Words Without Thoughts

a FINAL Reflection

2011-12-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Pause to THINK and reflect

Here it goes again, another time to stop and reflect Shakespeare in my life. Lets start with the awesome event we just had.

ENGAGING SHAKESPEARE

Ok, I am incredibly satisfied with how the event Engaging Shakespeare went down. To be honest I was a little skeptical when our class jumped one the, "lets do a huge complicated event where we synthesis all of our ideas and projects" bandwagon. I wondered why we couldn't all just do our own thing. However as things went along I really became a believer and very excited for the event. Then when it happened I was very impressed with what we were able to pull off.

The play was really good. I wish it was showing for a week because I would go again, I was really impressed. The music video was well done and I'm glad it has been imortalized on the internet because I want to watch it a few more times along with the documentatry, which was very professionaly done. The audio book was cool as well. In my humble opinion the art was fantastic, and then the whole event was well planned and executed.

Since I had more of a part in the art I want to share a little bit about how that happened.

Less Matter More Art

Artwork done by Cassandra

I am really happy with how well the two ideas of creating artworks for Shakespeare and creating an art curriculum for Shakespeare worked. The first few days of the project seemed a little rough as we all tried to get on the same page. It seemed like not very much got done at first, but as soon as we all understood each other we became very productive and were able to all create multiple pieces of art and very well done lesson plans. Everyone in the group was very dedicated to doing a good job and that is just what we did.

I really liked how our group, with not very much artistic experience, were able to make so many great works of art. Angela is a Landscape Design major, Eric is doing Spanish, Cassandra made more sense with Art Education, Melanie is Pre-Photography (and turned out to be a closet artist. It was hard to get to see her art works, but we were able to convince her to actually hang some up for the background of our video so that it would be more visually pleasing than just a blank wall) and don't ask me what my major is. It's really cool how we were able to get together and study Shakespeare, then think about what he wrote and then react creatively.

Personal Part

The main reason I got the idea to do art with Shakespeare was because of my paintings and sketches I was making. I was somewhat bummed when I found out we had to make our final project a group project. Then I got the idea for an art gallery. After some work this was able to mesh with Cassandra's art curriculum idea, and I am very glad it did, because I think it really helped us to meet all of the learning outcomes. Making the art was for sure engaging him creatively, and thinking of what to create was thinking critically (deciding what was really being said, what should be highlighted from a scene or act, how specific lines should be portrayed). The lessons we made were able to make us think more critically and also share better.

I had the opportunity to make two of the six lesson plans. One was the overarching Hamlet research plan. I talked a little bit about introducing Hamlet and how students would make works of art as they read the play. The other lesson I got to make was speaking of a specific theme in Hamlet, death. It was made to help students see the theme of death through the play and also to create works of art that go along with the theme of death.

My response to Melanie

I also got to try out Melanie's lesson plan which was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the thoughts on control and the art works I got to make.

Another fun thing was making the name of our group. J.J. told us we needed a title an so I looked all over Shakespeare for references to painting, art, etc. I found Gertrude says, "More matter, Less art." I disagreed with her and switched it around to "Less Matter, More Art." Our group voted and we loved the name. Yay.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

I really feel that from the mid-term assesment time I really have gained an understanding of the learning outcomes and have done much better at reaching them.

Gain Shakespeare Literacy

I feel that I have become much more Shakespeare literate. This was one thing that I wanted to test with reading King Lear. All of the plays we had read up to that point I had background information at least on. King Lear was brand new to me. I loved it and felt that I really understood it on a level I would not have before this class. My blog posts on King Lear I think show this.

Reading all of the plays that I did also helped me realize a larger breadth of Shakespeares works. I got to read Hamlet, Love's Labours Lost, The Tempest, A Winters Tale, Othello, and King Lear. I also loved being in groups where people read other plays because talking to them taught me more about plays I was not reading myself. Like Gabe with Merchant of Venice, or Justin with Henry IV.

I feel like I got a lot of depth with the play Hamlet especially. We studied him in class and the play was the subject of the lesson plans we made which encouraged us all to study it even more.

Performance I got by the incredible one of Friday as well as watching A Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. Also during this time I went and saw Macbeth done by the Grassroots Shakespeare Company.

Legacy I got by going to class and learning of the history behind the plays and reading blogs of my peers to see Shakespeare in a lot of pop culture.

Analyze Shakespeare Critically

This was one I was struggling with at the midterm. I was doing plenty of creative things with Shakespeare but not as much research. I really tried to get deeper into what the play was saying or background. I think my post on King Lear really demonstrates this. As well as my lesson plan on death and the lesson plan on Hamlet overall. I feel like I got a lot of historical analysis done in class, talking with my group, or listening to the lectures. That was one of my favorite parts of class was learning background and the renaissance context from Dr. Burton. Analysis of digital mediations happened with my works of art, others works of art, seeing the Othello movie, and reading blogs outside of my classmates.

Engaging Shakespeare Creatively

Flag of Navarre

This is the one I feel I did best at. Whether I was writing poems about Hamlet, writing poems defending Hamlet, adapting popular music to Winters Tale, painting, drawing, sketching, more drawing, more sketching, creating lesson plans, analyzing art. This learning outcome I enjoyed and excelled at. I really believe that in all of this creativity I really had to analyze Shakespeare creatively as well. In order to make something that connects well with Shakespeare I had to really process and analyze what was being said or how to depict those things. A minor example. In creating drawings for Love's Labour's Lost I wanted to depict the nations of France and Navarre in a simple symbolic way. I thought of flags and so looked up flags for Navarre, I never would have done this or learned anything of this place had I not wanted to do something creative with it, again, a minor example.

Share Shakespeare Meaningfully

Once again I am glad that the final project was as a group because it really helped us all do this. Earlier in the semester I had share by posting on blogs of classmates, and blogs of other people outside of our class. I talked to my room mate, took people to productions of Shakespeare. I would share with informal blog posts as well as more formal researched blog posts.

