A. Learning Outcomes
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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