Shakespeare for the Scorched

"Woah, hang on, it's only 2100 degrees; that's not hot enough!" For my senior design class, my team was given the project to design a piece of hardware for Rio Tinto's copper refinery: a sacrificial enclosure to go inside a molten metal bath and keep the electronics it protects cool enough to survive. After working on this all year, we finally were ready to test our design in the heat treating ovens here at BYU. We got a steel enclosure and placed the insulating material we've been working to develop inside, and stuck it inside. The video below is me putting the enclosure in an oven very appropriately named Lucifer. (This has a tie to Shakespeare; just hang with me.)

The furnace has to get up to about 2200 degrees F inside; as a point of reference, a flame burns about 1800 degrees F. Without gloves and protective gear, I couldn't even get close to such heat. Even my gloves, just from being close start to smoke, and if they are close long enough burst into flame. Even something that you think of as being indestructible like steel can't take the heat forever; when the steel enclosure started out, it was a bright and shiny steel. After just a couple hours in the furnace, it was black and beat up. Every time we put it in, more of the metal oxidizes and more of it oxidizes and cracks and peels off. The picture shown is a pile of steel

shavings that came off after one of our tests. Although there are certainly metals that can withstand such temperatures, the analogy still was impressive to me. There are things in life that take their toll on human souls and no matter how toughened and hardened a soul might be, it cannot withstand forever the heat. This is a theme Shakespeare treats often in his plays, and one which I think would be very appropriate to include in our own version of Shakespeare. Lady Macbeth really is the inspiration for this analogy--even she, a tough and hardened character ("unsex me now") that wishes to be impervious to the weaknesses of a conscience can't stand forever the memory of the black deeds which she has committed and to which she contributed. Like the steel, though initially she appears untouched by her conscience, and curses her husband and his, eventually starts to crack under the pressure. She begins walking in her sleep, confessing her terrible deeds. She rubs her hands together trying to cleanse them. Macbeth calls a doctor and asks,

“Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,

Raze out the written troubles of the brain,

And with some sweet oblivious antidote

Cleanse the stuff’d bosom of that perilous stuff

Which weighs upon the heart?”

Isn't there something you can do to cure her of her guilt? The doctor's response?

"Therein the patient must minister to himself."

There's nothing any outside person can do about such guilt. The damage is irreversible unless repair is initiated by the guilty party. Unfortunately for steel, that pretty much seals the deal. For Lady Macbeth it apparently does too: she breaks completely and goes crazy and dies. Her guilt and suffering are a huge theme in Macbeth, and one Shakespeare treats so well it has drawn countless references over the years. (One of my favorites is a gospel classic from Elder Holland.) Anyway, thinking about themes from Shakespeare made me think of these themes of guilt and suffering, and how damaging they are to the human soul to the extent that they frequently lead to the end of the afflicted party's life. They are so well addressed in the tragedies. If we do end up doing a tragedy of some sort for our final project, this is a theme that must be included.

Shakespeare for the Starved

Since we didn't have a new play to do this week, I took a bit of advice from Kent (which was first suggested to us by Dr. Burton) and checked out the BYU audio books. He was right. They're amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I will give you a link. Just click on Shakespeare Audio plays. It' now bookmarked on my computer. I had originally mixed in some Librivox with my reading of King Lear, and it was nice. I found it to be about the same as with Macbeth--some good actors, some bad, but still nice enough to listen to. I still haven't had any horrible experiences with Librivox, but maybe I'm not as discerning of a listener as Kent. I also think ramen tastes just fine, so I'm obviously not too picky. In fact, googling pictures of ramen made me so hungry I'm about to go home and eat now. But yes, BYU Library Audio versions are the way to go, so long as you have the happy privilege of studentdom. After that, Librivox is not too terrible of an alternative. Plus, by then you can afford a little more besides ramen anyway.

Shakespeare for the Secure

Shakespeare has done it again! In a few eloquent words in Macbeth, he makes a profound statement about human tendency. This is one I could see myself starting to quote, I like it so much. Though no words say it better than his, the essence is that being overconfident is dangerous to because you get lax. The quote comes from Hecate, the leader of the witches in Macbeth.

She is telling her minion witches they ought to give Macbeth visions to make him think he is invincible, which they do, which leads to his downfall. Not only is this a neat, succinct description of an aspect of human nature, but it foreshadows Macbeth’s later downfall. Without further ado, in William's very own words, I present the quote:

“Security is mortals' chiefest enemy.”