Since that time however, I have been able to find more meaningful ways to share Shakespeare. The Engaging Shakespeare Event was very important. I honestly invited tons of people. Unfortunately all my room mates, my ward, and most of my friends were either at temple square, had a date, or were sick. However when I would invite people it gave me a great opportunity to share what I have been learning. The event was great to share with other people who came too, and I did see a few friends in the audience who still came.

Art work by Melanie

Along with this my group was able to share our curriculum by posting it to a website for teachers, connections or cnx.com. We also made a video explaining our project which we posted to youtube. Then with all of this we posted our artworks to our blog, but we also shared them on an online art website, deviantart.com. This was actually really cool because our art had not been up for more than five minutes before we received messages that our works were being posted to other "deviants" favorite pages.

Sharing globally and locally was very meaningful and satisfying to me.

In Conclusion

This class was great and the blogs we get to make were awesome. I plan to continue mine with a Shakespeare thought or drawing every now and again. I really feel like I have met all of the learning outcomes, like I make a better connection to Shakespeare, and like I am competent in the digital world we now live. I am very happy I took this class and I have referred it to many people. Who would have know that what my earlier experience with Shakespeare which began as a closet love, and came out due to a crush, would blossom into the experience that it has today.

Thanks Will.

Shakespeare and I

Blue Ribbon Blog Posts

2011-12-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

So we are to put one of our favorite blog posts and another from someone in our group that we like.

It really helped to have my blog show me which posts were most popular according to everyone else, because then I could choose a post from one of those.

For my post I'm going to say that it is the Fallacy Inspired Soapbox Rant about Shakespeare, Hamlet, and Emo people. I think it feels the learning outcome of engaging Shakespeare creatively as well as analyzing critically what he wrote and what he meant by it.

As for a blog post from another person in my group, this was harder because they all have done such awesome jobs with their blogs. I think it would be Angela's posts where she takes quotes from the play and looks into the imagery and scenery. My favorite was the first one of these she did, talking about the flowers Ophelia uses in Hamlet. I think it really exemplifies analyzing critically and also a synthesis of Shakespeare with another subject that interests her.

Nature Danger

2011-12-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

Thinking about King Lear which we recently read in class, I had an experience much like his. King Lear gets kicked outside for a night and a huge storm comes up. He almost defies nature and goes kinda crazy.

You really don't know how bad nature can get until you are stuck in it. We spend lots of time in our safe homes with heating, walls, and windows. No big deal right, man is strong enough to build those walls and keep nature out.

Last night I got to go to the Christmas Devotional of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was so cool. I love the choir, I loved the message so much. I got to go with a good friend I haven't seen much. I even got to see my mission president, mission mom, and their son. That was cool. But this isn't the story.

Driving home on I-15 there was a lot of wind and a small bit of snow, not really that bad, but to be safe we reduced our speed to about 40 miles per hour. Somewhere near Thanksgiving Point the car started swerving a little. "Mason, we're swerving!", yelled my friend. At first I thought she was playing a joke, and making the car go back and forth...until the car went sideways, and I thought, "Oh. we are swerving." It was surprising how calm we both were as the car went sideways on the freeway and headed towards the concrete median. Next thing we know we're parallel to the median, in the emergency lane, backwards. Miraculously we had not hit anything. Pretty sure angels helped us, because we were perfectly parked on the side of the road, just backwards. We almost died, but we didn't, thank goodness.

Wondering what to do we called a few people, got out and checked the car which was perfectly fine, and an off duty police officer pulled over. He made sure we were okay and then he walked into the road and stopped FREEWAY TRAFFIC (yeah, cars on the freeway!!!) so we could turn around and keep going. I was driving now, a car that wasn't mine, and the road was still very slick, very scary.

For some reason, in all of this crazy situation, all I could think of was King Lear, shouting at nature.

Suddenly I see

2011-11-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

I just want to talk about something real fast. Now I know symbolism is really cool in plays or stories and sometimes it may go right over the head of those who are watching the play, so in order to have the symbol or clever twist noted sometimes it needs to be pointed out.

I just want to tel Oedipus and Gloucester that they don't have to let us all know that they suddenly see the light of the situation by bringing attention to sight when their eyes are stabbed out. Stabbing out your eyes with a brooch or having them plucked out by a very angry man is gross. Instead can't you just do what Rapunzel does and sing a wonderful song in a boat about how "At last I see the light." That goes over so much better.

Well, I was shocked by the eye plucking out thing. It's clever I suppose, but disturbing.

Nothing comes from nothing

2011-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/320/9/
d/lear_by_duncan_eagleson-d330gzt.jpg

NOTHING WILL COME OF NOTHING

Reading the play King Lear I found a line that seemed interesting. It is the title of this post. I kept reading and was surprised to see it again. I decided to write a post about it but wanted to see if it appears anywhere else in the play and so I held off as I kept reading. Becoming impatient, I looked it up, and it appears only the two times I found it.

"KING LEAR: ..what can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
CORDELIA: Nothing, my lord.
KING LEAR: Nothing?!
CORDELIA: Nothing.
KING LEAR: Nothing will come of nothing, speak again.

I was curious if this was a common idea in Shakespeare's time and I looked it up. Turns out the phrase, nothing comes of nothing (in latin "ex nihilo nihil fit"), was first talked about by the Greek philosopher Parmenides. It is an idea that continues today and is called the law of conservation of mass. That energy cannot be created or destroyed. It merely changes form. If you burn a piece of wood, the wood is not destroyed but is changed into heat, smoke, and ash. There were cool articles that were interesting, but a little beyond me about zero-energy universes and so on.

This quote of Lear's goes to the Bible. Where the more common translation of Genesis says "God created the earth". Other sources, like the Joseph Smith Translation, show that the Hebrew word which is commonly translated as "created" would be better translated as "organized", implying that the world and it's parts was organized from already existing matter.

IS MAN NO MORE THAN THIS?

