While the language and historical setting of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy is distant from the contemporary teenage experience, the universal issues are applicable and enticing. Fighting, first love, defiance of parental authority, and death are the experiences Shakespeare uses to tell his story of "woe." William Monroe in his book The Power to Hurt emphasizes that sometimes life is not sweet and being alienated is part of the bitterness with which we must contend. Further, in order to gain meaningful insight, we cannot turn away and focus solely on the uplifting, instead we ought dive into the malaise.
             A foremost challenge in actively engaging students in the text is, of course, the language. This challenge is amplified considering that for a majority of the students, English is not a first language. Also the ever-shrinking attention spans of ninth grade students is another factor that merits consideration. Shakespearian language is distant and many words and phrases require translation. To mediate the distance between students and text not all of the play will be read in the original language. Rather than read a "watered-down" version of the play, focused attention is given to key scenes essential to the plot, as well as, structured reading activities.
             Indeed, Shakespeare was a master of drama and each scene and line were no doubt carefully chosen, but his audience was vastly different than the students at Jefferson Davis. Also the purpose of reading the play is different. My students are unaccustomed to focusing attention on material that is not easily accessible and understandable. Perhaps the same could be said of the audience in Shakespeare's time, however the obvious difference is that Shakespeare wrote in a language and style familiar to his audience. The difference in audience begs the question, "Why read Shakespeare to ninth graders in the first place? Why not choose something that is speci
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