Shakespeare for the Singer

My roommate was in BYU Concert Choir a while back and they sang this song...What the random? First off, this is a weird passage from Macbeth--it's the witches doing their weird witch stuff. On the Librivox audio, it sounded creepy. So why anyone would think to put it to music beats me. But it's a cool sounding song, so in the name of multidisciplinary goodness I'm posting it.

Well, I can't figure out how to post their version, but here is the University of Utah choir singing the same song...they did it almost as well....just kidding.

And, speaking of awesome cultural references, JK Rawling totally got inspiration from Shakespeare on this one...check it out!

Shakespeare for the Sincere

"She is herself a dowry," says the French prince in response to the information that Cordelia would have no dowry. I would be hard pressed to find a more sincere expression of love in all of Shakespeare's works. Every husband and potential suitor ought to feel that way about the woman he loves. Contrast that with the countless other expressions of love in this play, many of which demonstrate a lack of sincerity, honesty, and integrity which is absolutely nauseating and heart wrenching. The play opens with declarations as nauseatingly sweet as they were blatantly false from Regan and Goneril. The king completely buys their falsity while casting out and disowning his sincere daughter who refuses to suck up. (I suppose it is fitting that the sincere Cordelia should receive such a sincere compliment from her lover. As we are so often told these days, light attracts light.) Before the scene even ends the 2 deceitful daughters are already plotting against their father. Of course there is the backwards relationship of Gloucester and his sons; again, the loyal and sincere son Edgar being ousted in favor of the deceitful and malicious son Edmond.

The French Prince's expression of love reflects more than just love but an understanding of the worth of man (or woman in this case). Such a theme is also addressed in this play, with Lear's question, "Is man no more than this?" (Act 3 scene 4) provoking further discussion of this issue. Present in the statement from the French prince is an acknowledgment of the inherent worth which Cordelia has, even without a dowry of money. Lear's question, posed after seeing poor Tom, who is devoid of all man made trimmings, implies the worthlessness of man. "Consider him well," says Lear. He points out that without the coverings that come from other animals and plants, Poor Tom demonstrates the essence of man. "Thou art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art." A poor, bare, forked animal? That sentiment is a far cry from the French Prince's sentiment. The contrast reminds me of one of the best talks of all time, "You Matter to Him" by President Uchtdorf. He explores the
contrasting descriptions of the worth of man of man "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God" and "Man is nothing" with the statements "We are greater than you suppose" and "We are less than we suppose." I highly recommend the talk, and will refrain from saying anything else on the subject because President Uchtdorf says it better; but it sufficeth me to say that Shakespeare yet again hit upon one of the great questions of the soul, and yet again God's servants addressed that question perfectly with the light of the Revealed Gospel.

Shakespeare for the Silly

Project Proposal/Ideas:

So I really really liked the kid history idea we had in our class. I also liked the idea of mixing and mashing Shakespeare plays--characters, themes, etc.--what if we combined the 2? Kids are super good at confusing and mixing things up, and humorous when telling their version of stories. What if we got a bunch of kids and then asked them to tell us about Shakespeare plays, or showed them some Wishbone episodes or told them stories (like Katie did babysitting) and then asked them to recount them back to us? Then we could use that as our script and act it out. To test out how this might work, I called my 10 year old sister and 13 year old sister and asked them each to tell me what they knew about Shakespeare. It was great! I only talked to them for a couple minutes but I was first off impressed by how much they knew, and second off interested in what parts stuck in their memories, and third off thoroughly entertained by their versions. I think my favorite was when I asked my 10 year old sister which Shakespeare plays she knew and she said Romeo and Juliet and Hamelton. Then she gave me great renditions that captured the essential elements of the plot. So I think it would work. And I think it would be hilarious. And not only that, but I also think it would be instructive. For me, taking this class was in large measure motivated by a desire to understand Shakespeare from a cultural standpoint--to understand when people are quoting/referencing/alluding to Shakespeare and what they imply by doing so, to be able to make reference to various plays myself, and to be aware what people are thinking about when they mention different plays. Seeing Shakespeare through the eyes of a child, whose understanding of Shakespeare has been taught wholly by society, would be super interesting. It would certainly fall into the category of gaining Shakespeare literacy--we would have to pick out (or have picked out by them) the essential elements of one or many plays. It would definitely be a creative engagement. It would be an awesome way to share Shakespeare meaningfully--most of the kid history videos have over a million views, and this is something I think people would love to watch. We could post the video on our blogs, on youtube, and facebook. I would be proud to display such a thing on my facebook wall. :) Creating the videos and sharing them would require digital literacy. I'm not sure how well it would fit with critically analyzing Shakespeare, but we could look at the "essential elements" or the parts that society picks out to focus on from the plays and analyze why they have become famous and how they have become a part of our collective cultural background. I'm sure there are other things as well. I think it would be awesome and I'd love to be a part of a project like this.