Another line King Lear says that makes him seem more a philosopher than the senile grumpy old man he comes across as, comes as he is suffering in the storm. He looks at poor naked Edgar and says:

"Why, thou wert better in thy grave than to answer
with thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies.
Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou
owest the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep
no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha! here's three on
's are sophisticated! Thou art the thing itself:
unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare,
forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings!
come unbutton here."

Is man no more than this? It is a line that reminds me of Psalm 8:4, "What is man that thou art mindful of him." It is a humbling moment for Lear and he realizes, now outside of the comfort of his palace, how frail and sad man really is. Its a Siddhartha Gautama moment here! In reading about Lear's line I found this interesting quote from a well written article:

"When Lear sees Edgar’s cold, shivering, and “uncovered body,” he asks the eternal question “Is man no more than this?” (3.4.105). When Lear says that “The unaccomodated man is no more / but such a poor, bare, forked animal,” he is essentially saying that human beings, like their naked bodies, are pitiable creatures (3.4.109-110). Likewise, when he proceeds to strip of his garments, he is making the symbolic gesture that he is no better than Poor Tom; that is, he realizes that he, too, is pitiable. Lear’s recognition that his own body is pathetic, the literary critic Paul Jorgensen argues in his book Lear’s Self-Discovery, is Lear’s first insight."

Lear, the old senile downfallen king, and budding philosopher.

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs8/i/2005
/312/1/9/King_Lear_by_Neizen.jpg

http://www.shmoop.com/king-lear/nothingness-symbol.html

http://www.astrosociety.org/pubs/mercury/31_02/nothing.html

http://www.ayjw.org/articles.php?id=600251

Combined Blog of Power

2011-11-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. So...now I have two blogs. This new blog that I have is geared more towards collaboration with my Shakespeare group with our final project. Recording our process and posting results. I think it's going to be cool and worth taking a look at even if you're not in the group.

For the new members of my group, I made the new blog that we all can write on. The only thing that I am missing is all of your email addresses. Once I have those I can add you as administrators so you can post on it too.

I really didn't know what to do for the title, so ideas are welcome.

Art Gallery

2011-11-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, so with this idea of an art gallery of Shakespeare art I have had a lot of ideas ruminating in my mind. I'm looking forward to the feedback and communication to refine this undertaking.

Basically the idea that I was thinking is that we have enough people in the class who are interested in art, that we could get together and come up with enough works to display it in a gallery. Even if you don't feel like you are a good artist in any way I'm sure you can come with something, especially with the groups powers combined! This could be a good moment for all of us to learn how to make art together all in the context of thinking critically about Shakespeare and how to analyze his works and do enough justice to them.

One thing we might want to do is get a theme put together or ideas of how we will organize this. That way we can go to a gallery with a solid proposal and a strong portfolio of work rather than a maybe theory hopefully thing.

There are art galleries everywhere, I just checked out the one in the Provo Library and that may be a place to look at. If we really look for a place I'm confident we will be accepted somewhere, the biggest thing against us will be preference. Most schools or galleries give preference to art students or professionals more than a Shakespeare class.

HOWEVER, this might be a great connector piece to Cassandra's wonderful education idea. Schools. What local public school would not be overjoyed to have an exhibit like this. English teachers would love it.

Anyway, lots of ideas. Needs refining, lets get collaborating!

Sketching Shakespeare: The Tempest Act One Scene 2 - End of the Play

2011-11-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well, here you go, the rest of the Tempest. I like it. The only explanation I feel I need to make is the final painting. I started the Tempest with a painting and felt like I should end it that way. It's meant to convey the sense of completion and calm that comes at the end of the play as opposed to the raging storm of the beginning.

For The Tempest Act One Scene One click here.

Act 1 Scene 2
Why speaks my father so ungently? This
Is the third man that e'er I saw, the first
That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father
To be inclined my way!

Act 2 Scene 1
You cram these words into mine ears against
The stomach of my sense.

Act 2 Scene 3
Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows

Act 3 Scene 1
O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound
And crown what I profess with kind event
If I speak true! if hollowly, invert
What best is boded me to mischief! I
Beyond all limit of what else i' the world
Do love, prize, honour you.

Act 3 Scene 2
Monster, I will kill this man.

Act 3 Scene 3
You are three men of sin...
Being unfit to live I have made you mad

Act 4 Scene 1
Let me live here ever;
So rare a wonder'd father and a wife
Makes this place Paradise.

Act 5 Scene 1
I'll deliver all;
And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales
And sail so expeditious that shall catch
Your royal fleet far off.

Midterm Assesment

2011-10-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

Attention all faithful few readers, this blog is mostly an assignment for my Shakespeare class. Written as an assessment of myself to see my Shakespeare progress, a little self-reflection, and also for my Professor.

Learning Outcomes:

Gaining of Shakespeare Literacy:
I feel that through this course I have increased in my Shakespeare literacy. One thing I have enjoyed about the lectures is the history of Renaissance writing and society which really helps explain why the plays are written like they are. Things like literary tools commonly used then but unknown to most now have helped me understand the text and canon better. Something else that has helped is just reading Shakespeare a lot, practice makes perfect and we have gotten plenty of practice with the text.

This increase literacy has made Shakespeare even more interesting for me. Which has made me read it with increased attention, making the stories come alive even more. Also this closer reading teaches me a lot. I wonder if Shakespeare meant to tell us all of the things he does.

How have I analyzed Shakespeare critically:

One thing that I have been able to do is put Shakespeare in different settings and seeing how his works apply in those contexts. Religious settings, modern popular culture, the art world. Seeing Shakespeare in all of these lights has really made me understand the works better and how great they can be. Some things don't hold up in certain lights, Shakespeare only gets better.

Another thing I feel I've done to analyze critically is not just by consuming the plays but letting them inspire me to create as well. Poems, paintings, sketches, etc. This process of creation helps me to analyze and process Shakespeare in unique ways, teaching me differently than if I was just consuming the works.

