As You Like It: Rosalind

The character of Rosalind in Shakespeare's As you Like It is definitely a character which is unlike most which I have studied throughout my experience with Shakespeare. She basically dominates the play, with the way Shakespeare has written her to such an extent. She is so complex and rich in her personality. She is well-rounded and identifiable to most everyone. 

Telling a Story: Final Project Ideas

So, for the final project I had a few ideas about how it would be really cool to do a "film pitch" of sorts. There is so much that could be invested in this, that would make it really awesome and fun for a group project. Of course, we'd probably have to stray a bit from the traditional sense of film pitching since that consists of many different types of pitches which take place as a writer and others present their ideas to producers. Still, we can use the essentials - presenting our ideas as if we want to convince someone to consider our film for production.

AT LAST!!!

I finally put up the background that I wanted! I have finally created the blog I envisioned since the semester started, and I must say, I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks to the help of my brother and his extensive knowledge of web design and HTML formatting, I know have a customized, amazing-looking blog which makes me super excited. I felt like maybe I would post a bit about this background and the process behind it, and why I chose to make my blog look this way.

Learning Outcomes

1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy

I think I have done well in this aspect. I am taking the time to study the plays and think about them a lot, and I really enjoy the conversations we have in class about them. I feel like there is always something more to learn for me about Shakespeare. There is always something brought up that I hadn't thought of before. Hopefully this is something I can have with me my whole life, to be able to understand Shakespeare and his works and to be able to talk about them with other people.

Remember Who You Are

Okay, I must be honest. I have definitely been looking forward to this post for a while. For two reasons:

1) Hamlet is probably my favorite, if not one of my favorite, Shakespeare plays. and
2) I have been DYING to make the comparison between two things that I love: Shakespeare's Hamlet & Disney's The Lion King.

The "Play" Is the Thing: Merchant of Venice for Kids

The play we saw on Saturday was definitely an awesome experience. It was really interesting to see how the Young Company tailored the Merchant of Venice for a young audience, and made it "kid-friendly". All the bright costumes and fun props which the kids got to take part in made it entertaining to witness. I loved the little boy who played Bassonio's friend. Although he didn't actually have any lines, he was so into what he was doing. His facial expressions went perfectly with how the character would react to Bassonio. It was adorable!

The Merchant of Venice

There was much about this play that I really enjoyed. I really liked the themes that are presented in it, the references to religion and this idea of prejudice against people who are different. The idea of mercy vs. justice was probably the one that I reflected on most when reading this play, however. This concept is shown through the conflict of Shylock and the other Christian characters. When Antonio is unable to repay the debt, and they are in court discussing this, the characters all expect Shylock to have mercy. Shylock refuses to do this, and asks what could possibly convince him to do so. Portia then makes this speech in reply to his question: