More To Come

Even though the semester is ending I am not done with this blog. I have invested a lot of time and effort into this blog and it is proof what I have learned and how I have grown from this learning experience this semester. I have come to love the learning that accompanies blogging and more importantly I have come to love learning about Shakespeare and because of this I see no reason no to continue.

A Review Of An Inexperienced Blogger and Shakespearian After A Semester Of Great Learning

Personal & Social

Author identity: Someone in the class old me early on that I have a good voice for my blog and since then I have tried to maintain that voice. They something like they liked the voice because it was like a conversation and since receiving that, what I interpreted to be, positive feedback I have tried to maintain it.

A Hub Post? Yes. A Review Of How The Positivity That Can Be Gleaned From Will's Life Far Outweighs The Negative

It has been a long road but we are at that end and as is necessary to wrap up a blog at the end of a semester here is my final hub post.

Thesis:

 Shakespeare’s life and career though riddled with trials, tribulations, and struggle was so successful because he was an optimist. This fact is demonstrated in the way he lived his life, his copious amount of works, his success, and in the works themselves.

              

How Can You Doubt The Bard Was An Optimist When He Had Such A Great Sense Of Humor?

Mathew Arnold a poet and literary critic from the Victorian era felt that poetry should be happy, enlightening and positive. He felt this so solidly that when he could not produce poems that he felt lived up to the standard he stopped writing poems altogether. Despite the fact that Shakespeare preceded Arnold by 300 years there are several ways in which he lived up to the Victorian’s standards.

A Response To The Concern That Shakespeare Was Not An Optimist Because He Wrote So Many Tragedies

Shakespeare’s life and career though riddled with trials, tribulations and struggle was so successful because he was an optimist. This fact is demonstrated in the way he lived his life, his copious amount of works, his success, and in the works themselves. However, this argument can have stones thrown at it when one considers the tragedies. Again, however, this does not mean that it cannot be proved. As I said in my original hub post I am going to discuss Hamlet to prove this point.  

Future Shakespearian Expert, Natashya Chelson: A Peer Review For English 382

Personal and Social:

-       Author identity: The way I see this, this bullet can be interpreted in two ways so here are the two answers I found!

1.)     This peer review is of Natashya Chelson’s blog.

2.)    Throughout the blog Natashya maintain’s a personable and intelligent voice. If these posts were handed to me in paper form with no identifying markers I would quite reasonably be able to assume that they were written by one person.

A Cry For Action, More Specifically, A Selfless Act

Some might find Prospero an entirely selfish character willing to use his daughter if it means his elevation in status. While this may be true this does not mean that he does not care. It is also true that if my father treated me the way Prospero treats Miranda I probably would have run away at fourteen and not looked back for a long time, especially if it was just the two of us. But then, it has to be taken into account that life on the island was all she had ever known and where was she supposed to go? “Oh look! A bit of water that looks warm and calm I will go there!” That would have been a laugh when she was washed back to shore the next morning. Prospero is selfishly motivated and I believe that he loves himself more than anyone else because he was cast out. He focused on the wrongs done him until all he could think about was how people had treated him badly.

Consider this the Award Ceremony.

Hi everyone! This post is for those who participated in the dramatic reading today! Once it got started I think it went really well! You all are fabulous Shakespearian actors! It was a rocky start but we figure it out and did what we set out to do!

Skypeing

I want to apologize for not being so connected this week I am sorry for any inconvenience and hope you are all still pumped for this Skype project! I had family in town so I was away from campus and a computer for a few days.

You're Gonna Be A Star!

Below is a list of the characters, their number of lines. Laura I am still waiting to hear from Lindsay to see if she wants to participate, if not Laura I am wondering if you would be able to take Ferdinand's lines as well. I am sorry I should have had this ready for class but here it is now! If there are any concerns voice them and we will see what we can do!

Executive Decision Regarding The Class Skyeping To Do A Dramatic Reading Of Shakespeare

First off I would like to apologize to all of you who are interested in participating in the dramatic reading of a Shakespeare play via Skype. I am sorry for slacking this past week. However, I am back in the game and this is still a go!