How have I engaged Shakespeare creatively:
I talked about this in the above section. How I've processed and analyzed Shakespeare by making my own things. Writing poetry about characters, sketching scenes, or painting pictures. This blog is also something creative that I have used to engage Shakespeare. A mixture of text, and picture media put together to explain what is Will Shakespeare to me.

Sharing Meaningfully:
In my most recent post I explain how I shared with my room mate Jeff (who tonight, organized a group to see Macbeth again while I sit at home doing homework). I also mentioned how I posted about Othello and also on other blogs about what I think of Shakespeare. Again this blog is another example of sharing. I've tried to tell my family and friends to look at my blog and see what I've been learning and from this have been able to have some good conversations with them.

Self Directed Learning

Things I have done to take control of my learning are again, this blog. Posting at least twice a week, usually on anything I have been learning or thinking. I have tried to make myself see things or come up with things that others would find engaging to read about. Another thing I think I have done to direct my learning is the drawing of Shakespeare which helps me think more in depth towards what is going on. I have to think of what symbolized the scene best, in one image. I have really enjoyed blogging about these things and sharing it with people. I thought blogging was silly before but I have found myself excited about what I'm learning and I have found that blogging is a great place to share those things and insights I would normally keep to myself.

Collaborative and Social Learning

The group learning idea is an interesting one. I usually like to do things on my own but have learned a lot by getting other peoples opinions and insights. At first our group seemed pretty withdrawn towards one another. Gabe was really good at getting us going on our conversations and collaborative learning. Angela has great insights on her blog and I learn a lot of cool thing I would not have thought of. Then Austin always seems to come to class with a great insight to the reading we've been doing that really progresses our group conversations. Justin helps a lot in his ability to process everything we've been saying and bringing it together in a really good application. The only thing that could be improved with this group learning is that it makes it difficult to connect to the whole class. We are in these little cliques of group learning.

Milton's Paradise Lost, cool, but not
quite up to par with Will

Something I've been doing to involve others outside my class is talking to my room mate, or getting groups together to go see plays. I have a cousin and we playfully bicker about who is better, Shakespeare or Milton (I'm right, it's Shakespeare). It is just fun to talk to others about what I learn and also talking to other people via the Internet. This is a practice I'm going to use more now.

Looking Ahead

Things that I intend to continue doing are blogging. After the course the posts will probably slow down. Also I want to keep up the sketches of Shakespeare. I am excited to read King Lear, a play I have no backround in and I want to see how my reading comprehension has improved as with William. Another thing to look forward to is the final project. I was planning on just doing the drawings but was surprised to hear that the project is a group thing. I was wondering what to do and thought maybe an exhibit of Shakespeare art in a local library or something like that. I have drawings, Angela has landscape sketches, I'm sure other people would like to do something like this. I'll let you all know how this idea progresses.

Sharing and Contributing Locally and Globally

2011-10-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

In my Shakespeare class we were given the assignment to share what we are learning both locally and globally. Meaning we are to reach out to those near us and also to the world, perhaps on the internet. Here is my experience with both.

Sharing Locally: Jeff

Well, I thought a lot about who I could share with. Hoping not to be the guy who just talked to his room mate. I tried to think of ways to bring Othello into my home teaching, or maybe the Sunday School class I get to teach. With my job I also have the opportunity to have groups of people listen to me talk and teach all day and I tried really hard to think of relevant ways to bring in Shakespeare. In the end I, without meaning to, ended up being the guy who talked to his room mate.

Jeff and I on the Mission

I have a room mate, Jeff, that I have known for years. We met on the mission and are really good friends. We have a kind of teasing relationship, always playfully arguing with each other. He doesn't understand why I love art, I don't understand why he is being so narrow minded, that kind of thing. With the confession of my love for Shakespeare he found something else to tease me about. Why, Mason, do you draw emo pictures of Shakespeare? Why do you love stories where everyone dies? Why do you care what a long dead man wrote? etc. etc.

As we discuss this I have seen a change in Jeff that I don't see often, due to our constant teasing. He has started to agree with me. It all started with Grassroots Shakespeare Macbeth, a fantastic production. I convinced him to come and he loved it. He told me he has never thought Shakespeare could be so much fun. We had a lengthy discussion about it afterwards. He told me he that before thought Shakespeare was stuffy and boring.

Through our talks about what I'm learning I was able to convince Jeff to even come on a quest with me to locate the DVD for the 2010 production of The Tempest. We failed, it took an hour and a half and we had no success. Yesterday I came home and Jeff informed me that all of his own he had tried to sign up next semester for a Shakespeare class. That was cool, to see how he is starting to love this thing that I love too.

I didn't want to be the guy who talked to his room mate, but I am just really happy to see how my unintentional sharing of what I'm learning has changed my room mates view. Way to go Jeff.

Sharing Globally: Blogs

A few posts ago I mentioned how I posted on someones blog about Othello and the Bible. I think my post was relevant but it seems like it didn't make it past the review stage and was not officially put on the blog. I'm a little hurt about this but I have learned and since moved on.

I looked for other things people had to say about the world of Othello and found two very interesting blogs. One talks about a production of the play in Washington D.C. and it mentioned some things that I thought were interesting, like the use of the handkerchief in their production which was something I had not thought much about. I posted a comment to them about that, I'm still waiting to hear back, hopefully they won't delete it.

Another blog I found had a post from today even, and explained differences between publications of the play and how this might influence the depiction of the characters. I thought this was very interesting as well because I love the way Othello is shown and his transformation through the play. I commented on this as well and still, have yet to hear back.

Sketching Shakespeare: The Tempest Act One Scene One

2011-10-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here"

Act 1 Scene 2

Continuing my quest to make a sketch for every scene of Shakespeare I turn to The Tempest. Inspired by Jackson Pollock and his painting I mentioned before, I decided to get my "Pollock" on and try out a painting like his. It isn't about the drowning after the tempest, but of the storm itself. I tried to portray the feeling of a heavy storm full of pouring rain, wind, crashing bright lightning bolts and the danger or death. Here is the first image of sketching the Tempest, the rest are all still in the very preliminary sketch stage.

