Student of the Month: January 2012
I’d like to share a sample of Amanda’s writing to illustrate why she is my student of the month, but before I do that, I have to tell you that in class, Amanda does not draw attention to herself…ever. She is so quiet that you almost wouldn’t know she was there…until you read her Honors English blog, which I do every week. The “voice” in her writing is as loud as thunder and as bright as the sun. Her facility with language far exceeds her age, and I am always entertained and educated by what she says and the easy way she says it. Listen to her take on the Balcony Scene from Romeo and Juliet:
[At the dance] the loser [Romeo] kisses her... TWICE... And he doesn't even know her name yet! And THEN, he wanders around the property, finding his way to her balcony, CREEPING ON HER, confessing his love for her (they met like... I dunno.. an hour ago?), and then thinking about marrying her?
And Juliet, too! She falls in love with the boy after about.. What, 15 lines of dialogue? And two kisses? Then she learns his name, and the fact that he'd been creepin' on her didn't affect her all that much.. "Juliet's probably the smartest character in this play," the teacher said? Oh no. Admittedly, she realized they were going a tad fast... And, hey, better than getting married immediately?...What 14 year old knows what "true love" is, since they based it so much on "at first sight"?
Okay, you get the point.
Yes, Amanda, I do! I see that you have taken Shakespeare and put him in terms that any modern teenager can understand…something I have been trying to do for 22 years. Not only that, your summary includes critical analysis that shows you weren’t just “translating” the words themselves, but you were thinking about how they apply to our world as well as Shakespeare’s. That is why when it came time to assign some passages for the students to memorize, I assigned Amanda one of Juliet’s best speeches. I can’t wait to see how she presents it aloud in class!
Oh, and by the way, she was the only student in the ninth grade who got 100% on the semester test.
[At the dance] the loser [Romeo] kisses her... TWICE... And he doesn't even know her name yet! And THEN, he wanders around the property, finding his way to her balcony, CREEPING ON HER, confessing his love for her (they met like... I dunno.. an hour ago?), and then thinking about marrying her?
And Juliet, too! She falls in love with the boy after about.. What, 15 lines of dialogue? And two kisses? Then she learns his name, and the fact that he'd been creepin' on her didn't affect her all that much.. "Juliet's probably the smartest character in this play," the teacher said? Oh no. Admittedly, she realized they were going a tad fast... And, hey, better than getting married immediately?...What 14 year old knows what "true love" is, since they based it so much on "at first sight"?
Okay, you get the point.
Yes, Amanda, I do! I see that you have taken Shakespeare and put him in terms that any modern teenager can understand…something I have been trying to do for 22 years. Not only that, your summary includes critical analysis that shows you weren’t just “translating” the words themselves, but you were thinking about how they apply to our world as well as Shakespeare’s. That is why when it came time to assign some passages for the students to memorize, I assigned Amanda one of Juliet’s best speeches. I can’t wait to see how she presents it aloud in class!
Oh, and by the way, she was the only student in the ninth grade who got 100% on the semester test.
posted by MRT at 6:08 AM
2 Comments:
YUS. GO AMANDA! Or MoogleKid...or LilPurpleCow...whatever your moniker is these days.
SpeckOfSand is proud. :')
Good job, you deserve it more than anyone I think, and I love your blog, you have a point about Romeo and Juliet.... :)
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