To Be or Not To Be Was Never The Question: A Thesis Statement For A Research Blog

As I have said before I discussing in this blog my personal belief that Shakespeare was an optimist. I have already outlined my agenda in my post beginning Whats the Plan Stan, but after listening to class discussion I have come to realize that I did not have a thesis. . . .until now. Before I state my thesis I would like to invite critique of it and any advice you might feel could be beneficial or that might make the blog more interesting. So with out further ado . . . my thesis:

Creatively Involved: Skypeing With Shakespeare, Creating New Digital Mediations

Branching away from my usual theme of optimism in Shakespeare I am going to talk about a learning out come for a few minutes. I have yet to complete my creative requirement for this class. So I have established a plan. I would like to arrange a dramatic reading of a scene from one of the plays. Originally I was going to try to get in contact with a bunch of actors, but when I realized that, to the best of my knowledge there is not a handy list of all actors who would apply to my plan online I decided to reconfigure my agenda.

Dr. Burton Is Right: We have a Larger Audience Than We Realize

Contrary to the implications this posts titles I have not sincerely disagreed with Professor Burton since my rant post in January. However, it is nice for people to receive recognition so Dr. Burton here it is! I was fiddling around on my dashboard trying to figure out how to set up a post that would not appear until Sunday at ten when I discovered that there is a way to view how many people have looked at your blog. I hope this doesn't scare anyone outside of the class away because I think it is awesome that there is global interaction!


So, since my blog was created on January it has been viewed . . .

Shakespeare vs. Poe: The Contrasting Character Traits of Two of the Greats with Similar Life Experiences.

Introduction: 
Sitting in class I thought an excellent way to demonstrate Shakespeare’s optimism would be to contrast him with another famous author with similar life experiences. The value in this is the different way their lives ended up. Below is a list of bullets with more information that demonstrate this idea better.

Shakespeare Findings from Borders

Last night when I was feeling pessimistic, the opposite of the area of focus for this blog discussing Shakespeare, I drove to Borders. There is something about the convention and novelty of bookstores associated with childhood that I find comforting. Upon arriving and not knowing what I wanted to look at I decided to just walk around the whole store and look for something that caught my attention. You see where this is going? Well due to the fact that Shakespeare is playing such a large role in my life this semester his name sticks out to me. Right after the literature section I hit the jackpot! So these are my finding from Borders, there are only a few and I am not sure if you will find them helpful but I can see them being helpful so here they are!

Whats The Plan Stan? Aye, Theres The Hub.

         As I was sifting through my old notes from class, back when ideas were hitting me at a steady pace I discovered my topic for my blog. Since the midterm I have been trying to figure out what I want to blog about, slash what I can blog about based on my interest. I have decided to blog about optimism in Shakespeare’s works to prove the man’s positive perspective on life. This may seem a bit simple and several people have expressed concern and curiosity about this however I feel that I am up to the challenge.

Character Traits of the Late Great Bard: The Optimism of Shakespeare As Demonstrated Through His Works

I have made a decision. The direction this blog is going to take over the last month of the semester to prove that Shakespeare was an optimist. The stem of this comes from myself. Some say that they are hopeless romantics, I am a hopeless optimist. I cannot count the number of time that I said "Life is amazing!" last week.  I am pretty sure my roommates began to wish they could say "I'll give you amazing!" will and up back hand blow.

There are several arguments against this lofty view of Shakespeare but I intend to prove them wrong!

"Hello Boys . . . I'm Back!!!"

In trying to narrow down my topic for my blog I have come up with a few ideas. One of these ideas was to explore time in Shakespeare plays. This is a broad topic so in trying to come up with a more concise approach I have decided to study in this blog post at least to explore Shakespeare’s use of time in his plays. 

  

Technical difficulties

I am not a slacker I promise! So I knew this was going to be a busy week so I saved a few post to on my computer. Then my computer went crazy and I did not save the posts anywhere. So I am waiting to get my computer back so (hopefully tomorrow) and then I will put up more posts! I know excuses are lame but they are good posts and I want to use them and this is a hectic week!