Act 1 Scene 1
Now would I give a thousand furlongs of a sea for an
acre of barren ground, long heath, brown furze, any
thing. The will above be done! I would fain
die a dry death.

Othello's Regression

2011-10-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

I was wondering what to write about, this week I have the assignment of applying the play Othello to something important to me and also to connect this to a social discovery I was to make. As I was searching for what others have to say about Othello I found something perfect.

To me, the greatest miracle, the happiest thing, that which moves me most, is the miracle of a change of heart. The miracle of seeing a person change their life completely and become new, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Therefore, one of the saddest things is to see someone throw away all that is beautiful in life and turn to base things and become despairing. This is exactly what happens to Othello.

At the start of the play Othello is a man who everyone admires and looks up to. He is calm, well-judging, full of intergrity, and good to the core. When he is accused of stealing away Desdemona he doesn't run from his accusators, but has full confidence to answer for himself saying:

Not I, I must be found:
My parts, my title and my perfect soul
Shall manifest me rightly.

Through the play I was surprised to read as his words became harsh and hurting. He goes from loving his wife completely to physical abuse within days. In the BBC production of the play I watched as he went from being calm and collected at all times to working himself into a raging fit of epilepsy, it was somewhat disturbing.

Nothing is more beautiful than a man changing for the better, and nothing is more tragic than sin and regression to the natural man.

deviantart.com by joshcorris

Searching for what other people have to say about this I found a website about the King James Bible. There was a post about the Bible and Othello which gave some very interesting insights. I left a comment on the post and this is what I said.

"I really enjoy your post here. In my college course on Shakespeare I am doing a study of the play Othello right now and I am assigned to apply it to something important to me in life. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the King James Bible is very important to us. I really like the connections between Othello and the gospel.

In my blog about Shakespeare I posted about how he uses his plays as a way of teaching the masses about morality, it seems so evident because so many of his plays have such strong religious undercurrents. The ones that you found in Othello were especially intriguing. Especially the one about Iago’s play on words “I am not what I am” being a connection to God. Iago seems to think himself God in the play, judging who should be punished, what lives should be taken, and he has great power over the world of the play Othello. It shows how twisted Iago is to make that allusion. Unfortunately he is all of these without the love and mercy of our Heavenly Father.

Othello as Judas, then that would make Iago Satan who “entered into Judas surnamed Iscariot” (Luke 22:3). This is one of the greatest tragedies Shakespeare wrote about, how a pure honest love could be so tainted and then destroyed as soon as one allows Satan and his lies into their mind. Judas allowing Satan in allowed his love for The Perfect Individual, Jesus Christ, to become tainted until it led to dead, and his subsequent suicide parallels well with Othello’s. This was a very interesting connection you made as well."

Shakespeare was teaching the masses again about how we should be, and letting them learn vicariously the tragedy of sin and jealousy, letting both consume you.

Sketching Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost

2011-10-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

In order to help us better understand Shakespeare my teacher, Dr. Burton, made the suggestion of writing a one sentence summary of each scene as we read them. In another conversation with my professor he told me of a man who made a picture for every page of the book Moby Dick. I thought that this sounded really cool and so decided to combine both of these ideas together.

To draw a sketch for every scene of Shakespeare!

I went home and counted up how many scenes Will wrote and the grand total is...732 scenes and 2 epilouges. To be perfectly honest I don't know if I will complete the whole works of Shakespeare in sketch form but I'm going to do my best.

May I present to you, a play recently finished.

Love's Labour's Lost

Act 1 Scene 1
So study evermore is overshot
While it doth study to have what it would
It doth forget to do the thing it should
And when it hath the thing it hunteth most
'Tis won as towns with fire, so won, so lost.

Act 1 Scene 2
I will herein confess I am in love; and as it is
base for a soldier to love, so am I in love with a
base wench. If dreaming my sword against the humor
of affection would deliver me from the reprobate
thought of it, I would take Desire prisoner, and
ransom him to any French courtier for a new-devised
courtesy. I think scorn to sigh: methinks i should
outswear Cupid. Comfort me, boy: What great men
have been in love?

Act 2 Scene 1
'Fair' I give you back again; and 'welcome' I have
not yet. The roof of this court is too high to be
yours: and welcome to the wide fields too
base to be mine.

Act 3 Scene 1
A message well sympathized: a horse to be
ambassador for an ass.

Act 4 Scene 1
A mark marvelous well shot, for they both
did hit it.

Act 4 Scene 2
...As it were...

Act 4 Scene 3
In that each of you have forsworn his book,
Can you still dream and pore and thereon look?
For when would you, my lord, or you, or you,
Have found the ground of study's excellence
Without the beauty of a woman's face?

Act 5 Scene 1
Satis quod Sufficit

Act 5 Scene 2
We are wise girls to mock our
lovers so.

May his pernicious soul rot half a grain a day...

2011-10-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

I have never hated anyone more.

This week I got to read the play Othello as well as view a film production on it. I thought about how to approach this and decided to first view the play and then to read it. After all, in Shakespeare's day everyone had to watch the play only, I doubt many people were able to obtain copies of the script to peruse at their own leisure.

I watched the film and LOVED IT!!! Fantastic! I was a little skeptical about a low budget BBC film but the talent of the actors, namely Anthony Hopkins, made it magnificent. I found myself sincerely moved and invested in the play. Totally being pulled into the part I was set to play as the viewer. I didn't know how much I would like the play, but this viewing experience has made it one of my favorites. While it is not my favorite tragedy of Will's, it is the most tragic tragedy.

I then read the script and found that this was a lot of fun after viewing the film. I find when I read before I see a production that I don't really grasp the emphasis in sentences or words. Everyone speaks very calmly and fluidly in my head. I didn't get as lost in the language now that I had seen how these lines were handled. Two lines stuck out to me.

