Drake Prince

9th Grade Humanities

Ms. Shirk

May 5th, 2017

Shakespeare's Return

Dana Dusbiber says Lets let Shakespeare rest in peace. In the article Teacher:

Why I dont want to assign Shakespeare anymore (even though hes in the Common Core)

Dana Dusbiber pleads her case on why she feels Shakespeare should not be taught.

Dusbibers outrageous claims sparked debate. Matthew Truesdale then responded with an

article called Teacher: Why it is ridiculous to not teach Shakespeare in school where he

provided his reasoning to why the masterful author should be taught. Shakespeare should be

taught in schools because it challenges learners, uses relevant themes, and can be connected

to other cultures.

In an English classroom it is important to push and challenge students to they can

grow as a reader and writer. Matthew Truesdale says Ms. Dusbibers argument is largely

reductive, and turns the english classroom into a place where no one should be challenged or

stepped out of their comfort zone, where we should not look beyond ourselves. Truesdale

uses the phrase stepped out of their comfort zone because as a teacher and former student,

he knows that students learn and grow the most when they are pushed. He also says that her

argument turns the english classroom into a place where no one should be challenged this

shows that Dusbiber ideas completely transform classrooms in a negative way. Shakespeare's

creations do more than just challenge readers, they relate to them as well.

Shakespeare's stories consist of themes that are used again and again in books and

movies today. Truesdale says Shakespeare is more than just a long dead british guy and I
believe he has much to teach us about the human condition. Truesdale shows much of his

opinion as a teacher in this section of this article. He talks about how much Shakespeare has

to offer and teach the people of today. In fact he uses the word us to show that Shakespeare

still has more to teach him and everyone else including Dusbiber. Dusbibers argument of

him being a long dead british guy shows she believes that due to the diverse cultural

backgrounds of her students Shakespear cant be related to by everybody. How does

Truesdale feel about Dusbibers outrageous claims?

Ms. Dusbiber seemed quite convinced that her students of color would not be able to

connect to Shakespeare's creations. Truesdale says Also, where does it say that we cant

teach Shakespeare AND oral African tradition. In fact, why not work to draw lines between

the two? Truesdale brings up quite an interesting point. He suggest that Dusbiber teach both

Shakespeare and African tradition and then compare and connect the two cultures. This is

quite the solution and it seems to meet to Dusbibers standards of teaching other cultures.

With all this evidence that Shakespeare is an accessible and relatable historical author it is

clear that he should be taught.

However some critics might argue, that there are other ways to challenge students in

the English classroom. For example Ms. Dusbiber provides the examples oral storytelling

from Latin America or Southeast Asia. However those challenges will not consist of

relevant topics that resonate with the reader, they will not have the ability to connect to many

cultures, and they will not be Shakspeare. Shakespeare is the perfect example of what should

be taught in the English classroom because of his resonating themes and connecting to the

youthful world today.