Providing a practical and critical discussion of the ways in which Shakespeare's plays present problems to the young reader, the book considers how these difficulties might be overcome. It provides guidance on:
- confronting language difficulties, including 'old words', meaning, grammar, rhetoric and allusion; - reading the plays as scripts for performance at Key Stage 3 and beyond; - using conversation analysis in helping to read and teach Shakespeare; - reading the plays in contextual, interpretive and linguistic frameworks required by examinations at GCSE and A Level.
At once practical and principled, analytical and anecdotal, drawing on a wide range of critical reading and many examples of classroom encounters between Shakespeare and young readers, Teaching Reading Shakespeare encourages teachers to develop a more informed, reflective and exploratory approach to Shakespeare in schools.