He that is robbed, not wanting what is stolen,
Let him not know 't, and he's not robbed at all.
Othello, 3. 3

Someone who has something taken, if he doesn't know it's missing, he might as well not be robbed at all, he doens't know so it doesn't hurt him. When it is pointed out that something is taken then he falls into sadness and want, for he has "drunk and seen the spider" you might say.

This makes me so sad with Othello because nothing has really been stolen, but he thinks it has and that is enough to make him fly into a destructive rage. This tragedy is worse to me that Romeo and Juliet for example, because the cause of the two hormonal teenage tragedy is their own stupidity. Othello had a wonderful, almost enviable realationship with his wife. It was just as it should be, but due to the evil of a calculating devil, Othello lost it all. That is so tragic.

This brings me to my second line I like. The title of my post today, it is a punishment described for evil Iago. It sounds terrible, but it's still not enough in my opinion. I really detest this man who is nothing but pure evil inside, who can laugh when he sees other human beings tormented.

Elder Holland, says it best for me, "In the tale of Othello and Desdemona the sorrow and destruction is calculated--it is maliciously driven from the beginning. Of all the villains in Shakespeare's writing, and perhaps in all of literature, there is no one I loathe so much as I loathe Iago. Even his name sounds evil to me, or at least it has become so. And what is his evil...Sowing doubt and devilish innuendo, playing on jealousy and deceit and finally murderous rage, Iago provokes Othello into taking Desdemona's life--virtue turned into pitch, goodness twisted into a fatal net."

So, may his pernicious soul rot half a grain a day!

A Bloody Beheading?

2011-10-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare and the visual arts connect again!

Judith and Holofernes

I was reading Angela's post about names the other day and it reminded me about a character in Love's Labour's Lost who has an odd name. Holofernes, the school teacher. The name Holofernes is from a character in the Apocrypha. He is a leader of a large army who lays siege to Jerusalem. A ruthless evil man.

The city begins to starve and is about to give in or forsake their God. A young widow named Judith decides to take matters into her own hands. She moves to Holofernes' camp, convinces him she is deserting the city. Holofernes finds himself warm for her form and invites her to dine with him. He gets raging drunk, Judith takes the moment and chops off his head and runs to the city, where she gets the army of Jerusalem and they storm the camp and kill everyone!

This one is my favorite. Painted by Carravagio
(that is his self-portrait as the face of Holofernes.)

In the art world, there seems to be a period of time to be obsessed with a story and everyone paints it. This same thing happened to the story of Judith and Holofernes.

Now, why did Shakespeare choose this namesake for a schoolteacher in his very light hearted play?

What is going to happen to Holofernes? I'm excited to see this play out.

Othello

2011-10-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

In my Shakespeare class I have the assignment of reading Othello. When I saw this I was pretty excited about. A few years ago I was talking to one of my really good friends about Shakespeare and she told me that Othello is her favorite play. I...thought that was weird (everyone loves Hamlet or something else. Nobody says Othello) and so I read a synopsis and planned on reading the play....I never did.

I searched for a synopsis again and some information and found out that Othello is, yet again, a story Shakespeare took from someone else. The original story is "Un Capitano Moro" ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio. The play seems pretty complicated and dramatic from the short synopsis I read. Again it is full of deceit and trickery, secrets, and round about ways of discovering them.

I am really interested to read about Iago. First off, his name was used for a parrot in Disney movie, Aladin, where he also plays a bad guy who has bad advice. Another reason is for what Elder Holland said about him in a talk "How do I love thee", he said, "Of all the villains in Shakespeare's writing, and perhaps in all of literature, there is no one I loathe so much as I loathe Iago. Even his name sounds evil to me, or at least it has become so." I'm really intersted to get into this characters head and figure out why he hates Othello to the point of destroying everything. That's intense.

There are a few film productions I am excited to see. I'm sad to say I don't think I will be viewing Kenneth Branaghs version(in which he plays Iago), but I am excited to view the version with Ian McKellen (who also plays Iago. Why is it that the big name actors play him? Is he going to be more important than the plays namesake?). Gandalf meets Shakespeare.

Also, there is a board game called Othello. I wonder why.

http://essaytips.org/othello-essays/

http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=1618

The Unwritten Invisible Character in Every Story

2011-10-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

The subject of this picture isn't what you see,
but the lens through which this is seen.

The other day in my Shakespeare class we watched a bunch of clips of the "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy by Hamlet. We observed differences in how the directors or actors gave their own interpretation and what they were trying to say or get across. It made me think about how in every play or movie there is a person that the writer or director has in mind, but cannot directly influence like he does his actors. He has to influence this character through his actors, words, lighting etc. It is a person who is in every movie, who is in every play, who gets to see everything that the characters don't, and who that characters can't see. This unwritten invisible character is the viewer, the spectator of the spectacle.

No one writes a play just to have a bunch of people say lines and move around. The play is written for the audience. Everything that happens in a production is calculated to get an anticipated response out of the viewer. While we, as spectators, have no lines to memorize, or places to stand, there is a part for us to play. It isn't written down and rehearsed, but it is implied and anticipated for us to be taken in and to feel involved in the play or movie.

When we watch a play production, like A Winters Tale, that I had the opportunity to view recently, the audience and viewers can interact with the actors, and can influence the production. by the responses we give, laughter or booing and so on. The actors can even interact with the audience, say hello to us, throw things at us, grab us and dance with us, whatever.

When we view a movie, we play an incredible character. A role that the director forces on the viewer. One that he tries to manipulate to feel certain things and think a certain way. We don't say anything, we can't influence the story in any way, but we are given the role of a powerful avatar that can be anywhere, that is invisible, sees everything, can hear thoughts, can hear music that isn't really there, won't die (what if someone made a movie where the viewer died?). The viewer can be right up in the face of a character (which in real life or a play production would be really awkward and would not produce the same effect) and really see the nuances of their facial expressions and hear the quiet whispers they speak.

