The title of my blog came one night when I was in the attitude of alliteration, seeking some sort of theme that would be catchy and memorable for my blog. I am a very happy person with happy life circumstances--family, friends, major, and job which I adore, and plenty of faith and hope for the future. I was a supremely satisfied person, and thought that would be a good descriptor and introduction to me and my life. As I am now reviewing my blog and this semester worth of Shakespeare learning, I am finding I am still supremely satisfied with my life, and I am also satisfied with my blog and my Shakespeare learning experience. I managed to keep the alliterative theme throughout the entire semester, and though sometimes it was a stretch, the title of each blog always made sense to me. The purpose of this specific blog post is to review in further detail the learning outcomes of my Shakespeare class and why exactly I am satisfied that I have met them.
1.) How have I gained Shakespeare literacy?
I have read many different Shakespeare plays--all the ones assigned for our class, plus my individually assigned play, which was Macbeth. I could have done without that one, by the way. I was also exposed to the general plot and theme of several more Shakespeare plays by reading the blogs and listening to the discussions of class members regarding their individually assigned plays. I've experienced Shakespeare in 2 live performances, as well as a good mix of audio book recordings, from the occasionally extremely dry Librivox to the professionally done BYU audio recordings, as well as couple of screen recordings as well. I still have to say that Henry V was my favorite out of all of them. I probably did more in-depth analysis of that play, but I also spent plenty of time on Macbeth as well. From seeking information about how to try and make our lost plays look legit, I've gained appreciation for the legacy of Shakespeare as well--how the plays have come to us now, what types of analysis and engagement of the plays have occurred in the past, and are occurring now. Also, just for fun, I analyzed and performed a Shakespearean sonnet for my public speaking class, Sonnet XXIX, When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's eyes, since I knew we wouldn't have time to study Shakespeare sonnets in our class. I never did blog about that experience, but it was a fun one that contributed to my Shakespeare literacy. I've still got it memorized and sometimes quote it to myself when I'm driving alone in the car.
2.) How have I analyzed Shakespeare critically?
One of my favorite ways to analyze Shakespeare was to pick out famous quotes from the plays we read and analyze them. One of my main motivations for taking this class was to be better able to recognize and understand Shakespeare references, which the vast majority of the time come as quotations of famous lines or speeches from Shakespeare. Several blog posts do nothing but analyze several Shakespeare quotes for both textual and contextual analysis. Probably half my blog posts analyze Shakespeare critically in some form or fashion.
One of my favorite ways to analyze Shakespeare was to pick out famous quotes from the plays we read and analyze them. One of my main motivations for taking this class was to be better able to recognize and understand Shakespeare references, which the vast majority of the time come as quotations of famous lines or speeches from Shakespeare. Several blog posts do nothing but analyze several Shakespeare quotes for both textual and contextual analysis. Probably half my blog posts analyze Shakespeare critically in some form or fashion.
3.) How have I engaged Shakespeare creatively?
I have to say, my favorite way I have analyzed Shakespeare creatively this whole semester was with the parody of the St. Crispian's Day Speech, Relief Society style. I suppose the recitation of the sonnet for my public speaking class would also count--that was the only speech I gave all semester that I 100% on, and it's because I practiced so long having good vocal range, hand gestures, and facial expression, all of which was a big step outside my comfort zone. Writing about Shakespeare and running has also been fun, and has definitely required some creativity. There is not a whole lot out there in terms of Shakespeare and running, but one of my favorite blog posts (Shakespeare for the Soaked) was a comparison of my run and several Shakespeare plays. Development of the story for the lost plays was also creative engagement, and involved lots of outside research about the origin and analysis of First Folio documents, manuscript analysis, etc. (See the Wiki and my blog)
I have to say, my favorite way I have analyzed Shakespeare creatively this whole semester was with the parody of the St. Crispian's Day Speech, Relief Society style. I suppose the recitation of the sonnet for my public speaking class would also count--that was the only speech I gave all semester that I 100% on, and it's because I practiced so long having good vocal range, hand gestures, and facial expression, all of which was a big step outside my comfort zone. Writing about Shakespeare and running has also been fun, and has definitely required some creativity. There is not a whole lot out there in terms of Shakespeare and running, but one of my favorite blog posts (Shakespeare for the Soaked) was a comparison of my run and several Shakespeare plays. Development of the story for the lost plays was also creative engagement, and involved lots of outside research about the origin and analysis of First Folio documents, manuscript analysis, etc. (See the Wiki and my blog)
4.) How have I shared Shakespeare meaningfully?
Over the semester, I have shared thoughts and insights about Shakespeare with family, roommates and even on several dates. The more noteworthy experiences I blogged about, but there were many more that did not make it to to the blog level. I also of course, shared my thoughts and insights about Shakespeare with the world via my blog. Though most of the traffic on my blog has come from others in our class, my friends and family outside of the class have also read my blog. One example of this is a guy I taught on my mission in Los Angeles, CA who has started reading my blog.
5.) How have I gained digital literacy?
Well, blogging was a new experience for me, which I have definitely enjoyed, and at which I am much more adept. Google reader was a new introduction for me also which has completely changed my consumption of blogs, and which I will certainly use a lot in the future. Learning how to use and edit a wiki, upload and share videos on youtube, and use prezi have all also been new learning experiences as well. Taking videos on my phone and editing them and putting them together into prototype videos, as well as participating in green screen filming all were also new for me. I am a veteran skyper, so that wasn't too new, but skyping with a professor certainly was. Through blogging, I was able to connect with my classmates in a way I never had in other classes. I was also able to connect with Brad Westwood and share in his expertise with rare books and rare book collecting, which in turn contributed to our ability to develop a creative and believable story in regard to the discovery of our lost plays. This class has certainly been a real demonstration of Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat.
Great post! Sounds like you've had an awesome semester. It would've been handy in this post if you had linked back to some of the posts (and a wiki?) that you're talking about for those of us who are just "tuning in". Also, I'd love for you to elaborate on the comparisons between this class and Friedman's The World is Flat.
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