Favorite Shakespeare

My favorite Shakespeare quotes from this semester come from The Tempest and Love's Labour's Lost they both show the  linguistically  comedic style of Shakespeare.

The Tempest: 

In Act II scene i, there is a stormy sea and the boat is about to wreck. Antonio and Sebastian tease and make fun to make their fear. I like this quote because it portrays the hopelessness of their situation in a comedic way. 

Antonio

"What impossible matter will he make easy next?" 

Sebastian

"I think he will carry this island home in his pocket 

and give it his son for an apple." 

Love's Labour's Lost:

In Act I scene i, the King and his men are brought Costard accompanied by a letter from Don Armado. Don Armado writes a very wordy and extravagant letter that Costard- a simple peasant- has been caught with a woman (Jaquenetta) and sent to the King for punishment. Costard performs some tricky word play to try to get out of trouble. I think it is hilarious because as someone who does not fully understand the upper Elizabethan language we identify with Costard and his simple language and understanding. 

               Costard

"In a manner and form following, sir; all those three: 

I was seen with her in the manor-house, sitting with 

her upon the form, and taken following her into the

park; which, put together, is in manner and form 

following. Now, sir, for the manner,- it is the 

manner of a man to speak to a woman: for the form,- 

in some form."  

After the letter was read--

Costard

"I do confess much of the hearing of it but little of the marking of it." 

Ferdinand

"It was proclaimed a year's imprisonment, to be taken with a wench." 

Costard

"I was taken with none, sir: I was taken with a damsel." 

Ferdinand 

"Well, it was proclaimed 'damsel.' "

Costard

"This was no damsel, neither, sir; she was a virgin." 

Ferdinand 

"It is so varied, too; for it was proclaimed 'virgin.'

Costard 

"If is were, I deny her virginity: I was taken with a maid."  

What have I done?

As the semester comes to a close I am evaluating what I have learned and done during my Shakespeare course to fulfill the requirements and learning outcomes established by my Professor. I have references several previous blog posts showing my work throughout the semester.

Gaining Shakespeare Literacy

Breadth-- To fulfill this requirement I read several plays including: Shakespeare's sonnets, The Tempest, Henry V, Taming of the Shrew, Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth, Coriolanus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost.      

Depth-- For our research paper we were required to focus on at least one play with excruciating detail. I consumed a different play each week during this process, but ended up with A Midsummer Night's Dream. You can find the details in the textual analysis blog post and in my final paper.
  

Performance-- As I continued further into the semester, I began to watch or visually consume many more of the Shakespeare plays I was reading. I do not refer to all of my viewing experiences but here are the blog posts that refer to the plays that I visually consumed: Henry V (film), 10 Things I Hate About You (a spin-off of Taming of the Shrew), Merchant of Venice (BYU play), Hamlet (film), A Midsummer Night's Dream (film), Love's Labour's Lost  (BYU play).      

Legacy-- To fulfill this requirement I really looked into Shakespeare in popular culture. I have three blog posts that really represents these findings: connecting with others and possibilities and market study. There are also several examples in my group prezi under the 'Why should we incorporate technology?' section.  

Analyze Shakespeare Critically 
Textual Analysis-- For deep textual analysis I concentrated on the use of language and themes in: The Tempest talking about the language and stylistic choices of Shakespeare, Shakespeare sonnets language in an English- Spanish comparison, and Macbeth and the witch's influence.


Contextual Analysis-- This is a very broad category that I mainly included in cultural analysis and a few in contemporary/ historical: The Tempest about Miranda and the representation of women, Henry V and the related representation of masculinity, Merchant of Venice and Shylock's place in society/ the play, BYU Merchant of Venice & Hamlet  BYU's adaptation of Merchant of Venice ties back to Hamlet (which is specifically geared for educated audiences), A Midsummer Night's Dream and relation to contemporary relationships we have to deal with in education, and Love's Labour's Lost and how BYU adapted it to a contemporary and historical time of the WWII era.


Application of Literary Theories-- Many of these conversations also fit into other categories, but I choose to talk about various literary theory topics such as:  The Tempest about Miranda and the feminism aspect,  Henry V and masculinity, Merchant of Venice and comparing those relationships to modern representations, Coriolanus and modernization through film, and Love's Labour's Lost and the modernization of the play to the WWII era,   


Analysis of Digital Mediations-- I really felt like these two posts fit this category the best: Merchant of Venice and Shylock's relationship with the audience through the film medium, and Coriolanus through digital art.