In every production we have a part to play, in a movie, a play, or a book even, we get to be a fly on the wall, we get to become someone else in a story that is not ours, and play a part that is written somewhere, but not on the script.

A Fallacy inspired Soapbox Rant

2011-09-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

The other day I was walking around campus and I saw a very misinformed boy with a shirt that said "Shakespeare Hates Your Emo Poems." While, I'm not emo myself nor an advocate for emo kids, this shirt made me feel somewhat irate (Maybe because I posted an emo poem earlier). I like to write poetry, and I believe the occasional emo poem is healthy.

Now, in honor of the fact that I just finished reading Hamlet again (a very emo character (WHO DIES!! Maybe he does hate emo things, no, just kidding) This post is dedicated to emo poetry and I'm sure my room mate is going to judge me.

First will be one of Hamlet's Soliloquies "To be or not to be", which is all about the contemplation of suicide, how much more emo can you get.

Then will be a poem of my own, once again inspired by Hamlet, about how his despair consumed him completely until everything around him, including himself, was destroyed by it. Very sad.

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.

Cypress Tree

There is a cypress tree

that grows inside of me

Parasitically eating

my hearts final beating

the living of my being

As all of my fears

made manifest in tears

all my soul's pain

is it's life giving rain

The agonized bleating

of my hearts bleeding beating

is it's sun softly beaming

on its leaves slowly feeding

My decomposing soul

it's dark soft rich soul

and I scream bloody murder

as it's roots push on deeper

This tree that needs felling

to me it is telling

Like a dark Van Gogh painting

of yet another failing

and what there is waiting

when my heart stops it's beating

As I breath my last breath

and give in now to death

this dark tree

takes the last of me

as I cease to be

nothing more that the

symbol you see

in a dark cypress tree.

Shakespeare loves my Emo poems (but I promise I'm a happy person)

Shakespeare and Jackson Pollock

2011-09-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today I just wanted to post one of my favorite paintings, which, ironically enough, is connected to Shakespeare (although you would never guess by looking at it.

BEHOLD...

FULL FATHOM FIVE

Oddly enough this goes along with the play The Tempest, which I am looking forward to seeing in the next few weeks., and here I connect two of my loves, Art, and Shakespeare.

This painting is from a song by Ariel (no, not the red-headed mermaid girl, but a sprite (and not the drink either, a fairy)) as he convinces another character that his father is drowned and lost at sea. If the feeling of drowning was visual, this painting would be it.

Full fathom five thy Father lies,

Of his bones are coral made:

Those are pearls that were his eyes

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a Sea-change

Into something rich & strange

Sea-Nymphs hourly ring his knell.

Hark now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.

Shakespeare looks down on you.

2011-09-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.

King Lear Scene VI

Fools and foolish deeds seem to be very common in Shakespeare. Nobody really seems to be that intelligent. Many of Will's plays tell a story of a noble or royal family, someone of the upper crust of society, and how silly they are. The Hamlet family is the most dysfunctional family I've ever seen. From fratricide to incest, murder, deceit. They are in serious need of a therapist. This is not just one example. In A Winters Tale there are two royal families who do all sorts of stupid things, who are full of irrational thinking and silly impulses. Was Shakespeare making commentary about his contemporary royalty? Was he showing the world just how stupid and foolish the upper class was?

I thought this might be the case until I saw how Shakespeare depicted normal people. The lower classes. They aren't too bright either. At times they seem even more foolish or vice-ridden than the upper classes. Shakespeare even takes their speech out of poetry and makes it common prose.

O, I am fortune's fool!

It seems to me that Shakespeare just thinks everyone is an idiot, and his plays were his way of telling everyone to shape up. He may have exaggerated the idiocy of people in his works to help get his point across, but it seems that his works were his commentary on society.

True, a story wouldn't be fun if everyone did the right thing, and everyone was a rational calm individual. In As You Like It its says "I had rather have a fool to make me merry than experience to make me sad: and to travel for it too!" Perhaps Shakespaere thinks it is better to learn from the mistakes and silly antics of the fake characters in the play (and be amused at the same time), than for society to make these mistakes themselves and regret it.

Shakespeare looks at society as a stage of fools, and he uses his own stage to try and educate people to a higher way.

I look down on you all...

Women in Shakespeare...and a tangent

2011-09-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

Ophelia....dead.

The other day in class we were talking about the variety of women in Shakespeare. How, despite the time period he lived in, many of his female characters (who were still played by men) are strong characters, with great value. Sure we have characters like Ophelia and Desdemona who are spineless "doormats" (and who both end up dying...coincidence?) but we have stronger characters like Paulina who isn't afraid to say anything, really anything, to a crazy king. We have characters like Hermione who have a quiet and admirable dignity. I really think she is amazing for the way she handles everything, accused of adultery and plotting to murder, her newborn baby being banished. It's not until she finally sees that her husband won't listen and her little boy dies that she can’t take it anymore. In Julius Caesar I like Brutus' wife, Portia, and what he says of her,"O ye gods, render me worthy of this noble wife!". Shakespeare shows the value of valuing ones wife (if only Brutus had been equally honorable and honest with his wife.)

Basically, it seems in Shakespeare plays that although, mostly for the point of a story, bad things happen to all characters, it seems to turn out better for the stronger figures. Let's take Beatrice and Hero from Much Ado About Nothing. Hero seems to me to be another "doormat" while Beatrice is sassy and strong. Beatrice only has to go through a lot of teasing to have her "happily ever after". Hero on the other hand is accused of infidelity (this seems to be a common theme…Desdemona, Hermione?) and has to be verbally, and emotionally abused (Ophelia parallel?) and then fake her death (another common theme, Juliet...anyone?) to get Leonato to feel sorry enough, and then she gets her happily ever after.

Not only do things seem to work out better for the stronger characters, but they are also a lot more fun to read about. I would rather be friends with people like Beatrice or Paulina, than empty people like Hero and Ophelia.

