The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 14.1403  Wednesday, 9 July 2003

From:           Michael LoMonico <
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Date:           Tuesday, 08 Jul 2003 10:36:44 -0400
Subject: 14.1388 A Fifth Grader's View of Shakespeare?
Comment:        RE: SHK 14.1388 A Fifth Grader's View of Shakespeare?

Richard Lederer has made a career out of publishing these "student
answers," in books like "Anguished English," and frankly, I find them
offensive.  Is he making fun of teachers?  Children?  The education
system?   I suspect that this response, as well as so many others like
it, fall into the urban myth category and were written by some humorist
(Richard Lederer?).

Typing in the phrase "He wrote tragedies, comedies and hysterectomies,
all in Islamic pentameter" into Google.com produced 729 results, some of
which claim they apperead on the British GCSE exam in 1998.

By the way, the rest of the answer reads "Romeo and Juliet are an
example of a heroic couple. Romeo's last wish was to be laid by Juliet."

I hope that Rainbow Saari's posting doesn't inspire more of the same.

Michael LoMonico, Editor
Shakespeare Magazine

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