Year 9 News

A Midsummer Night's Dream | William Shakespeare

I must admit, when I found out we would be reading ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in English this term, I experienced heart palpitations. Shakespeare’s plays are famous, but he is notorious for his obscure words. Because I have never studied Shakespeare before, I was not familiar with his language, so I was very worried that I would struggle to understand the play.

At the beginning, I did struggle – it was really hard! However, by reading the play every English lesson, annotating the text and re-reading my notes after school, I slowly started to understand what was being said. What really helped me was the scene breakdowns that we discussed each lesson. Surprisingly, dressing up in costumes to ‘perform’ the play helped too! It helped me to visualise what was going on - instead of just relying on my imagination, I could physically see what the characters were meant to be doing

It also really helped me to distinguish the difference between characters with similar names. For example, I would have never been able to determine the difference between Helena and Hermia if I was just reading the play instead of seeing it. Something I’ve learnt from studying Shakespeare this term is to never underestimate yourself.

After all, I thought that I would never understand Shakespeare’s language, and now I can not only understand it, I can enjoy it too!

- Glianna G (9B1)

Year 9 Camp | Highlights Gallery

Many thanks to the staff and students who attended the Year 9 Camp to Philip Island! It was a terrific three days of games, team building, sightseeing, and fun in high-vis hard hats. Not a bad way to end the Term!