"Who Was Shakespeare?"

-Generally accepted that: Shakespeare was born in 1564, the third child and first son of John Shakespeare and his wife Mary Arden, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. John Shakespeare was a landowner, a merchant, a glovemaker, and a man on a political track. At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway and had 3 kids  Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. Shakespeare then moved to London and within a few years he had achieved some success as an actor, a poet and a playwright. The Sonnets especially established his reputation as a gifted and popular poet. Shakespeare became a charter member of a theatrical company, the Lord Chamberlain's Me, His plays were performed at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. (info found http://www.pbs.org)
-We currently do not know his birthday and we have no idea what he actually looked like. I feel that the moment we hear the name "Shakespeare" a sense of dread and exhaustion comes over students. Even parents remembering shake their heads and say "yup i hated it...just like math."
-When we started reading Hamlet i got none of it...at all...in any way. But after discussing it, analyzing what he is saying, and translating it into modern language i can actually understand whats going on and appreciate the story line. Which is more than my parents and many people who have been forced to study Shakespeare in high school can say.
- My only current struggle is still putting the text into modern understanding and untangling the cryptic metaphors, words, and phrasing so that I can process in the simplest form what is happening.