PS In case you have not had the blessed privelege of watching kid history, here is some of kid history. Watch it for your cultural and social education.

Shakespeare for Seeker of Striking Rhetoric

So our discussion in class this week motivated me to go back and finish a bunch of posts that I started but never finished, starting with this one. So when I was reading Macbeth, in addition to being super disturbed by Lady Macbeth, I made note of passages that stood out to me from a rhetorical standpoint, and here they are!

I read this just after our discussion regarding rhetorical devices and it caught my eye:

This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill; cannot be good: — if ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor:
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature?

The employment of alliteration here in the phrase supernatural soliciting draws attention to the strangeness of the circumstance with which Macbeth was informed of his destiny. To simply say soliciting, or supernatural message has less power than the phrase Shakespeare choose.

The following phrases also have rhetorical power—the anaphoric feel of the parallel statements he sets up with “cannot be ill; cannot be good” and the subsequent explanation of either case draws attention to the dilemma he is working through here. The witches approached him; surely he should/could act on the information which he received from their visit?

I suppose it’s not surprise to anyone that I am partial to alliteration; it seems to me the easiest of all rhetorical devices both to write and to recognize, and it lends a catchy feel to whatever phrase it graces. Consonance, the repetition of consonant sounds, not necessarily at the beginning of a word, has the same effect. The quote that follows, from Macduff, trying to convince Malcom that even though he is greedy, he has other good qualities, and other kings have been greedy, has plenty of alliteration. What is Shakespeare trying to accomplish here? What power does consonance lend this passage?

This avarice
Sticks deeper; grows with more pernicious root
Than summer-seeming lust; and it hath been
The sword of our slain kings: yet do not fear…

Maybe this is a stretch…but the thought I had was that the dominant sound in the word which is up for discussion (avarice) has an ‘s’ sound. The continual use of that same sound links the follow phrases back to that word and keeps the focus on avarice.

Ok, I admit, I mostly just like this quote because it struck my funny bone. But it’s a rhetorical device too…irony...paralipsis, anyone?

I grant him bloody,
Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful,
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin
That has a name:

Now, get ready for this next one. It’ll break your heart , once you realize the background. And the personification Ross uses here as he prepares Macduff for the news that his castle has been ransacked and his wife and sons killed struck me as quite poignant.

Let not your ears despise my tongue for ever,
Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound
That ever yet they heard.

Shakespeare for the Shopper

So I finally tried Librivox. I wanted to try listening to some Shakespeare while I ran, so for my long run on Saturday morning, I loaded up my brand new phone with Macbeth and took off. But for some reason, it just didn't work for me. Maybe it's cause I'm not used to listening to anything while I run, but Shakespeare distracted from my run, and my run distracted from Shakespeare so it didn't last very long. But after I got back home, I tried listening while I did some other random chores: cleaning, doing dishes, laundry, and even when I went grocery shopping. This worked great and added an interesting variety to my Saturday. I have to admit, it was kind of depressing, listening to Macbeth all day because it's such a depressing play. But now I have a tempo-spatial link forever in my mind with some scenes from Macbeth, based upon the places I was when I was listening to them. For example, Lady Macbeth's unsex me speech will now forever in my mind be linked with pulling into the Smith's parking lot. Whenever I re-read the scene when Macbeth is informed he is the new thane, I'll think of the bridge on the Provo River trail under 800 E in Orem. When Macbeth visits the witches to ask for additional foresight, I will always remember folding my laundry...maybe slightly disturbing, but there you go.

As for what I thought of Librivox? For being free, it's really not bad, at least Macbeth was pretty palatable. There was huge variety in the actors; some were great...some were horrible. Lennox had a weird accent that kind of distracted. Lady Macbeth was so good it scared me to listen to her. I was seriously disturbed while parking at Smiths, and thoroughly disgusted. One of the witches was so flat and dry I almost think she had to be doing it on purpose. But the variety in their voices was fun. Even with the bad actors, having a different voice with the different characters helped give life to the play. After all, Shakespeare was written to be performed, not read.

