Teens Love Hamlet | Teen Ink

Teens Love Hamlet

February 10, 2009
By Jennifer Weil BRONZE, La Jolla, California
Jennifer Weil BRONZE, La Jolla, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Across the room is a sea of teen heads buried in little playbooks. The teacher sits at her desk grading papers while her students try to finish the reading requirement for the day: scene one of Hamlet. As the teacher goes about grading, the act of rebellion is happening right under her nose.

In the far corner of the room a mischievous boy is texting with his iPhone under the table. A girl sitting at the end of a long line of tables is doodling Anime puppies on the cover of her notebook, while the ones actually reading the play are thinking: what the heck is he saying, what is going on, who is that? As well as the all time teenage favorite sentence: I hate this!

Actually the teens of today are quite passionate about Hamlet. One teen is crushing the playbook cover. That is a devotion of love. Another is writing inappropriate language in the corners of the pages. That kid in the corner is sleeping with his head on the playbook and a trickle of drool coming out the side of his mouth, creating a pool on the cover of the book. A teen near the teacher's desk is passing notes that read: Hamlet stinks! The teacher is getting up and sees the note. She picks up the paper and crumples it up. That was smooth. Here's a tip, if you sit next to the teacher, accept the fact that you are not capable of doing any actions to defy her or Hamlet.


The author's comments:
My Writers Workshop teacher asked us to reflect on our small experience with Hamlet. Our teacher was merciful in just having us watch the movie, but every other class had the pleasure of reading the whole play. Having past experience with Shakespeare I could just imagine what our class would have done if we had been required to read Hamlet.

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