A Midsummer Night's Dream The Graphic Novel: Original Text (Classical Comics) Paperback – Illustrated, September 6, 2011

Wow, what a great idea! To make a quick text read (TRANSLATION) OF THE ORIGINAL Shakespeare text, one can compare the original writing to the quick read! in the original text Hermia's father said, " Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung with feigning voice, verses of feigning love." While in the quick text version he said," By singing at her window and giving her cheap gifts and trinkets she is easily led, and you have made her go against my wishes!"The translation may be less poetic but it is more to the point and quicker! In the quick text version Puck said"But Titania, she loves the boy. He really is her pride and joy. And now whenever they meet or are near they argue so much, their elves hide in fear. "In the original text he said , "And now they never meet in grove or green by fountain clear or spangled starlight sheen, but they do square; that all their elves, for fear creep into acorn cups and hide them there!" The translated version is more to the point while still rhyming! It's been fasinating to compare the Shakespeare original to the quick read so I have both versions!

I'm teaching his graphic novel version of A Midsummer Night's Dream to my 7th grade English class in rural New York. For most of them, it is their first experience with Shakespeare. I wanted to give them a graphic novel (with the original Shakespearean text) because I wanted to familiarize them with the difficult language, knowing they would experience it throughout their high school life. I chose the graphic novel so they would be able to understand the gist, even if they couldn't understand each individual word. For the most part, we read the play aloud, but the kids are able to understand what's going on. As well, I would say about 1/2 to 3/4 of my students genuinely like it. For Shakespeare, in Middle School, those are actually pretty awesome odds. The others are either disinterested by everything (because they're 12) or don't have a clue what's going on because the language is so difficult. We work a lot to meet each kid where they are, and this graphic novel really helps with that.

It's Shakespeare, so of course a it predictable - but charming nonetheless. If you don't understand old English well enough to read his works fairly easily, this is a great option because the visuals make the story easier to understand.

Nice edition

This format keeps my students engaged in the story. I now don't teach Shakespeare any other way.

This is a review of A Midsummer Night's Dream The Graphic Novel by John McDonald. I ordered this last year and sent it back because the illustrations were disappointing. I just looked at it again thinking maybe it wasn't as bad as I remembered... but, yeah, it's not my taste. My kids love Shakespeare. My upper elementary child has read the original play and would love a graphic novel of it. This was a great idea! I mean, it has the original text!! I wish the illustrations were beautiful instead of so... idk. Another thing that helped me decide it wasn't for us was the way the women were drawn. It wouldn't be something I would have been comfortable with my 3rd grade daughter looking at and I wouldn't have been able to keep it away from her as she loves AMND too.

I am so excited to show this book to my students! It is so hard to get High School kids to enjoy Shakespeare. Using a graphic novel to read and understand the language is a fantastic idea! The graphics are FANTASTIC. I also purchased the Plain Text and Quick Text to help my students comprehend!

The character guide and illustrations have a wide appeal with my students (8th grade). As a teacher, I appreciate that the original text is used, rather than a "modern day translation". A great way to introduce students to Shakespeare that's accessible, cool, and not dumbed down.