As You Like It (Shakespeare Made Easy) [Paperback]

Gayle Holste (Adapter), William Shakespeare (Author)

Book Description

Series: Shakespeare Made Easy | Publication Date: September 1, 2009

Here are the books that help teach Shakespeare plays without the teacher constantly needing to explain and define Elizabethan terms, slang, and other ways of expression that are different from our own. Each play is presented with Shakespeare's original lines on each left-hand page, and a modern, easy-to-understand "translation" on the facing right-hand page. All dramas are complete, with every original Shakespearian line, and a full-length modern rendition of the text. These invaluable teaching-study guides also include:



1. Helpful background information that puts each play in its historical perspective.



2. Discussion questions that teachers can use to spark student class participation, and which students can use as springboards for their own themes and term papers.



3. Fact quizzes, sample examinations, and other features that improve student comprehension of what each play is about.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

(back cover)
SHAKESPEARE MADE EASY
Modernized by Gayle Holste
As You Like It
IN LANGUAGE EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND

Shakespeare's delightful comedy about the banished princess who falls in love at first sight with a poor but brave young man unfolds in easy-to-follow English as we speak it today. Follow witty Rosalind as she and her loyal cousin Celia, disguised as a poor shepherd lad and his sister, run away to Arden Forest to escape the threats of Rosalind's wicked uncle. Accompanied by the bawdy jester Touchstone, they meet the melancholy Jacques, the lovesick Silvius, the scornful Phebe, and other colorful characters. Rosalind's encounter with the brave Orlando is only one of several love stories that grace this cleverly plotted play.

The complete original text is laid out side-by-side with the full modern translation. Shakespeare Made Easy titles are ideal for quick reference and understanding, whether you are reading Shakespeare for pleasure or studying for an exam.

Also available in this series:
Hamlet * Henry IV, Part One
Julius Caesar * King Lear
Macbeth * The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing * Othello
Romeo and Juliet * The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest * Twelfth Night

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; 1 Original edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764142720
• ISBN-13: 978-0764142727
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #438,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Kindel edition is discouraging, July 10, 2011

By 

J.F. Barth - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: As You Like It (Shakespeare Made Easy) (Kindle Edition)

Discouraging. The Kindle edition is useless. It is not readable. The side-by-side display of the paperback edition is not maintained in the Kindle edition. In my Kindle, the original text and the modern translation flow at random. There is no indication to distinguish them. I could not even read a complete scene in either version. It is a shame.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A useful book transferred non-functionally to Kindle, June 24, 2011

By 

David Hance (Ukiah, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: As You Like It (Shakespeare Made Easy) (Kindle Edition)

I've used books from this series before. But I've used them as printed books, in which the original text and modern English text was placed on facing pages. Somehow I thought it would work the same way in the Kindle edition. It doesn't. In this Kindle edition, the printed book's page breaks are not maintained, so all the text simply flows to fit the device display upon which you're viewing it. You can't look at the original text and the modern "translation" side-by-side (which is the primary point of this book), nor can you read through an original text scene then proceed to that same scene in modern English text (which might have been a poor substitute for the original side-by-side intention). And you can't read through the entire play in either original text or modern translation. All the text simply flows, with sections of original text followed by sections of translated text in what feels like a random pattern (but I suspect the original printed book's page breaks may have been maintained, but not indicated, in the Kindle edition). The result is a book that is neither readable nor useful. Someone should have looked at it before offering it for sale. It is an embarrassment to the publisher and the reseller (Amazon). Very discouraging.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare Study Guide, February 1, 2010

By 

Donna B. Kalil - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: As You Like It (Shakespeare Made Easy) (Paperback)

It's a great study aid for my students. Helps to free up the inner actor inside!