The Letter to Mary's 8th grade teacher

I was very elated when Mary informed me that your English class will be reading Shakespeare's "Midsummer's Night Dream." Especially in this day and age of diminished importance of Shakespearean literature. I was also thrilled that it was the unabridged version. Mary delved into the book, and to my utter delight, she was completely captivated by the Shakespearean language. I queried her about it, and she informed me that she was enchanted by the rhyming nature of Shakespearean literature. I was ecstatic. In a recent UK Telegraph article, research supported the fact that reading Shakespeare elicits a "higher level of brain activity than the straightforward prose". I was so grateful that your class was reading Midsummer's Night Dream and creating immense "level(s) of brain activity."

Mary was very excited when you announced in class that there was going to be a play, and you assigned roles. She took your instructions to learn lines seriously. Mary became obsessed with knowing her lines. She studied her lines assiduously. Mary stuck to a daily regiment of learning a few lines daily. She recited it to me, to my husband or to her disinterested big sister.

Mary was a little worried that the other members of group did not know their lines. She encouraged and cajoled them to learn their lines. She learned part of their lines as well, to help prompt them. So when you announced to the class that students could read their lines instead of recite them, Mary was downright disappointed and a little frustrated because of all the hard work she had put into studying her line. To Mary, all her studying was for naught. I encouraged her not to loose heart, but to say her part from memory since she knew them. She had worked incredibly hard.

When Mary came home from the play event, she excitedly told me that she had said her lines from and projected her voice. She waited with abated breath for the result of her performance. She got a D on Gradework for her effort and performance. It was crushingly disappointing to her.

I will like to know where she went wrong and how she could have done better to be awarded an A or B. I will like Mary to continue to love reading Shakespeare, and be enthusiastic about English literature.

Respectfully,

Mrs. Brown
(Mary's Mom)

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The Teacher's Response

Hi,

I spoke to Mary about her experience with her group, and, on the basis of her comments, reassessed her. Also, she completed the last assignment today in class, which brought her grade to an A.

Overall, my comment on her performance was not about the memorization, but her lack of inflection when reading her lines. To me, it seemed like she didn’t understand what she was saying. I told her this as well.

Hope that helps, and have a great summer.

Best,

Ms. Jones