Shakespeare for the Shocked

Oh my heck! What a character is Lady Macbeth! Seriously, she is wacked. And wicked. And weird. And sick. And startling. And shocking. She's the very antithesis of a lady. And her husband is not much better. As you might have been able to divine, I just finished reading Macbeth. And talk about creepy, those Weird Sisters! I can't say I enjoyed this Shakespeare play--it was pretty depressing and full of intrigue and selfishness and murder and just down right depressing; but I am glad I read it because now I understand better the magnitude of the sickness of Lady Macbeth, and can understand the depth of horror that should accompany a reference to her name. Seriously, if anyone calls me a Lady Macbeth, I'll know to be properly horrified. Still, by studying the follies of others perhaps we can more readily recognize and thereby avoid them in ourselves, and I have plenty of thoughts to share about this play. So, since brevity is the soul of wit, I'll get on with my analysis.

Play Summary:

For anyone not familiar with the plot, The Tragedy of Macbeth is about a man, Macbeth, who meets three witches who prophesy that he will become the king of Scotland. They also prophesy that another man, Banquo, will have descents who become kings. When the current king names his son as heir, Macbeth is confused, and at urging from his wife, plots to kill the current king. This is where Lady Macbeth is really sick--she berates her husband for his reluctance to kill the king with pretty strong language, but I'll talk more about that later. They succeed in their plot, Macbeth becomes an apparently tyrannical king; in seeking to cover his tracks he kills another man's wife and children; to prevent his dirty work (of killing the king) work for the benefit of Banquo, he sends someone to kill him and his son. His wife eventually go crazy, other nobles begin to catch on, the king's son, who had fled to England to raise an army when the king was killed, comes back with the support of Macduff and other nobles. Macduff kills Macbeth and the tyranny is toppled.

General Lady Macbeth Highlights

Seriously, you could write a novel about Lady Macbeth. But you might not be able to stand to read it. So here are a couple of particularly shocking gems that stood out to me regarding this saint.

When she finds out what is prophesied of for her husband, she immediately thinks that he is too weak to take the necessary measures to make it come to pass. She says of his nature, "it is too full o' the milk of human kindness." One might think that is an attribute a woman would wish for in a husband. But Lady Macbeth is no ordinary woman. In fact, she wishes she were not a woman at all: Just a few lines later, she proclaims "unsex me here;" then she goes on to hope that her natural inclination for all that is natural and charitable do not prevent her from her dastardly deeds. The whole speech is so appalling, rather than trying to summarize it, I'll just include it her. The actor that was reading this section in the Librivox recording did an incredible job, btw.

And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, your murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
To cry, "Hold, hold!"

She doesn't want her conscious to stop her! And she recognizes that it is a danger! She truly has rebelled against all that is good. So that's just a taste of Lady Macbeth. She's quite a character.

Shakespeare for the Short-Attention Span

The other day in class we were talking about how in Shakespeare's day, though we don't know if they sat through complete versions of the play, we assume they sat through longer versions than we do now. Part of the reason, Professor Burton suggested, was that for them, words and speaking was their entertainment. They had longer attention spans back then and a higher tolerance for sitting through plays because that was what they did. They did not live in the world of quick and instant in which we all live, and they did not have TV, the Internet, or movies. We briefly discussed this phenomenon in class, but it reminded me of a form address given by Micheal Flaherty, president and co-founder of Walden Media back forever ago. After over half an hour of searching for this forum I remembered, I finally found his name, but could never find a transcript of his address. An MP3 of the speech can be found here or you can watch in on BYUtv here. It was a really interesting address that stood out to me because of the way that he portrayed the power that film can have in influencing people. But the thing that makes it relevant to this discussion is that he talked about how the attention span of Americans and the world is decreasing. We're starting to go away from even the 90 minute movies, and he contended the 90 second to several minute Internet videos would soon be the new medium for entertainment and sharing information. As evidence, look at the way YouTube has just appeared out of nowhere in recent years. He gave a much longer, more persuasive, and more argument than that, and I generally thought he had a valid and interesting point. So, more to the point, perhaps in this world of quick and instant in which we live, if people's attention spans really are growing shorter, Shakespeare will have to adapt to fit in with that kind of a world. Perhaps Shakespeare vignettes will become the new medium. Particularly in this class where we are exploring new mediums and cutting edge technologies along with Shakespeare, perhaps exploring how exactly Shakespeare could fit into this world would be worthwhile. I think blogging and the multitude of YouTube videos about Shakespeare are prime examples. Maybe creating several Shakespeare vignettes would be a good creative project. Mostly I'm just brainstorming, but I was intrigued by the idea trend of shortening attention spans that seems to be manifesting itself.