Engage Shakespeare Creatively
Collaborative Creative Project-- For my final re-purposed content I participated in an "Teaching/ Education" group with Tara Pina and Mallory Stevens. We worked and combined our material to make a collaborative trailer for our collaborative final prezi presentation.

Share Shakespeare Meaningfully 
Formal Writing-- This was fulfilled with my research paper and then as I re-purposed it with my group it became a less formal but more consumable form of the key ideas of my group's formal papers.  

Informal Writing-- This was fulfilled constantly through my blog. Blogging gave me an opportunity to informally process my ideas and essentially 'talk' things out with myself and then others could comment on my ideas.

Connecting-- Throughout the entire semester my professor really pushed for social proof-- reaching beyond the classroom for connections. I sent out several groups of e-mails and got various responses from high school teachers and professors. This really helped shape the outcome and direction of my paper because it made me aware of what is actually happening in schools rather than what I believe is happening. My most recent list for the social contacts that I have really kept throughout the semester and will contact to promote my final project are listed in my market study post. I also really connected with the people I did interviews for throughout my research process: Lisa Halverson, Dr. Dave Hunt, Brian Ellingford. For inside the classroom contacts, I shared my research paper with Tara Pina and, of course, later Mallory Stevens for our group project.

Gain Digital Literacy 
Some of the guidelines for this requirement are independent researching, producing content that can be shared with others that represents learning and connecting with people in and outside of the classroom.

I feel like I have showed a great progress and work of all of these elements through the other learning outcomes. My blog posts publish content that shows my learning in consumable pieces. The content of my blog posts show my independent learning and researching. Half of the Shakespeare plays I read this semester were independent learning (we did not read it as a class). I have also listed several times the blog posts that show my connecting with others inside and outside the classroom.

This Shakespeare class was a new and interesting experience. I think I was very successful in learning and accomplishing the outcomes/ goals my professor set up. I would give myself an A.... just saying ;) 

Final Presentation

For my final project, I worked in a collaborative group because we had all done research and work on different aspects of Teaching Shakespeare and digital media/ technology. It was a really interesting experience trying to decide from each of our topics what to put into the final presentation. 

We ended up making a prezi presentation: Teaching Shakespeare in the New Age. 

It is very simple and short, so it is easy for various audiences to consume.

Group Members: Tara Pina, Mallory Stevens, Alicia Tovar  

Trailer for Project

Here is our collaborative trailer for technology in the classroom....

By: Mallory Stevens, Tara Pina, and Alicia Tovar 

Comparable Media

Throughout this creation process my group and I have looked browsed through some YouTube videos and Prezi presentations to get a good feel out for what we should do for our own. Some are good examples of things we should not do. and some are great examples of elements we want to implement in our final project.

YouTube videos:

Top Ten Tips for Using Technology

Why I Flipped My Classroom 

Prezi Presentations: 

Technology Presentation: This presentation has a good skeleton, but is incomplete 

Teaching: This presentation is very limited and must be presented for the audience to understand  

D School: This presentation is the one we found with a combination of drawing connections and embedded video that really gave us direction for our prezi

A new way to interview

Friday afternoon, I had an interview with Mr. Brian Ellingford, an English teacher at Orem High. He uses blogging in his classroom to promote student writing.

Mr. Brian Ellingford

I made two videos during the interview, so you could hear what he does from the man himself. I think this works better than me simply quoting from notes of my interview because it validates my source instead of people just taking my word for it. In the final presentation, I may do a mix of explaining things from his interview and then posting the videos--we will decide how to fit the format best.  

Here is the video of Mr. Ellingford explaining why he uses blogging in the classroom and some of the logistics of the process.

Although Mr. Ellingford said the advantages of blogging outweigh the disadvantages, he outlines the problems blogging creates in this video. I have not edited it yet, but that will come later before I insert it in the final project.

Market Study

I have mentioned most of my social contacts as I have progressively found them, but here is an updated collected list of my contacts throughout the semester.

1. Professor Gideon Burton who utilizes blogging to direct his students in the class and creating their own blog. He utilizes the blogging process as a way to transform the traditional research paper. He explains more about this belief and reasoning in 'Writing About Literature in the Digital Age' chapter 2.