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words? . . .Too Easy Here’s the Words! . . . oh! Times Ten.

This relates to our Reading of the sonnets from January. In reading the sonnets I did not realize how much Shakespeare had written. I mean I did not know that some of the famous phrase and poems and words can be attributed to him. I knew that he had created over 10,000 words but the consequence had not and I guess still hasn't sunk in. 

So I decided to research this and come up with a list. I could not find a collective list and I am not going to take the time to compile one at this time in my life! There is a Shakespeare dictionary on campus for those of you who want to have fun looking through his words.  If you type in words Shakespeare invented you can find several sites that will educate you as well.

movie night . . . again . . .

So Sara's post on the movie Shakespeare Behind bars and the video clip intrigued me. I really want to see the movie no so I found a copy and will be watching it tomorrow at my apartment with popcorn and you all are welcome to come watch! Here is a link to Here is a link to Sara's blog and below is the  information on the location.


When: Wednesday 2, 2011 at 6:00
so there is still time to go watch the game on TV because it is only and hour and a half. 
Where: Carriage Cove Apartment 113 (building four) 
606 W. 1720 N.
Provo, Utah 84604

Hope you can make it! 

Insult Me Again!

               So about once every two moths I go on a MLIA binge and read it for a few hours over a few day span. This week I happens to be the week. While on this morning I found the following references to Shakespeare:

Help!!!!!!

I am taking a poll for a project I have started working on. I want to know if you had a choice and could see or hear a performance of any Shakespeare play which one would it be?

Slipped My Mind

                So last week I was a ditz more so than I have been any other time this semester! Bobby Singer would have called me an idgit (idiot). I was forgetting things left and right and one things I forgot has to do with a post. Specifically the post about Shakespeare's life. Most of you probably know this already but just in case here it is.

               People were very superstitious during Shakespeare's time. They also had a problem with over population of grave yard plots. One thing they did to solve this problem was employ bone (grave) diggers . There job was to dig up old grave so that new bodies could be buried (Ophelia's grave) and then burn the bones. This is said to be where the term bonfire came from, originally they were known as bone fires.

"Double, Double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble."

Let me preface this by saying I have no idea why some of this is blocked off in white and every time I try to fix it I just cause more damage so I am washing my hands of it and you all get it the way it is. Hope it is not too distracting! So reading Hamlet (I know that was forever ago) got me curious about ghost stories in the Elizabethan period. Doing research on ghost brought up the issue of witches. So here are my findings on Ghosts and Witches! 

Midterm: Whitney

     So Whitney I figure you are going to read this so I addressed it to you, I feel like things like this are less intimidating that way!        

Midterm: Me

1    Learning Outcomes:


                I have for the most part put up two post a week adn commented on at least two posts a week. Also as part of this I made an effort in class and outside to share what I was learning and doing. I tried to let the class know about movies and the conversation with Fred Adams online and in class as well as planning activities with others in the class in other classes we have together.

Movie Night!

Hey just a reminder I am going to see Othello tonight with my friend Jenna for all those who want to come! It is on the main floor of the SWKT just follow the crowds of people and maybe we'll meet up, hope to see you there!

The Conversation Transcribed

So here is the conversation, it was really fun he knows so much I couldn't believe the stuff he seemed to just pull from no where! Also this post corresponds with the post below which is the research I did to prepare for the call.

Fred: Fred Adams

Cara: Hi Mr. Adams, this is Cara Call, sorry to call late there was a problem with the phone

Fred: Oh that is alright Cara dear I knew you would call when you could. 

Cara: Is it alright if I record this conversation?

Fred: Oh of course!

Cara: Thank you, let me put you on speaker real quick, okay. 

Fred: Okay the first one was from Sarah Jane is she there?

Cara: Um she couldn’t make it today

Fred: She talks mainly about the pre-performances the atmosphere created besides the actual productions. So costumes things like that she wondered if they were authentic from Shakespeare’s time were there other things going on? There were other things going on. Of course Shakespeare’s Globe Theater was located right by the bear pits so there was dog and bear fights going on.   Moorish dancers often were surrounding the theater and dancing attracting a lot of attention with their bells and their ribbons, and then of course there were vendors so everyone singing out their wares and the various calls of the city. So we really kind of recreated that scene with our green show

About the Author

This is what I complied in an effort to prepare for the conversation with Mr. Adams, this is meant to correlate with the next post to come which will be the transcription of the conversation with him.