Shakespeare for the Speaker of the Public Variety

So, last week in my public speaking class, we had to give a speech where we picked a famous quote, provided setting and background information, and then delivered the quote. Having Shakespeare on the brain of late, of course, I chose a Shakespeare quote: Henry V's St. Crispin Day speech. I didn't deliver the entire thing for the sake of time, but I did deliver some of my favorite lines. I discovered quickly that I am not an actor, but I did my best, and it was kind of fun. Plus it made me look super scholarly to be quoting Shakespeare. :) My teacher was impressed.

Shakespeare for the Sharer thereof

It seems like half the time when I try to share Shakespeare meaningfully with other people, they end up sharing it meaningfully with me. Last weekend I was talking to my friend who had come to the Merchant of Venice, and of course Shakespeare came up. We started talking about Henry V, and of course the St. Crispin's Day speech. Turns out, when he was younger, his father had offered each of the kids $20 to memorize the speech, which he promptly did. His dad loved that speech because when he was on his mission, his mission president gave a talk where he talked about the St. Crispin's Day speech, and after his mission, he went home and looked up the speech and loved it. So now, it's a tradition in their family to watch the movie each St. Crispin's day.

Shakespeare for the Sisters

So last week when I was doing my reading for Hamlet (before class), my sister happened to be over at my apartment while I was reading, and she started reading over my shoulder out loud. We started reading together, each taking a character, and alternately taking new ones on as they entered the scene. We tried being very theatrical about it, and since it was late at night and we were tired, we were pretty successful. It was a lot of fun, but also harder than I expected to be smooth but also filled with the emotion the scenes deserved while combating with the language of Shakespeare. It gave me more sympathy for the liberbox people. In any case, it was great sister bonding.

Shakespeare for the Student (Evaluation)

A. Learning Outcomes

1. Gain Shakespeare literacy

By reading each of the plays that we have studied thus far, I have definitely gained more Shakespeare literacy. I loved Henry V, which I had never previously studied, and I love that when people talk about the Tempest now, I’ll know what they’re talking about. The Merchant of Venice was a story I had heard before, but after having read, watched, and analyzed it, I am much more familiar with it. I have read and watched Hamlet before, but it was definitely good to look at it again with new eyes. Watching the adaptations of the works we have done definitely helped me appreciate them in a new way—watching Kenneth Branaugh’s Henry V not only helped me understand what was going on better, but gave me a more emotional connection to the characters. See my post Shakespeare for the Statuesque. Probably almost all my posts could contribute to Shakespeare Literacy, but I have specifically tagged 5 of them as being good examples of this. The legacy part of this learning outcome, becoming familiar with popular culture references, history, and scholarship acquainted with Shakespeare has almost happened without effort on my part. In many of the analysis I have done of the different plays, or when there were parts I did not understand, I would google what other people had to say on the subject and read the thoughts of several different sources. Fortunately there is an endless barrage of material about Shakespeare on the web—the only problem is that there’s so much of it, it’s easy to get lost. Because I am taking this class, I am particularly attuned to mentions of Shakespeare in popular culture, and it comes up frequently in conversation. See Shakespeare for the Social as an example.

2. Analyze Shakespeare critically

Again, I have a list of blog posts that have been tagged with this phrase which provide examples of how I have analyzed Shakespeare critically. I have particularly focused on famous quotes from Shakespeare because these short pickup lines are the thing that created interest in Shakespeare for me in the first place—when I heard them used in daily life, I wanted to understand their context and be aware of them, and I believe they are the parts of Shakespeare that will stay with me the longest after I finish taking this class. When people make reference to Shakespeare, it is almost always by reference to a famous line or two. Therefore, much of my analysis has been quote based. (Shakespeare for the Seeker of Quotes and Shakespeare for the Sick.)

