- How have I gained Shakespeare literacy?
The breadth of my Shakespeare literacy has increased quite a bit since the beginning of this semester. Of the five plays that I have studied so far(four with the class and one individually), I had only read one of them before, and I had never even heard of some of them. Now I have a general knowledge of the plot and major themes of Hamlet, Winter's Tale, Love's Labor's Lost, The Tempest, and The Merchant of Venice. I have also found that I have greater depth in my understanding of Shakespeare. I am completely comfortable with the language now, and have had a lot of fun digging deeper into the text and applying theme's to my own life. I also experienced going to my first Shakespeare production this semester. I have now been to four total(three if you don't count going to Macbeth twice) and am excited to see more throughout my life. I've learned a lot about the different media Shakespeare can be shared in, such as film vs. theatre, and the emotions and messages that can be in portrayed through different methods. I also spent time viewing the movie for The Merchant of Venice and am excited for the day when I get to do the same for The Tempest. - How have I analyzed Shakespeare critically?
I have actually spent a good amount of time analyzing Shakespeare's text critically. It's my favorite kind of blog post, because it's the most straightforward. Earlier in the semester I talked about possible ulterior motives of Gertrude, criticized contradictions between plays and reality, compared Winter's Tale to Greek mythology, and explored the use of costume in staging a production. I also analyzed a passage of Love's Labor's Lost and compared the relationships to those of Much Ado About Nothing. More recently, I looked at several sections of The Tempest and talked about the role of ambition in decision making. I also spent a lot of time critically analyzing my individual play and a production of it and going back and forth on the idea of Shylock as a victim or villain. - How have I engaged Shakespeare creatively?
I am planning on fulfilling this learning objective much more than I already have through the final project. This focus is the hardest for me, because I tend to spend more time listening and observing, and less time actually doing. I really admire people who are super creative, but I've always had a hard time with it. However, I am trying to be better! Just recently I did a blog post where I explored possible staging and costuming in The Tempest before we went to see the production. I talked about one particular scene, the feast, and how I thought it could be staged and the need for creative costumes. Unfortunately, a lot of what I had hoped to see was cut from the production we went to. - How have I shared Shakespeare meaningfully?
Sharing Shakespeare meaningfully was a huge part of the individual play assignment, and I feel like I fulfilled the objectives pretty well. I shared in the community by asking people to fill out a short survey and attempting to discuss the answers with them, and I shared globally by chiming in on a Boston cycling blog about the Merchant of Venice's theme of tolerance. I also had a neat sharing experience this last weekend with the Grassroots Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth. I went to see it Friday night with some of my classmates and was so excited about it when I got back to my apartment and talked to my roommate that I ended up taking my roommate and her friend back on Monday. I thought it was really neat that my enthusiasm transferred over to my roommate and just by being excited about what I had seen, it prompted her to want to go. It was a blast going back a second time and seeing her reactions. (She loved it, by the way.)
B. Self-directed Learning
- I tend to learn best in very structured settings with clear purposes and steps to reach a goal. So some of my self-directed learning has been creating that organization for myself in a class that is not quite so rigid. As part of that, I have stuck very closely to the blogging schedule and the days that I chose to post on. I have also made sure to always do the assigned readings before class. I like to mark in my copy of the play when I come across interesting lines or as I am noticing motifs. That way, when I am looking for blogging ideas I can flip through the text and revisit the things that interested me. Originally a lot of my self-directed learning through blogging was done with a "what can I blog about today to get this assignment done" attitude. But lately I have been thinking, reading, and watching Shakespeare more in terms of sharing, and in a day I now think of more ideas to write about then I will ever have the time or means for. Now the "what am I going to blog about today?" question is more one of narrowing down choices than searching for them. These days I am excited to learn and to share, and I feel like that's a good sign.
C. Collaborative and Social Learning
- I am really enjoying working and talking with my learning group in class and through the internet. It's really nice to have the group of people I share ideas with in class be the same ones who read my posts later, when the thoughts are more fully formed. I also really enjoy watching my group members' thoughts grow and expand. The only issue I have with the group learning has been with these last few weeks. More of the posting has been to fulfill individual assignments and it has been harder to meaningfully comment on posts about plays and productions that I am not familiar with. I feel like the blogging groups work better when we blog about the plays we all read. I am more comfortable with social collaborating of ideas through blogs than I am with trying to understand something I'm not familiar with. Having said that, my group members have done a fantastic job. I feel like we are all doing well with making informed and constructive comments. I learn a lot from their opinions and view points that they share on my posts. I have also been learning from my interactions. Within class that interaction comes mostly from group discussion and comments people in other groups make. Outside of class I have found myself applying Shakespeare to the world. When I see couples now I wonder if they are "Perdita and Florizel couple" or a "Beatrice and Benedick couple." (At BYU the first is probably more common.)
D. Looking Ahead
- With the remainder of the semester, I hope to be as familiar with King Lear as I have been with the past plays we studied, if not more so. I am going to keep up with my scheduled reading and posting and maybe do some more sporadic posting as I think of things to share, rather than only when I'm scheduled. I'm also hoping to put a lot more work into engaging Shakespeare creatively, and I feel like I'll be able to accomplish that with the final project. I am planning on joining Averill in her production. I think it will be a really good learning experience for me. I have always been on the audience side of the stage and am excited to get up there and experience Shakespeare from a performer's point of view.
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