My first experience with Shakespeare was in sixth grade, when I tried out for the role of Juliet in our middle school's Shakespeare festival. I got the part, and loved playing it. But I never got to see the whole play, because our director arranged it so that we were playing a sequence of his plays, shortened to fit within a single performance. I've read Romeo and Juliet once as a requirement, and King Lear and Othello once each for a class. Besides that I have only heard about, read about, and seen performances of the other plays. I in fact have never seen or read some of his more famous works like Macbeth and Hamlet.
Sad, I know, but here's my chance to change all that.
Sad, I know, but here's my chance to change all that.
Normally this is the thing you ignore before you start reading the syllabus but since this class is centered around the course objectives I suppose I should plan how I'm going to achieve them. Here are the course learning objectives, and my plan for achieving them.
1. Gain “Shakespeare Literacy.” Demonstrate mastery over fundamental
information about Shakespeare's works, life, and legacy
a. Breadth (knowledge of a range of Shakespeare’s works)
*When it comes to choosing which works to study, I want to focus mainly on the works I have not already studied before, which is why I suggested The Tempest for our first play.
b. Depth (more thorough knowledge of a single work)
* If I have the opportunity to choose one play to focus more on, I'd love to go into more depth with Othello, because I only studied it for one class period once, and would love to learn more.
c. Performance (stage and screen)
* Maybe as part of the final project, or a group project along the way, I'll be able to perform something related to Shakespeare, hopefully something musical because I love to sing.
d. Legacy (history, scholarship, popular culture)
* This is a goal I'm making for my blog posts. I want to explore the many ways Shakespeare has influenced our culture today especially, being Shakespeare aware.
I've been away on a study abroad to Italy, and apparently a movie called The Tempest came out while I was gone. I'll have to see this one:
2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically. Interpret Shakespeare’s works critically in their written form, in performance (stage or screen) and in digitally mediated transformations. This includes
a. Textual analysis (theme, language, formal devices)
b. Contextual analysis (historical, contemporary, cultural)
*These two are actually my favorite part about literature, being able to analyze the work critically, which is why I so loved my class on writing about literature. It's just the research part that blows. With a research paper due this semester, I don't think I'll have a problem finding opportunities to do this...
c. Application of literary theories
*I've sometimes had trouble with research in this area. I'll find theories and not know where to start, and then load myself up with too much research and my paper ends up losing its voice. I plan on attempting to remedy this in my writing so that I can put my own ideas into my paper. I'll start out with just reading the text with a certain framework in mind.
d. Analysis of digital mediations
Seeing The Tempest movie might be a good start for this...
3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively
a. Performance (memorization, recitation, scene on stage or video)
*well if I get an opportunity to perform as part of the final project, this might also work out. But if not, I can always do a recitation, which for some reason seems less challenging to me.
b. Literary imitation
*I've recently started writing sonnets, inspired by some of Shakespeare and John Donne's work. I'll share some on this blog.
4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully. This includes engaging in the following:
a. Formal Writing. Develop and communicate your ideas about Shakespeare clearly in formal and researched writing.
*ha, good thing there's a paper assigned.
b. Informal Writing. This mainly means through regular online writing
*the whole point of this blog.
c. Connecting. Share one’s learning and creative work with others both in and outside of class.
*definitely need to read and comment on others' blogs in my class, as well as share any insights I have in class.
So, to sum up, here are my goals:
1. look for ways that Shakespeare has influenced modern life, as well as the legacy he created in his own day
2. read and see a ton of Shakespeare plays
3. write a bomb research paper
4. perform something Shakespeare related: either as part of an act for the final project, or something musical.
5. Share my insights and thoughts on my blog, and comment on others' blogs.
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