Why I Use Julie Taymor's The Tempest in Class

Because it's visually incredible, for one! Take a look at the trailer:



I am perfectly well aware that many standards for 9th grade prescribe reading Romeo and Juliet when it comes to Shakespeare's work... but I just can't stand reading that anymore. It's been used in so many strange and twisted ways. This is what I want to show anyone who says that Romeo and Juliet is the most romantic love story they can think of:

You know where this is from

So, since I can't stand the one Shakespeare play, I chose another. 

And, [turn away now if you're a literary traditionalist] I actually assign my students to read the No Fear Shakespeare version from SparkNotes (which is fully supported online). Why do I transgress so lustily against the Almighty Canon of Literature? Because kids don't tend to care about what's respected and accepted as what they ought to read for their English class. 

What this means is that I have to stay ahead of them, choosing the teaching tools that they'll be interested in and that I can live with myself for choosing. Thus, I use the movie version of The Tempest, as well as SparkNotes to supplement what I present in my classroom.