2. Sharon Bell, a Mississippi high school teacher also uses blogging to direct her class. It looks like she set it up at the beginning of the school year, yet it has failed with time.

3. Brain Ellingford, a Orem High teacher who uses blogs in his classroom. Here is his summer blog to help students with their summer assignments and discuss anything interesting or ask questions.

4. Lisa Halverson, a PhD student at BYU who has taught several GE courses. Here is her website.

5. Dr. Dave Hunt, a Sociology professor at Augusta State University.

For our research, we are using examples of how Shakespeare is all over the internet.
     Facebook

Shakespeare Page      

Shakespeare Aloud 

Shakespeare In the Park 

Grassroots Company

Twitter

 

Shakespeare B Trust 

Shakespeare's Globe 

William Shakespeare (person profile) 

Shakespeare 4 Kids

Through collaboration our sources and social contacts have tripled. Awesome! :) I simply listed my social contacts above but you can refer to Tara's and Mallory's blog for their social contacts and such. 

   

Relating Love's Labour's Lost

So I just wanted to do a last shout out for BYU's adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost. 

I like how they re-worked it for a more modern time period and yet kept almost all of the original text or dialogue. This plays into the theme of my current Shakespeare class concerning Shakespeare's ability to relate to various topics and times. In my current final project we are discussing how much Shakespeare still plays an influential role in society and there are facebook, twitter accounts, and blogs dedicated to the discussion and study of Shakespeare. His influence has not died, but transformed to fit the modern age just as this play transformed Love's Labour's Lost to fit the 1940s era.

Shakespeare is still relevant to the modern age and our current society. In the classroom, you may have to convince your students of that by showing them the various social media dedicated to Shakespeare. That would be a great way to validate and explain to your students that studying Shakepeare is still valuable and relevant to the modern day.   

Collaborative Work

I am working with Tara Pina and Mallory Stevens for a collaborative final project combining our papers about education.

Audience: We will work towards creating a presentation for the UCTE Conference.

Format: We are leaning heavily towards a mixed media project.

Content: We will interview and ID common problems in the classroom through students and teachers (at the high school and university level). Mallory has already sent out a bulk e-mail to teachers at Timpview High, and I have a few possible contacts from Orem High.

We will also show current examples of how various teachers are successful (and possibly unsuccessfully) in the classroom. Currently I could do this with using blogging in teaching through Dr. Burton's blog and his believes concerning the changing nature of the research paper (explained in his chapter online). I also found Ms. Sharon Bell's blog-- a high school teacher from Hattisburg High. I also know that Mr. Ellingford at Orem High creates class blogs, but keeps them personal to protect privacy.

I will be contacting Mr. Ellingford to ask if we can set up an interview time for the video portion of our paper as well as the blogging portion of our presentation.

If we do a writing portion I can talk about the research and contacts I have found that have previously used technology in their classroom

For further exploration I have tried to contact Online High Schools in Utah (Open HS & EHS) I discovered through Ms. Lisa Halverson a PhD student in Instructional Psychology & Technology. I also e-mailed her for more information about her previous employeer-- an online high school-- because they advocate the use of twitter.

We will also contact a  BYU professor Dr. Amy Jensen who recently gave a speech advocating the use of technology.

BYU Love's Labour's Lost

Saturday I attended BYU's performance of Love's Labour's Lost.

Before I attended this play I watched a Globe Theatre's performance so that I could contrast a traditional performance with BYU's adaptation. 

I really liked the ease and naturalness that these actors present while performing Shakespeare and helps the audience increase understanding with intonations and reactions. I found it much more enjoyable and comprehensible when I watched this performance than reading the play itself. 

BYU adapted this play to the era of WWII. 

In the director's note, Stephanie Breinholt explained that Love's Labour's Lost has always reminded her of her grandparent's story. So they used this play to represent the WWII era. They multiplied the parts and spread the lines around to lend importance to some more minor characters. I like the multiplication of parts because it showed how many people were in the same sort of situation and representational of the entire generation. At the end, when the girls tell them to wait before they get married the men leave for war. Don Armado ends up leaving with the 'King' and his associates after enlisting, leaving his radio show to his assistant. Every man in the play was enlisted in some part of the military. 

