Chapter 1: Magic carpet “Time Travel” to an Elizabethan classroom

Same book, new title! We’re moving ahead with Routledge Publishing and I’ll soon have more information about the publication date for my book. It will be published as “Lessons for Today From Shakespeare’s Classroom: Empowering Learning Through Drama and Rhetoric.” (We felt that the two previous working titles, “Good Behavior and Audacity” and “A Generation of Genius” were catchy but didn’t sufficiently hint at the content.)

Chapter 6: Timeline for “The Hatch and Brood of Time: A Brief History of the English Reformation”

In the meantime I want to share some of the drawings that my multi-talented, and infinitely generous brother has done for the cover and chapter headings. This first one is for the first chapter: “Time Travel, Setting the Scene,” in which we go back to look at Elizabethan classrooms, which always featured a space, called the “auditorium,” for students to recite/perform their daily lessons. The second represents a timeline for a chapter called “The Hatch and Brood of Time: A Brief History of the English Reformation,” which puts our brief history lesson into context.

Chapter 9: :Per Quam Figuram.” Juggling figures.

Chapter 10: “Erasmus Writes Colloquies”

“Lessons for Today” focuses on two strands of Elizabethan education, both of which require performance: the recitation of memorized lessons from classical literature (formal Latin) and the performance of comical Erasmian playlets called “colloquies” (informal, conversational Latin). Formal Latin required a working knowledge of over 130 rhetorical figures, tropes, and schemes, while informal Latin required a working knowledge of conversational Latin, the lingua franca of educated tradesmen and travelers in Europe.

These are just a sampling. There are plenty more to share. I’m so grateful to John for the fun we had coming up with the whimsical ideas for these sketches. They totally reflect the friendly and approachable tone of the book.