During my freshman year of high school, I had to read the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. As a final project of that term, we had to recite a passage from memory without any notes or the actual text on hand. I decided to recite the prologue because it was short, yet still mildly challenging. Over the course of the time that we had to refine our recitations, I practiced whenever I could and made sure to look at the text unless I needed a reminder. I went through memorizing the prologue by two or three lines at a time and then starting from the beginning to go through what I had tried to memorize. I was very confident that I would do well on this project, but I was still a little unsure of myself when it came to Shakespeare. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t understand or appreciate what some of his plays brought to the table and how their influence is seen today.
When it came time for the day of our recitations, I was a little nervous, yet confident I would remember everything and do my best. When I got to the podium to start I remembered and recited what I needed to correctly and clearly. I thought I didn’t do too badly, until my English teacher that year gave feedback once I was done and said something that still sticks with me. She said that I read what I recited as if I had written it myself and knew what the words meant. This feedback surprised me, and in turn I also surprised myself because of the surprising feedback. I have always remembered what she said and this will always give me confidence anytime I take an English class where Shakespeare is the main topic or one of the people we have to read. I also think her words have given me a deeper appreciation for other Shakespeare plays (Romeo and Juliet wasn’t one of my favorites), but it’s made me feel almost as if I lived some unknown life that I’m unaware of and interacted with Shakespeare during that life and my knowledge was revealed to me in that moment during my freshman English class.