I think that BYU's adaptation was very creative and showed that Shakespeare can transcend time and generations. In my Shakespeare class, we often look for ways to relate Shakespeare to the current issues and BYU has done a great job showing how Shakespeare relates to this WWII era. 

They also creatively placed Don Armado as a radio host and added a LIVE jazz/swing band to create the 'bar' atmosphere... without the alcohol. The band was by far my favorite part just because I love band and it made me want to pick up my trumpet again. (Also it's always cool to watch a group together enough they don't need a director--this is typical of jazz bands). I felt like the band and music added to the play more than anything else. During the men's confessions of love the band played mimetic music (music that matches the scene) that characteristically matched each one of the men's personalities. Sometimes the music was soft and romantic and for another it was an upbeat swing that brought out a really fun side of the character. It was really cool to see how the band contributed-- and the parts they chose to stay silent. I am a huge music buff so I noticed how the trumpet used 3 different mutes/ tools to draw out a different tones throughout the play. I LOVE the big band's contribution and I don't think I would have liked it nearly as much without it.

 

The background of this video is the style of music. I don't think they got the band til the last minute because I can't find anything about them. 

"Trailer" for my paper

So I re-did my thesis video and almost lost it in the mass mess that is YouTube, but luckily I re-located it and nabbed the link for y'all.

Yesterday, I definitely noticed I was sounded a little stiff and memorize--not so conversational. I tried to play it a little more casual, but I don't think it worked and I have a giant "Ummmm." Oops.

I also noticed as I was trying to grab audience interest in my paper, my paper naturally took a little bit of a different direction. So I think I know where I am generally headed based off the three points I make that teachers can use technology: introduce more sources and information on their subjects, support independent student learning, and more easily cater towards specific students' needs and interests in assessments.

And yes, my apartment has terrible lighting without the sun. The sun didn't want to join me so sorry if my glasses give ya a nice glare every once in awhile--they like to make their presence known. :)

Plans

So this morning I recorded my video for our thesis/ paper trailer for our class collaborative project. However, I somehow lost it.... So that was an hour down the drain.

Instead I will post my plan and future intentions, because I haven't posted in awhile.

For  class I want to make a video under 2 minutes that is just a "trailer" or hook for my overall paper.

For my personal paper, I want to concentrate on current teacher examples I have found of successful integration of technology in the classroom. I want to concentrate on this aspect as more of a list of suggestions or how-to when it comes to integrate technology into modern classrooms.

As my "Market Study" my professor wants me to really evaluate my prospective audience. I want to find more teachers and more examples of how high school teachers and professors have integrated technology into current classrooms.
             I have several examples that I presented in my paper, but I would like to branch out and find more examples, as well as, find groups of teachers who are currently talking about this issue and concerned with technological integration.

Wednesday: I want to re-create and post a video of my thesis and hook. 
Thursday: I will post what I have researched concerning my audience and social media. 
Friday: I want to post a Rough draft of a presentation of my social media and sources. 

Rachel O. " A Foolish Wit " Paper

Rachel,

So like many other classmates I have decided that leaving you an enormous comment would be more harmful than helpful, so here is your own personal blog post on my blog. :)

Here is a link to your final paper  and blog, for other readers.

First and foremost I wanted to let you know that your paper is awesome. :) I really like the argument and I you move from Shakespeare's time to the more modern situations with Mitt Romney very well.

I didn't see a post about your interview, so I'm not sure where you are thinking about taking your paper, but I have a suggestion.

I think an interesting next growth for your paper could be how Mormon's combat and deal with this blunt prejudice. You have firmly established that the prejudice exists, so now you can enter the other side.

BYU's presence is a huge promotion for the LDS church, but especially living here in Utah--Mormon headquarters-- we are subject to much more than that. Desert News, BYUTV, lds.org, "I'm a mormon" ads, mormon.org, KSL (KSL.org)--to an extent--are all strong voices for the LDS church. The Mormon messages through an independent YouTube channel for LDS geared videos.

The LDS church is not simply accepting or quietly combating this prejudice. They are an active and louder and louder voice in the technological world.

A good and real example of this recently is the Washington Post article that cast the church in a HORRIBLE light (we are all prejudice against blacks) with its interview with Randy Bott (a very popular figure in the church esp for young ppl--like BYU students). "The Genesis of a Church's Stand on Race"

The church then released an official statement through KSL.com. "LDS church"

Paper Progress

I had my interview with my professor on Friday and talked about my "FINAL" PAPER. 


