that love with the students. If the teacher hates Shakespearean language, the students will, too.

That's also usually why material gets removed from the curriculum. Students don't have that kind of power. But teachers might!

All the more reason for it just to make me sad.

I had another idea, Bassetlover--do you know the Persephone Press? It's a reprint house in London, specializing in inter-war books by, about, or for women--and there are some absolute gems on their list. Why not have her take a gander at their catalogue and see if anything grabs her?

www.persephonebooks.co.uk

peace
minnie