Talking With Fred in room 4116**

So I am going to call Fred Adams tomorrow at eleven and you are all welcome to come. I don't know where yet but I asked Professor Burton to help arrange a room but I haven't heard back from him yet I will fill you all in when I know, I will just add it this post and add something to the title so you know I have add the room number.  Hope you can make it!

**Professor Burton got us a room in the JFSB rm 4116. It is on of the conference rooms in the back corner.

Seeing Othello *REVISED*

**REVISION**

So I forgot that I have plans tonight so I will actually be going to the 9:00 showing on Friday. I am sorry for the trouble I am just having a really ditzy week!

So I feel a little sheepish. I wanted Othello to be playing Wednesday at five in the International Cinema so somehow I got it into my head that it was. However, scheduling cannot read my mind so . . . Othello is playing the on the main floor of the SWKT on Tuesday (today)  at 7:30, Friday  9:00, Saturday 3:00, 9:30.

The movie is the 1995 version with Oliver Parker and is two hours longs. This is a good opportunity because they edited the movie for us! 

What do you think folks?

I sent Mr. Adams the questions and this is what I prefaced the with:


Mr. Adams,

Thank you for responding to my email. I am sorry it has taken so long for me to get back to you, I wanted to give my classmates an opportunity to ask some question of their own. They were really excited when they heard you had replied. This is a long list of questions so we appreciate whatever you have time for. If it would be easier for you if we were to arrange a phone interview that would work, whatever is most convenient for you works for me. We really value you taking the time to reply our questions.

Thank you,

Cara Call

This is his response: 

Cara,  I have the questions printed out and will carefully go over each of them.  I can respond briefly via e-mail or if you want I would be happy to entertain a phone call.  Talk to your classmates and determine what is best.  Fred


So what do you all want to do? 

I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! / Last call for questions

Mr. Adams emailed me! I have to be honest I was not expecting anything back so this is amazing!

This is the email I sent him.

Questions?

So folks as part of my two previous posts I have tried to get in contact with Dr. Greenblatt and Fred Adams through e-mail. All I had to do was call Harvard's undergrad number and they gave me Dr. Greenblatt's e-mail, and call the general number for the festival and they gave me an e-mail address and they will read my email and forward it on, pretty dang simple! I have not heard back from either yet, but I am still crossing my fingers. In the email I asked if it would be alright if I were to ask them some questions about Shakespeare and his works. These are both highly educated and individuals regarding the bard. So needless to say I am worried about asking a stupid question. So far the question I have are:

How I Found Out About Mr. Adams and A Biography

Fred C. Adams is the founder of the Shakespearean festival in Cedar City. This festival has won awards as the best Shakespearean Festival there is. I highly recommend it.  I am not trying to sound pompous by saying I went, the only way I went was because my aunt needed a chauffeur and she likes me.

Macbeth . . . McCain? Hamlet . . .Obama?: Colbert Interviews Greeblatt

For my writing for children and adolescents class each student was supposed to contact an editor and ask them things they would like writers to know and then it was put on a site that provided information for on many publishers for any one who had ever taken the class.

I decided to apply the same method of learning to this class. I am currently working on contact individuals who are said to be Shakespeare experts and I am going to ask them to share their favorite story or aspect of Shakespeare. I have not done this yet I am still in search mode but in my searching I found a video clip that I wanted to share. It is from The Colbert Report so just laugh don't get offended! I tried to find it on youtube but could not and I could not figure out how to post it to youtube so here is the link!


http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/186547/october-02-2008/shakespearean-candidates---stephen-greenblatt

Ready! Aim! Fire! Weaponry In the Renaissance Era

Do you all know that blonde joke that uses the title in it? That is what I was thinking of when I wrote the title.

THIS POST IS ONLY REALLY LONG BECAUSE OF THE PICTURES!!!

