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Yesterday: I summarize the whole back story of Oedipus for my ninth
graders so that they will actually get the glaringly obvious dramatic
irony throughout the whole play. (In case you need a refresher, he kills
his dad and has four kids with his mom before he realizes who his
parents are.)
Today: A girl stands up, ready to
act out the part of Oedipus. Two lines in, she mispronounces the word
"incense." She says "incest" instead. I burst out laughing and bring
the class to a screeching halt. No one else is laughing, so I launch
into a ten-minute explanation of Freudian slips. Then I realize they
don't know who Freud is, so I give a psychology lesson on Freud. Then I
realize that half of the class still isn't getting the joke, and I
think it's because they doesn't know what incest is. So I just tell the
girl to keep reading.
The next period: The
kid acting out Oedipus does not say incest instead of incense. But I
stop anyways to explain the hysterical Freudian slip that occurred in
the previous class. No one gets it. I
give up and tell the kid to keep reading aloud. Five words later he
says "hymen" instead of "hymn." I just let him keep reading.
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This brings up a great question. Do you always correct kids' pronunciation when you're reading out loud? Especially when it comes to something like Shakespeare? I try to, for the most part, but sometimes I just have to let it go or I'll be correcting every word they say.
Sorry, a kid says hymen in class and doesn't get laughed out of the room?!!
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of in Grade 11 when a girl read out "Go, girl, look for a man who'll give you happy nights at the end of happy days." but inadvertently sounded like a guest on Ricki Lake. A small portion of the class laughed, the stupid kids didn't.
That always happens with "ho" in Shakespearean plays. "Bring me my longsword, ho!"
DeleteMy 9th graders from long ago made Romeo and Juliet's passion sound like a tasty Asian dumpling: "wonton" for "wanton". The word happens enough that I say something about it. See also: 'how to pronounce "Ho!" without sounding like you're a crazy talk show guest.'
ReplyDeleteI correct some things, but not all. If I can't stifle the laugh, and they look at me, I try to save face for the reader and say, "I must have heard you wrong. Go on." But if other kids get it, or giggle, sometimes we take a moment to make sure everybody knows the right word. I mean, who wants to announce they've been asked to sing a solo hymen in church?
The ho thing ALWAYS makes me laugh.
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