Why read Shakespeare?

1. According to the article, what are some reasons that students find Shakespeare difficult to understand? What does Mack present as an answer to this?

Some students find Shakespeare difficult to understand because they don't get it, they don't understand what any of it means. The writing is too difficult to comprehend what is happening. It's too complex the first time they read it, so they figure that the next time they read it, it will be just as awful as the first. Some people just don't want to read it. They're just normal guys who don't think there is any merit in trying to decipher Shakespeare when they can enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Mack presents that reading Shakespeare the first time will be hard and not enjoyable, even the second time might be bad, but if you keep reading and reading it, it will eventually click and Shakespeare can teach a lot of lessons about life. 

2. According to Mack, when you finally “get” Shakespeare, what do you actually get?

Mack says, "Shakespeare offers us a lens on the real world in which we live." When you "get" Shakespeare you get a mirror on the real world. Shakespeare reflects the world and allows the reader to see its true nature. Ultimately when you can better understand Shakespeare you can better understand life. Mack says, "it means that finding beauty and meaning in Shakespeare is a sort of proving ground for finding beauty and meaning in life."

3. List and summarize five convincing arguments in answer to the question “Why read Shakespeare?”

1. Each time you read Shakespeare you can understand it a little bit more. It allows time for your interests to develop. The first time it will be hard to read and to understand, but with each successive time you read, you will be able to understand more and more of it. Shakespeare will grow on you, if you allow the time for it to do it.

2. It teaches you about the true world we live in. Shakespeare offers a mirror of the world and allows you to discover the true meaning of beauty and value in life. Reading Shakespeare can give you a "flight simulator" on life. It shows you situations that can happen in real life, and them shows you want consequences -good or bad- that can come from certain actions.

3. It will teach you about yourself. You can relate your own attributes and characteristics to those of the characters in the novels. Mack says that getting to know Shakespeare is like discovering where your ideas come from, and finding where your ideas come from is a profound way of getting to know yourself.

4. It will teach you skills of life. It gives the reader basic skills that will be useful across all fields of work. It will reflect the defects of the mirror of the mind so the reader can polish them and then can have a more accurate reflection of the world. Reading Shakespeare can reveal some faults and then gives you the skills to refurbish those faults into something better. 

5. Reading Shakespeare shows how the head and the heart need each other. Shakespeare will teach you about your emotional intelligence. You can better understand your emotions (where they come from, how to deal with them, how others have dealt with them before). 

4. Which one of these arguments do you find most convincing? Why?

I find Mack's concluding paragraph one of the most convincing portion of his lecture. He proposes that becoming better at understanding Shakespeare will make you better at the art of living. You will be better prepared to find true happiness and you will know what is truly valuable in life after reading Shakespeare. Of the five arguments he present though, I find the one about discovering more of yourself to be the most convincing. I think having a good grasp on who you are is vital in life. Without a deep understanding of yourself, you can't know what you find most important in life. It's hard to be truly happy without accepting who you are first.