I think it went well and I am eager to explore some of the avenues that I was contemplating and some that he brought to my attention. I want to add an excerpt about incorporating facebook into the modern classroom (especially because it has been my favorite to experience in the classroom as a student). Of course, all of the media has their own advantages and disadvantages and need to be used in class to accomplish certain goals and expectation.

Some of the future avenues:

1. Add facebook section (I really want a personal interview before I include this)
2. Explore more about my assessment section- this was something I only dipped in and it is something that I could really use to argue as an advantage for English Language Learners, as well as how current technology will make current assessments invalid so there is a need for change
3. Something that really caught my professor's attention in my paper was a tantalizing hint at how technology affects student-teacher relationships (this could be explored positively or negatively)

I will need to proceed with great caution in some of these explorations of my paper. A lot of the topics and issues I bring up could easily become it's own ten page research paper. I need to keep a tight reign on  my topic and 'sharpen' my thesis.

As we continue with our paper in class we were asked to think about how to reach intended audiences best. I wrote my paper with a specific audience in mind-- high school teachers and professors. All teachers could certainly be included, but have a STRONG inclination towards professors become of the minimal barriers they would have to overcome to implement technology in their classrooms. Parents become less and less protective of their children as they get older (typically) and with a classroom full of 'adults' they have the authority and society expects them to have the wisdom to manage their own life. (Professors do not have to worry about getting parent's permission/ release forms).

A lot of my research has been found in journals specifically geared for a teacher audience. Interestingly enough most of the journals are maintained by professors. Ironically these journals do not have a great online presence, but it does exist. Obviously getting my paper published in one of these journals would be ideal for reaching my intended audiences; however, I do not think my paper is the right style because it is usually the Technology articles are examples of how the author (a teacher) implemented certain technology in their classroom.

Another idea would be to publish an electronic book then forward it to all of the current social contacts we have as a class and any future social contacts we will have. Food for thought as we explore the idea of inserting our voice into the current conversations.

Messy Writing Process

So normally when I write about I tailor my sources to my already conceived ideas about a piece of text or literature. This is not what happened with this research paper. With this research paper I was constantly changing my direction as I found more sources and talked to more teachers.

When it actually got down to the writing of my research paper I ended up with about four different google docs ranging from a thought process, breaking down sources, and a few rough draft paragraphs that said along the same lines of the same thing but each had important key element the other was missing.

So I resolved to print everything out and do an old fashion cut and paste (tape) project.

My messed up writing process:

This is my rough draft/ outline broken down into sections (by highlighted boxes) with various rough paragraphs attached, quotes to incorporate, and then some scribbling pen to lead me on in a further direction.

My boyfriend thought I was nuts for doing this, but it really calmed me down and I was able to see a clear focus and outline for my research. I did decide to post-pone my facebook category (the blank box) because the amount of research did not match the research I had for blogs and twitter.

I thought it was ironic that my paper was about integrating technology into the classroom yet I got overloaded by the technology and needed to go back to hard copies of all my research. Just goes to show that I am one of those students who need a healthy balance between technology and hard copy activities. I am a very hands-on person and it is how I organize my thoughts best, but I have done several previous research papers purely through technology.

Textual Analysis

Through this research paper preparation I have changed my Shakespeare play every week.
Week 1: Macbeth with a textual analysis
Week 2: Coriolanus with a performance analysis
Week 3: A Midsummer Night's Dream...no analysis


I figured because I will actually be using A Midsummer Night's Dream in my paper I should go back and post a textual analysis for my play.

This play has multiple storylines. Here is a general summary of the storyline I will be focusing on in my analysis:

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream the fairy king- Oberon- interferes with a mortal love triangle. There are two women and two men, but the two men--Demetrius and Lysander--are in love with the same woman--Hermia--while each woman loves one of the men. (The girls got it right, why are the men so difficult?) Oberon observes this dilemma by hearing Helena chase Demetrius who does not love her. He resolves to help her and cast a potion on Demetruis’s eyes, because indeed women, “should be wood, and were not made to woo” (2, 1, 256-7). So begins the meddling of Oberon and his fairy Puck; they force change upon the mortal lovers. At first, the change is a disaster because Puck confuses the men and we end up with both Lysander and Demetrius chasing Helenia--whom they both before scorned--instead of Hermia. Eventually, everything is set straight and they are matched to resolve all conflict-- Hermia with Lysander, and Demetruis with Helenia.