3. Engage Shakespeare creatively

I must admit, of all the categories, this is probably the one in which I am most lacking. I had these grand ideas about incorporating running and Shakespeare, and I still plan on it, but mostly due to a series of sicknesses, I haven’t been running as much as I usually do or plan on doing this semester. But I have no doubt this will change, and there will be many more posts along the lines of Shakespeare for the Soaked, which I consider to be one example of creative engagement of Shakespeare. I also consider a blog post which I am currently working on (though I’m not sure it will be posted by this assessment) where I am re-writing the St. Crispin’s day speech in for an audience of Relief Society sisters, to be creative engagement as well.

4. Share Shakespeare meaningfully

I am most pleased with my progress in this regard. Though there are only 2 posts that got tagged with this category, I feel like I am doing great here. These posts highlight a couple occasions where I have discussed Shakespeare with people outside of the class in meaningful ways, and there are many other instances that do not make it to a blog post. Making the treats with Andrew and planning a Shakespearian style dinner led to good sharing of Shakespeare meaningfully—what could be more meaningful than food? And of course interacting with people in the class, both in class and by responding to people’s comments on my blog and commenting on other people’s blogs is meaningful sharing of ideas as well. I’ve enjoyed building on thoughts of other people and thinking about their posts as well. (Shakespeare for the Satisfied as an example) It’s really quite an enjoyable way to study Shakespeare, and I’ve definitely never had a class like this before.

5. Gain Digital Literacy

Embracing the art of blogging is definitely the first thing that comes to mind when I think of how I have gained digital literacy. Keeping a public blog is never something I have done before, and learning principles of good blogging and trying to apply them on my blog has been fun. I feel like I have done a decent job of blogging—the last week or so I’ve been a little slack on my blogging, but I’m getting caught up, and I feel like besides this week my blogging has been pretty consistent and reflected the things we have learned in class. If I’m understanding this learning outcome correctly, the way that I’ve looked things up on the Internet to see what other people think, both on scholarly sites as well as on more casual places like discussion boards also is an application of gaining digital literacy. See the five or so posts that are tagged accordingly.

B. Self-directed Learning

To me, self-directed learning is all about taking the initiative to do things to further one’s learning that are not mandated by the class. This means perusing avenues of learning, like researching what kind of food ate in his day, or searching for what certain words or phrases mean while reading, or looking for running based applications of Shakespeare, that might be outside of the box, or above and beyond what is required. It is all about learning about Shakespeare in a way that is personally meaningful and personally motivating. I’ve tried to do that this semester so far, and I feel that I’ve been successful so far. So whenever I think of something related to Shakespeare and think, “Boy, I wonder what that means,” or “I wonder what that would be like to think of Shakeaspeare that way,” instead of brushing the thought aside as a curiosity as I often do in other classes, I try to peruse it. I’ve likened it a bit unto my gospel study, and the way I am personally accountable for it, and am constantly seeking to improve it. It’s also fun to see what other people have done to explore the world of Shakespeare—I really liked Andrew’s idea of a Wiki, and I always enjoy reading Sarah’s posts. Kent’s love of theatre has provided him with special insight into Shakespeare, and I don’t know what he’s done specifically this semester, but his having things memorized has motivated me to have a desire to try to memorize some Shakespeare. I’m thinking about the St. Crispin’s Day Speech. Katie was telling us the definition of certain words she had looked up while reading Hamlet which added depth and context to the passage we were analyzing at the time, which I thought was a great thing to do.

C. Collaborative and Social Learning

Well, I’ve mentioned a lot of aspects of this already, how I’ve commented on the posts of others, and appreciates the posts they’ve made on my own. The last couple times I’ve posted I’ve made more of an effort to think about what they’ve written and respond thoughtfully, or even expand what they’ve said, rather than just saying, “Sweet post!” or something equally encouraging and meaningless. As I’ve mentioned, I enjoyed making treats with Andrew and collaborating with him that night, and discussing math and Shakespeare. We were excited to see that Nixon recently posted a bit all about food in Shakespeare’s day, which went along with what we’d been researching. I’ve enjoyed reading Sarah’s posts, and responding to her thoughts, as well as Rebecca’s daily blogging.

D. Looking Ahead

What more to come? I’ve mentioned a few things. More running posts is at the top of the list. Memorizing St. Crispin’s Day Speech, and re-writing, maybe even for a variety of different audiences. It might be fun to do a reading to post somewhere, if not of an entire play, of a part. I’d love to make a Shakespeare feast for the class. I always am a fan of food. So, those are some of my ideas.