Memorizing Shakespeare, though, has nothing to do with this process. Of course one needs a working memory of the text to put it all in context, but rote memoriz

Memorizing Shakespeare, though, has nothing to do with this process. Of course one needs a working memory of the text to put it all in context, but rote memorization of a passage is orthogonal to understanding it. I can only say that memorizing a large passage of shakespeare was demanding and interesting to me in ways I hadn't anticipated, yet still easier than I expected, and the passage and (positive) experience has stuck with me since junior high school (... and that's a long time).