 Reading Henry V sparked my interest in a number of ways. The first way was that I became curious about weaponry in the Renaissance era. The very dramatic flailing of the sword is the stereotypically imagined weapon of warfare but I figured there had to be more. So deciding that it would be a good post relating to my topic I did some research. A quick visit to wiki for ideas revealed a list and further research provided definitions. Below are my findings:

Now Showing! Taming of the Shrew!

What: Watching Taming of the Shrew (it is two hours long)
Where: Carriage Cove Apt. 113 (Building four)
When: Tuesday, 1 Feb. 2011 at seven
Who: Everyone!

I will provide some sort of treat! If you come park on the street my complex is crazy when it comes to towing. Next week I will be showing Othello, for all who are interested!

Last night a few of us got together and watch Hamlet. Apart from the last 45 minutes skipping it was really good!  This post is my reaction to the movie and as well as answers to questions I had. 


Q: Why wasn't Hamlet King? 
A: In Denmark at this time they operated with an elective monarchy. 
Q: What is an elective monarchy?
A: "In an elective monarchy, court officials–noblemen in high standing–selected the new king by vote. The son of a king was, to be sure, the prime candidate for the royal chair, and usually he won it. But the voting nobles had the right to reject him in favor of another candidate. And that was precisely what happened in fictional Elsinore. The nobles approved the king’s brother, Claudius." (This is from a site called Short Essays on Hamlet). 

Two things

I forgot to write in my last post that watching the movie was part of the 1-c requirement of the learning outcomes. I will also be going to the showing of Hamlet tonight in another effort to fulfill 1-c.

Also as promised I have decided what the continuous theme of my blog is going to be. As I read, watch and participate in class I find myself asking with increasing frequency, what was this like in Shakespeare's time. So for my topic of discussion I am going to do the research. I have a list of things that I am going to look into and when possible compare to modern times or modern representations and the great mans work. I have not started this yet however this week end I am going  to.

Here is the list I have developed thus far: womens place in society, clothing, education, meals, soldiers (one thought along with this is, was fighting compulsory), officers, calvary, stances on plundering and pillaging, theater audiences (the structure), criminal punishment. This is just a quick list I am still working on more ideas. 

I will try to get started on this this weekend! 

War Over Tennis Balls, Really?: My Thoughts on Henry V

 I understand that there was more going on than my reactions to watching and reading along to Henry V but I think I am interesting so you can read my reactions if you want! The first reaction is the title. And one that I am not going to put in the bullet because I am willing to acknowledge you are more like to read the bullets than this, (especially as it gets longer!) is one that I am embarrassed about. Confession #1: It took me more than thirty seconds to figure out who King Harry was!

Swiss Cheese: A Holes Syllabus and Some Suggestions to Fill the Gaps

The title is because for some students there are holes in the plans for this class. I have a few bullet points that I will list below that I want to discuss about this class. This not really a rant merely and explanation of concerns and problems I know some of us are experiencing and do not know how to deal with. 

Plan B

Sarajane and Johnny (and anyone interested),

So I called around to a bunch of movie stores and they did not have any record of any copy of any Henry V. So will it still work for you Johnny to watch it at your place? Folks who are reading Henry V (and anyone interested) check Johnny's blog, Blog-O-Shakespeare, in our group today we planned out a movie night and Johnny is going to see if net flicks has Henry V so we can watch and read along together tomorrow night. It will be fun and there will be food (you are encouraged to bring some as well), you should all come! Below is a clip if you need more persuasion.

Sharing Searches?

So I thought about this after class today and want to know what you all think. I think it would be interesting if once or twice the class was to meet in a computer lab and show each other  how they are conducting their research. Or I guess we could meet in class and people just use the computer in class to do this. This might not beneficial to all but I am not the best at research and think it would be helpful. What do you all think?

Can you all comment on all the other class members pages?

Can you all comment on all of the class members pages? I read a really cool post about Shakespeare and Condalisa Rice on Natashya's blog but I could not figure out how to comment. So Natashya I entirely agree with you about aggrievement and entitlement. Hamlet should not have moped around the castle, though he did have plenty of reasons to. But if he had gone out and done something for someone else rather than think about himself for the duration of the play, a lot of people might of believed him, lived and and he might have been able to be king sooner and thereby attain as much justice as he could for his father.

