Wherefore Art Thou, William Shakespeare?

I'm happy to read that my alma mater, the University of Illinois, still requires its English majors to study the plays of William Shakespeare in order to earn a degree. But I'm wondering about the many other colleges and universities that no longer view Shakespeare's work as something worth studying. I'm afraid to ask what they require instead, fearing it could be the works of some rap artist.

Homeschooling parents who worry that their children won't be exposed to Shakespeare in college would do well to have them study him while they're learning at home. The English literature text my kids used included excerpts from Shakespeare's works; that was a good way to get a little exposure without overwhelming them. We preceded them with viewings of a few movies based on Shakespeare's plays, which was fun.

These days there are plenty of resources available to help your children become comfortable with these four-century-old plays....for instance, Rainbow Resource has plenty.