Here are some excerpts that present relationships I will use in relation to my paper:


Hermia is completely subject to her father's will as students are subject to their teachers--

Shakespeare loves rebellious youth. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream Hermia is subjected to her father’s will and is bound by law to marry whom he chooses. Egeus invokes law and reason when he begs, “the ancient privilege of Athens,” stating that his daughter is his possession and, “[he] may dispose of her” (1,1,42-43). The law supports this ideology and Theseus, the duke of Athens, informs Hermia that she must “either prepare to die for disobedience to your father’s will or else to wed Demetrius” (1,1,86-88). Sometimes teachers and students portray a similar relationship. The teacher is unwilling to change their methods and listen to what the student’s wants. This creates a tense relationship between teacher and student because student opinion is not valued and they don’t feel invested in their own learning. We need to get rid of the idea that there is only one way to teach students. Every student learns differently and through implementing technology correctly teachers can bolster and support individual student learning. It is not healthy for students and teachers to develop a relationship similar to that of Hermia and her father. The law forces Hermia to regard her father, “as a god” and  she is just, “a form in wax...within his power to leave the figure or disfigure it” (1,1,47-51). Students will be more motivated and willing to learn if they are allowed involvement and choices in the classroom. Learning should be a collaborative activity. (I will add additional source quotes to support this idea)  

 Egeus is subject to Thesus's decisions and authority as teachers are subject to their administration-- 

Sometimes there are obstacles in incorporating technology into the classroom. Often schools do not allow access to social media- like facebook or twitter- or they do not have enough computers to make technological integration during class realistic. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream after the young couples come out of the woods Demetrius no longer wants to marry Hermia because his affections have turned towards Helenia. Thesus, the duke, and Egeus, Hermia’s father, are both present to hear this declaration. Thesus then asserts his authority and says, “Egeus, I will overbear your will” and the couples are to get married that day to whom they wish (4,1,179). Egeus recognizes Thesus’s authority over him and says nothing in protest. Sometimes teachers must accept opposition and recognize the current realities of their students situations and the administrative authority. *quote on barriers that you cannot change* Hopefully these obstacles will be overcome through future persuasion and circumstances, but teachers cannot overlook current realities.

**I will definitely rearrange this paragraph structure to fit the flow of my paper. I don't like the flow of it right now, but the ideas and beginning integration is there. That is what I wanted to show--the beginnings. 

Scary

Ok. So for this paper my writing process is completely different than ever before. I am very much so the type to work only in hard-copy sources (printing off all my online sources) and I simply type one rough rough draft then print it out and re-edit it until I'm satisfied. Well...to be completely honest it usually only makes one edit because of time and I am never satisfied.

HOWEVER, this blog and process has completely changed the way I am doing things. The google doc I posted last time has developed into more of an outline/ break-down of my sources (which is shamefully incomplete) and I started writing on a clean slate. So here is my ROUGH DRAFT on a different google doc. Somehow I think I'm going to end up with three different google docs and somehow have to combine them for my final paper.... it might be more than my little netbook can handle. :)

Ever changing

Here is a link to my Google Doc. My research and writing is not as far along as I would like it to be yet, but I am rapidly consuming my new play (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and surrounding criticism.

I will be constantly working on this rough draft (and it is a VERY rough draft). I will start with a general thesis and outline, then begin to add a paragraph of body here and there. Depending on when you look at it, it may be drastically different (hopefully) than the next time.

Thanks for all your help!

Tweethis

So I posted a statement (sort of thesis) concerning my research paper topic on facebook Tuesday.

I wrote a statement trying to provoke responses so I wrote, "I believe that teaching Shakespeare (or any subject) can be improved with the use of digital technology and social media sources. Have you ever used facebook, twitter, or blogging for a class? What was your experience?"

My good friend, Stephanie Grimes, is a part-time reporter at ksl.com and student at Brigham Young University commented on my status. She is a passionate defender of technology and the advantages of social media--and an avid user.

It was also interesting because although Dave Hunt did not leave a comment, he liked my status. I was surprised to remember that I am actually facebook friends with a University professor who I did not contact about my research paper. So I followed up with a personal facebook message and am waiting for a response.

