Hannah Stevens

Life and Literacy Draft

To Read or Not to Read: Shakespeare was peer-pressured out of me
I spent the first half of my life as a passenger, letting others drive. Literature, I thought,
became my escape. The thing I could control. I tried to read every book and in fifth grade even
attempted War and Peace. My parents always funded my reading, giving me the latest books that
they heard about on bestseller lists, as neither of my parents were very avid readers- My father
loving the occasional sports article and comic, and my mother finding her solace in television.
My own veil of wonder blinded me as I naively believed everyone around me thought exactly as
I did. In seventh grade my illusions were shattered by William Shakespeare. Being so enthralled
with literature and reading, a thrilling feeling washed over me when I discovered Romeo and
Juliet on the reading list for my English class.
Endorsing literature, my mom brought me to the bookstore in early August before school
started and bought me an anthology of Shakespeares plays which included Romeo and Juliet.
My mom took a role in my literacy, even though she probably never read Shakespeare, she
insisted we go. Opening up that book, opened up worlds upon worlds for me to explore. Slowly,
I made my way through the first play listed in the book, As You Like It, using every resource I
could to help me with the language. It took me a couple of weeks to fully understand the play,
but the language and musings of the characters mesmerized me. I wanted to be like the
characters in the play. I wanted to read any play I could get my hands on, but left Romeo and
Juliet for the following fall in class. Introducing myself to this type of higher level reading
developed my ability to think critically. I began to process at a higher level, imagining what these

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characters were going through when I finally figured out the themes hidden behind the complex
language. Shakespeares plays will forever be a baseline of the peak of my learning potential.
Sitting in class on the first day of school I remember my teacher Mr. Gillette explaining
our reading list to the class. There were a couple of novels and some short stories I probably will
never remember. My eyes brightened when he began to talk about Shakespeare. I looked around
at my peers sitting up higher in my seat, only to be pushed back down by the lack of attention
and downright boredom on their faces. I specifically remember a couple people sighing out loud
to my dissatisfaction. I would never understand why nobody was even remotely excited, as I
could barely contain myself, eager to study every luxurious word on the page. Eager to let the
language pierce my ears; affect my brain and my heart. It was in this class, on this very day, that
I understood the affect your peers have on you. My peers in this particular English class became
literacy sponsors for me, in stunting my excitement of literature. The lack of excitement fed into
me and I soaked it up like a sponge, until I hated Shakespeare just as much as the students
around me. Their lack of excitement turned mine into ash so quickly I thought I might choke on
it. We would laugh about whatever we had learned about in class the day previous and go back to
blaring our music and gossiping about boys, everything we could possibly do to make sure we
were never intellectually stimulated. Everything we could to not hear thou, thee, thy. We
replaced the beautiful language with whisperings of Oh my God, she did not! and Do you like
think he likes me? Our books shielded our mouths as we whispered in class, good for nothing
else. My anthology sat on the shelf in my bedroom never touched through seventh grade Romeo
and Juliet or sophomore year Hamlet and Macbeth. Missing out on a base education on these
texts was detrimental to the continuance of my education.

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I set myself up to be behind my peers when I enrolled in future Renaissance literature

classes in college, making it incredibly hard for me to get past my hatred of the texts, and to fully
understand how peer pressure affected me. I found myself lost and in a fog when persuaded to
talk logically, or think logically. From 7th grade on, nothing made me think logically. Everything
became so easy that I lacked the true ability to be challenged and I quickly stopped trying to test
myself in any aspect of my life. I continued to look for the easy way out, because it had been
handed to me in that English class, a teacher at a loss as to how to engage us. Shakespeare is the
peak of English learning and by stunting my learning and continuing to hate Shakespeare, the
passion I once had for literature disappeared. I no longer wished to enter into any other world
than the unstimulating world of boys, friends and makeup that I inserted myself into. Intelligence
should never be weighed in lip puckers and batting of the eyelashes, and makeup tutorials
shouldnt be the basis of knowledge. I put myself in an unfortunate position as it wasnt entirely
clear to me then, but English is a major part of my life.
I still had a deep love for English, but in not adventuring into the pages of Shakespeare I
was never truly challenged to learn. A lot of the novels we read in high school I already read and
I breezed through tests, essays, and book reports. As soon as Shakespeare was mentioned in a
class I would remember the downcast eyes and heavy sighs of my classmates in Mr. Gillettes
class and would astonish my teachers with low class participation, and even lower grades in our
Renaissance literature units. It had gone way past peer pressure and I took on an undeserved
hatred of Shakespearean literature. This hatred upset my learning exponentially, giving me an
empty tool box when I ventured into college classes. Shakespeare is so prevalent in society that
he is impossible to escape. They say that literature should all be entirely new, but honestly
mimicking Shakespeare is a well-used tool, and one that I failed to pick up on.

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My Junior year of college I was introduced to a Shakespeare class, required for my major.
I hadnt truly read a work of Shakespeare in nearly seven years and I reluctantly ventured to my
parents house in order to retrieve my Shakespeare Anthology off of the shelf, save cost, and dust
it off. All Christmas break before I had to take the class I stared at the book sitting on my kitchen
table, mocking me, but beckoning me at the same time. Stubborn, I refused to want Shakespeare
again. I refused to accept the fact that I was now being required to amend a long feud that I had
with this author. Beginning to feel rather embarrassed by how I fed into what my peers believed
to be right and stunted my growth in the process, brought a new meaning to the word intelligence
to me. Blown away by the fact that peer pressure affected my high school career, I began to
accept the fact that literature will never go away for me. I knew that Shakespeare would broaden
my thinking ability, and honestly I needed it after years of being eased into the study of English.
As the class began, I realized how much I truly loved the literature. The poetry behind every
word amazes me every time I read Shakespeares plays. The intellectual conversations that we
had in that class will forever be some of the most interesting and complex discussions that lead
to real world thinking. My comfort zone was minimalized, and I found myself speaking outright
on topics I had never even thought about. I am the student I am today because of William
Shakespeare, and I can only wish that seventh grade me would have fought the peer pressure and
carried around that anthology like a Bible.
Having been made to take a class completely revolving around something that I was
stubborn enough to hate, made me grow as a reader, writer, and educator. I decided to begin to
study how to pair Shakespearean literature with modern texts that are more applicable to students
lives. The themes in Shakespeares plays: life, love, family, can all be made more understandable
to the reader if they can get past the complex language and focus in on what is being said

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through other texts. I had Shakespeare peer-pressured out of, in response I will make his works
more relevant to offset this peer pressure in the lives of future students not only wishing to begin
a career in English, but as growing individuals preparing to make mistakes. Shakespeares plays
may seem nonexistent in the lives of students who put their heads down, sigh and hope it goes
away, but themes and characters are very relatable to someone going through love, intense
feelings of lust, loss, and family issues. Of all of the authors we study in English, Shakespeare is
not going away, and I wish I would have realized this in 7th grade.
Perhaps, reflecting on the choices that I made many years ago will prove to be a benefit
to future students who like me had something they loved pressured out of them. William
Shakespeare has become a dear friend to me, more than any other author, and studying his works
will be my passion for the rest of my life. Its so important to focus on what you love, embrace it,
share it, and respect it as what becomes your ecstasy will make up the root of your being. Dont
become a passenger in your life. Grab the wheel, slam down the gas pedal; become the driver.
Dont ever let your passions be peer pressured out of you and like Shakespeare wrote, to thine
own self be true.

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