In the decade between my college graduation and my first semester of law school, I worked as an actor in Chicago, often performing “heightened language” adaptations of literary and dramatic classics.
There’s always a lot of work that takes place before actors ever get up on their feet in rehearsal, including collaborative “table work” (completed, unsurprisingly, with the team sitting around a table) as well as individual homework in the weeks leading up to that first “table read.”
With heightened language plays (most recognizably, Shakespeare), part of that homework feels strangely similar to . . . reading the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
I’m serious! Here’s how studying Shakespeare prepared me to read the FRCP. [Read more…] about What Studying Shakespeare Taught Me About Reading The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
As far back as I can remember, I’ve been more susceptible to illness than the people around me. Every few weeks in high school, I’d drag myself out of bed and groggily stumble to my mom’s room to croak out a request to stay home that day. (Thankfully, she always obliged.)
Our faces are hidden behind three layers of cotton. Our voices are muffled, and important non-verbal cues are missing. As we try to communicate complicated concepts in the classroom, those barriers to understanding can lead to confusion and frustration—for us and for our listeners.