November 9-11, 1995. In her paper Ann Forrester says that Shakespeare has brought alive Western society's shared history and culture in a way no other playwright has ever done, and it is his rellevance that makes reading his work worthwhile. Community college educators can prepare the citizens of the future to assimilate population trends and technological advancement by giving their students the widest possible foundation on which to build, plenty of historical examples with which to compare, and the language with which to express themselves clearly to avoid misunderstandings. Shakespeare's work survived 200 years of virtual neglect before scholars began to take the plays seriously. What makes Shakespeare's work endure is that succeeding generations continue to gain something from them.
Students can learn to navigate a play and have lots of fun doing so.
One way to help students deal with the language in the plays is to discuss Shakespeare's contributsion to the language and the games he plays with words. It can be quite amazing to hear how differently students read, to see how different their posture and concentration when they act out scenes. After they have had fun acting out scenes, engage them as critics. Let them see how differently each play can be interpreted, and how interpretations change with fashions. Shakespeare is not too difficult for students, he can be relevant to their lives, they can understand him, and they can enjoy him.