Heck, if I’m going to wish a fictional character to reality to be their friend I’m going to step outside the realm of Shakespeare and into Disney’s Tangled. Sure Rapunzel starts off as a “doormat” never leaving home for 18 years just cause her “mom” said no, but at the end she is a stronger frying pan wielding beauty, who would be lots of fun to hang out with cause she’s always ready to let her hair down (ha…ha…).

Sorry Will, modern computer animated Disney beats you here.

Shakespeare and Me

2011-09-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare first entered my life, with real power, in the seventh grade. Our poor, patient, and worthy of pity English teacher, Ms. Rose, introduced us to "Midsummer Night's Dream". It really touched me. The rhythm of the words, the clever play with language, the story. I liked it a lot but I was a too cool for Shakespeare, just like every other young teenage boy my age. It ended there.

Not to be averted, Shakespeare tried once again to come into my life in the ninth and tenth grades through the plays of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Julius Ceasar". I loved them once again. Unfortunately, I was still to cool for it. I could only have a closet love for this iambic pentameter prose. It wasn't until eleventh grade that Shakespeare was able to really become a comfortable part of my life.

In the eleventh grade I developed a transitory twitterpation, a crush, on a girl in my ward. She loved Shakespeare, and I thought she was wonderful, so Shakespeare must be wonderful too. I promptly went out and bought a copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare and began to read religiously. Yes...I started reading Shakespeare to meet girls... Nothing developed out of this crush i had, except for a deep deep love and relationship for all things Shakespeare. I devoured his plays and tried to understand them as best I could. I developed an admiration for his way of saying things and revered dear Will as almost a minor prophet, penning scripture.

Since then I have loved Shakespeare. I love reading the plays, I love seeing them performed in the theater, I love the movie renditions, (Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet...anyone? yes?) My favorite play is "Hamlet" the original emo. I think it's fantastic.

Shakespeare and Mason...are friends.

Simon, Garfunkel, and Shakespeare

2011-09-16T07:27:00.000-07:00

This morning I was musing on the play A Winters Tale, and in my head started to play the song "I am a Rock" by Simon and Garfunkel. At first I thought the sadness of the song would connect it to Leontes. After thinking I realized that it connects much better to his wife, Hermione. With no disrespect to S and G and their great music, Here is "I am a Rock", Winters Tale style.

(Words in red are changed by me)

A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I'm behind walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.

Because of laughter and loving I'm disdained.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Hermione: I am a Rock

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,

Locked within my room, a child's left my womb.

Leontes can't you see
I've touched no one and no one has touched me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

For "I am not prone to weeping, as our sex commonly are."

Assumptions are always awful...sometimes

2011-09-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

When I was in middle school, i had quite an....interesting teacher who one day taught us why we do not make assumptions. It had to do with dividing the word "assume" into three parts. In an effort to rise above crude, rude, and base attempts at humor, or to not talk about Shakespearean and Biblical donkeys, I won't tell you what he said, but I will talk about why assumptions are bad.

Wouldn't the world of Shakespeare, and our world for that matter, just be a better, happier place without assumptions. Maybe if we just were honest one with another. Lets take Hamlet for example. Instead of assuming your Uncle is evil, and hence playing crazy to find out, wouldn't it be infinitely more easy just to confront your Uncle about his murderous and incestuous habits, perhaps in an intervention of sorts. Lets look at Othello, assuming Desdemona is unfaithful, and grasping hold of that thought so tightly that even a kiss of pure innoccence almost persuading "Justice to break her sword" won't convince him otherwise and he ends up killing an innocent woman (Darn you Iago, you twisted sick man...). Romeo assumes Juliet really is dead and so dramatically takes poison and kills himself. A Winters Tale, Leontes assumes his wife too is unfaithful. Of course, he doesn't confront anyone, no, that would be too logical. Instead the best thing to do is to try and kill your childhood friend and set in motion events that will haunt you for 16 years. Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio assumes the worst in Beatrice causing many people much heartache and distress.

Good gracious people! Can't we just be open and honest with each other, hold off a little on the emotion and talk civilized before you stab your wife, or yourself? Sure, honesty sometime hurts to hear, but so does weeks of the cold shoulder and then getting stabbed to death, or turning into a statue for 16 years. I would rather have someone be honest than polite, in fact, it's impolite to lie or tell half-truths. Shakespeare teaches us well, that the world would be a better place if the inhabitants would work on their communication skills.

If we must jump to conclusions and assume motives in others, the better route to take would be to give someone the benefit of the doubt and assume that they mean well. Something much easier said than done.

Hamlet, The Original Emo

2011-09-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. This is my favorite of Shakespeare plays. My favorite thing about the play is it's namesake, Hamlet himself. Oh dramatic, depressed, distraught, doubting Hamlet. Such a complex character. One moment willing to slay his friends lest they hinder him from speaking with the ghost of his dead father, the next too cowardly to confront his murdurous uncle about his crime.

Hamlet is one of those people who doesn't even know themself. He seems almost a dual personality, the deep and depressed thinker, and the coach, "speeching" himself into frenzies of emotion. I love his character, he is the original emo. I'm not emo myself, but I love that Hamlet is. Dressed in black, somber faced, depressed, poetically dark. In thinking of Hamelt and his person I was inspired to....write a poem.

My Dear Dark Things

My dear dark things
Who love to rip
At my heartstrings
And make me shout
Blood-curling screams
As you torment
Me in my dreams,

Please, won't you just
Stop hurting me.
Quell your dark lust,
And hear my plea.

I wear your sable on my skin
I cannot feel dark as sin
Someday I want this ache to end
Without pain as my only friend
And so this message I must send

My Darkest Things
I keep within
I cannot keep you
Close as kin
One day this battle
I will win
And cast you out
As light doth sin

But 'til that day
I will succumb
I feel my mind
Is going numb

As I give in
To blackest dreams
And ponder on
My Dear Dark Things

-Mason Bennett