Natashya thank you for your post I had not thought it that way I had just accepted it as what is and gone with it so I appreciate your thinking!

Better Late than Never!!! A Self Directed Learning Plan For English 382 at BYU

Self Directed Learning Plan

My Interpretation of the Learning Outcomes

Gain Shakespeare Literacy

a.       Breadth – After each play we are choosing to read over the next four week I will write a post about what I learned about the play. One of the things I am interested in studying based on this bullet is to study Shakespeare’s understanding of characterization. I am, as I read, going to look for other topics to write about.

Renaissance Man: Comedy Today and Shakespeare

My family has a lot of family favorite films, they include What About Bob?, Sgt. Bilko, Big Business, Father of the Bride (one and two), and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Another film on this list is a 1994 movie with Danny Devito called Renaissance Man. This is a movie about a man who is fired from his job in advertising and after going to unemployment for a check or a job for quite some time they finally find him a position. the position is teaching kids in boot camp for the army who are just not quite as well educated as the others. There is no teacher’s manual so Devito ends up teaching them Hamlet. 

Rolling the Dice: What To Study In Skakespeare When the Decision is Left Up to the Students, My Picks

This blog is just a brief update and explanation on what plays I chose to read from each of the categories. Don't worry i did not actually roll a dice to makes this decision!

For the history I am going to read Henry V. The reason for this is because freshman year when when were learning about pathos, ethos and logos in my English 251 class my professor showed us a clip from Henry V and, the Kenneth Branagh version, and it was quite inspiring.

A Time to Kill

In class we talked about how Hamlet seems the most hesitant to avenge his father. This intrigued me. As stated in class Laertes comes to kill someone the very day he finds out his father is dead. Fortinbras is willing to go to war for the sake of his father's death, even after the man responsible has been killed. And yet it is said that two months pass between the death of Hamlet Sr. and Claudius. I found an explanation for Hamlets hesitation that I really liked. However, before I get to that I want to explain something else. I have already confessed that I have trouble reading the lines when it comes to Shakespeare let alone reading between the lines. I understood before that Hamlet was only acting crazy so as to be able to get away with things that he otherwise would not have been able to. The death of Polonius is an example of this. I understand that he meant to kill the king not Polonius, but the point is that he got out of the situation not only because he was the Prince but also because they all thought he had a couple loose screws. The point of stating the above is that I am explaining why I needed help reaching the following conclusion. On to the explanation! They wrote it so well that I am going to quote them:

He pitches! She Swings! And . . .! Foul Ball!

I am going to start by explaining my previous experience with Shakespeare. In tenth grade I read Hamlet in my English class and did not understand it until after we had watch the Mel Gibson and Kenneth Branaugh version. Also that year I was the narrator for the school play. Why? Because it was As You Like It and guess what? I was not the only high schooler who had no idea what the genius was saying. The next experience came four years later . . . oh my gosh I feel old . . . it was this summer when I went to the Shakespearean festival in Cedar City with my aunt. This is where I fell in love with Shakespeare. My sympathies could take no solid allegiance at the end of The Merchant of Venice. I was shocked and appalled at the lengths the Macbeth's went  to climb the social ladder and the how wide the doorway to the pathway to hell can swing open when one only peeks through. And cried till I laughed as I watched Beatrice and Benedick engage in battles of whit over and over again. Then crack! like a slap in the face from the first page of Hamlet I am struggling with Shakespeare again. You can call me stupid and accuse me of being in the wrong major but I could hear the whoosh as the words went flying over my head. Don't get me wrong I understand the just of what is going on, I am not a total idiot, but i feel like I am missing out on a lot as I read. This frustrating fact has lead me to the conclusion Shakespeare scholars around the world will agree on, Shakespeare is meant to be seen in a theater. Some may think there is value in reading the text, however, apart from it being cheaper, I am having difficulties with the idea. Are there any sympathizer out there?