Surveying the Audience

I created a google form requesting people’s opinions on Shakespeare, their reading habits and motivations behind reading to get a sense of how different ages participate in reading and perceive Shakespeare’s texts. This resulted in 56 participants’ responses which provided me with some interesting information. Of the participants, 30.4% were in the high school age range of 14-18. Here are the key findings that I came away with from the results:

• 44% of respondents read books for less than 5 hours/week

• 17.9% of respondents do not read books, preferring the internet as a source of reading. 

• 51% of respondents read books because they want to, and the second highest 25% read because they have to (are assigned books).

• In terms of media separate from traditional books, 88% of respondents reported enjoying movies and television equally or greater than books, 77% enjoy reading internet sources, and 30% enjoy graphic novels. Only one respondent selected newspapers, and magazines. 

• Respondents reported engaging with traditional paper books (57%), social media (86%), emails and text messaging (91%), television (75%) the highest of media types given at least once a week.

• In terms of authors, JK rowling (4), Margaret Atwood (4), Shakespeare (2), and Steven King (2) were the most frequently mentioned names, while 8 respondents did not have a favourite. 

• 84% of respondents had read Shakespeare. Of those, on a scale of 1 being hate and 5 being love, 45% of respondents reported their enjoyment of Shakespeare to fall on the level 3, with 16% choosing 1, and 10%  choosing 5.

• As for their opinions on Shakespeare, here are some interesting comments grouped by frequency, paraphrased: “the language is difficult”(15),  “reading it in school makes it uninteresting”(10), “it is written to be spoken, not read” (2), “It is beautiful, symbolic and filled with complexities” (20), and one noted it being dated, while another noted its continued resonance despite its age. 

• To increase understanding of Shakespeare, pictures (52%), videos (48%), sound (44%), and interactivity (42%) were chosen as solutions. Two respondents brought up translating the texts, and four suggested margin notes or descriptions of difficult words. 

• The most touching aspects of Shakespeare were the characters (57%), drama (53%), stories (51%), emotions (49%), and humour (41%).

• 76% of respondents reported using spark notes or online summaries, 43% reported using no fear Shakespeare, and 43% reported using movie adaptations to aid in comprehension.