All of this outreaching through social media is really interesting, but I am saddened that my research paper is due next week and I still have so many personal sources that I could add to my paper with time. I have not heard back from previous BYU professors that I know have used facebook and twitter in their classroom, and I know an Orem High teacher who uses blogging frequently. I understand that teachers--especially professors are busy people (especially mid-semester) and may not be able to respond in a timely matter. However, I think I will continue to try to contact them and set up an interview, then add it to my research paper later on in the semester (I will talk to my professor about this during our interview to get his response).

Progress Report: Phase 2

This week my research paper has taken an interesting turn.

I created an Annotated Bibliography to document my research. During my research, I found several journals that talked about using technology in the classroom. There would be some obvious challenges in implementing using facebook, twitter, and blogging in a high school classroom, but I think at the University level there is no excuse for not using technology to enhance a student's learning experience.

So, in short, I have decided to write a research paper talking about the need, advantages, and challenges of using technology as part of an University classroom experience.

Earlier in the week I had e-mailed professors and asked about their methods of teaching Shakespeare and the digital media they brought into the classroom. I documented their responses on Saturday in a blog post titled Social Proof- Professors. Their responses made it clear to me that even in an advanced English course professors do not typically incorporate any more technology than a film adaptation or two of Shakespeare. There is a world of Shakespeare and learning online, yet these professors still use the typical classroom experience they had before the Internet.

Because I am writing this paper for a Shakespeare course I need to incorporate a Shakespeare play. I have been having difficulties on finding the most appropriate play to incorporate into my topic. I met with a group of fellow students investigated different aspects of Shakespeare on Wednesday during class. We determined to all research different plays, so I was turned away from Macbeth, and decided to take a look at Coriolanus. I discuss this change in Switching Gears.

To research this play I first read the original text on my e-book (an important first step). I wanted to get the audio book, but the library's version was checked out, so I just read it online for speed. I then found some Digital Media or digital art online and made a short bibliography on it. I also discovered a 2011 film adaptation. I really wanted to watch it, but could not find a version on it on Netflix, YouTube, blinx, or several other commonly useful websites that I found. I did some research and read some reviews on it, then was able to find some clips and analyze the movie through a couple of clips I found through YouTube and hulu. I wrote about a specific clip in my blogpost, Performance Analysis.

I am highly unsatisfied by the small amount of textual and performance analysis I have been able to do so far.  However, I have changed plays (yet again). So I this week I will post some analysis on my play of the week, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Performance Analysis

I tried all week to get my hands on a film version of Coriolanus (I really wanted the 2011 version) to no avail.

However, I was able to find several clips of the play and through information figure out the scene sequence. So I will talk about one of the specific clips I was able to get a hold of for an in-depth performance analysis.

HULU 'Coriolanus' clip HATE

In this movie, they made the setting the modern world. So in war you have the modern look of war--machine guns, camouflage, tactics. In this clip,  you have the two generals- hated rivals- have a one-on-one fight. The scene gets introduced with Coriolanus telling Tullus Aufidius that he will fight none but him because he hates him. Tullus matches his hate and brings the fight down to only knives. They show their equality and respect for one another by handing their machine guns to their men and going into a hand-to-hand combat with only knives and their skills. Their men stand about in a circle overseeing the fight, but respecting the pact between their generals. I do not imagine this style of war happens very often in the modern day; however, it is a needed addition to portray the Shakespearian play. It escalates these men's hate for one another, while also showing their respect for one another. 

I liked this scene because we get a very raw sense of these two men. It is hard for me to believe that Coriolanus goes to his most hated enemy to join with him in battle against his own country. Not only because of the level of betrayal, but I am amazed that Tullus would even trust him- I would have killed my enemy on the spot. However, this scene sets up 1) the mutual respect between the generals- they are both great warriors and they can see the value in each other as so. This helps set up Coriolanus's ability to go to his greatest enemy and join forces with him. Tullus may hate him, but he knows Coriolanus's value as a warrior and as the general of the enemy- he knows their secrets, strategies and weaknesses. 2) This scene sets up the tension and hatred between these two men. When Coriolanus joins forces with Tullus and his army we know the apparent level of hatred he has for them displayed here. This ripples into a greater audience understanding of the hatred and betrayal Coriolanus feels from his country in order to join with his most hated enemy. 

I am having a hard time finding resources for this Shakespeare play, but I will continue in my search for a copy of this movie and hopefully be able to watch the full version. 

Social Proof- Professors

Last week I determined that I need to move on and e-mail professors for their opinions and methods on teaching Shakespeare.

So I asked several BYU professors (Zach Hutchins, Rick Duerden responded) and one professor at the University of North Texas (Madhuparna Mitra) who all teach Shakepeare classes. Dr. Mitra teaches exclusively English majors while BYU offers a Shakespeare class to either English or non-English majors.

How do you introduce a Shakespeare text? Do you encourage use of cheat sites like Sparknotes? 
    Hutchings: "I provide introductory lectures and handouts;students can use sparknotes if they want"
    Duerden: "I tend to assume that they can follow the plot and characters on their own, so class time is spent on interpretation rather than clarifying what happens in the play. I post plot outlines online along with other handouts. If they turn to Sparknotes, Cliff notes, etc., that's okay with me"
     Mitra: "Depends on the play. I will teach Macbeth by laying out the historical context..."

How do you ensure that the students are reading the original text (not just using Sparknotes)?
    Hutchings: "I require them to write response papers that are grounded in a very specific bit of text (and that follow the ideas in that isloated bit of language throughout the rest of the play). If they can do that without reading the whole text I'd be surprised and impressed."
    Duerden: "I ask directly on exams if they have read and re-read/studied each play. When I used Blackboard, quizzes asked the same for each play. Exams also test for deeper knowledge than such study guides usually offer."
    Mitra: "Tests require the students to analyze specific lines/quotations. This is hard to do if you have not read the original."

Do you bring in media to help in teaching the text (audio plays, films, etc)? 
    Hutchings: "I show film clips as they help to make a point about the play's ideas- not just for entertainment or plot comprehension."
    Duerden: "Yes, at least one clip per class. We try to sample from two to four different performances, as well as lighter stuff like Reduced Shakespeare Company."
    Mitra: "Yes, I post the BBC productions of the plays I teach on Blackboard, and encourage my students to see them, and use clips in class occasionally."

Some various commonalities:
   They all assign reading Shakespeare as homework, some re-read important passages for discussion purposes.
   They all expect the reading to be able to follow along and read the original text without much difficulty.
   They all use videos as an aid to teaching Shakespeare.

I am grateful these professors responded to my e-mail and these responses will help guide me through my research paper.

Digital Media

I am not sure what 'digital media' incorporates besides YouTube videos and movies (which are to come later) so I decided to look at the digital art available.

I don't deal a lot with art, so I wasn't sure where to begin. I started browsing databases through our HBLL website. I was unsuccessful (probably due to my inexperience) at finding a lot of things, but I did come across one AWESOME website called art.com which has 'extensive' (compared to the other ones I found) collections of works surrounding William Shakespeare.

I wanted to try to find art specific to the play Coriolanus because that is the particular play I am looking into. So browsed art.com, amazon.com, and did just a general google image search.

I found a select few paintings that kept popping up as the only ones.

1) Unfortunately I could not find anymore information on this painting other than "A scene from Shakespeare's Coriolanus." I am trying to figure out which scene it could be representing, but I haven't ran into a satisfying answer yet so I will let ya know my opinion later.

2) This I found an amazon.com on sale for about $25. The description is "Pietro da Cortona (Coriolanus before Rome)" framed in a black trim. It is a poster print if you are interested: amazon.com. I like this painting because it is very dynamic- although it is a little busy it provoked a lot of emotion.

3) "George IV as Coriolanus" by George Cruikshank. I really like the faces in this painting. If you get close up you can see that George IV has a halo-like glow surrounding him as if to suggest his divine right to be king. The crowd around him has varied body language and facial expressions, it looks like they were protesting and then something divine happened to make them coward away from him fearfully. The combining of a historical figure into a Shakesperian tragedy brings an element of realism to this photo and connecting Shakespeare to the world.

Now for my favorite one!!

4) "The Interior of the Theatre During a Performance of Shakespeares Coriolanus" by Thomas Rowlandson. I highly suggest going on the website to check this one out (Art.com: Interior of the Theatre) because then you can zoom in to see the detail. I like this one because it shows how Shakespeare was performed in the olden days. It also gives you a general feeling of the immensity of the theaters, showing how many people went to watch Shakespeare and appreciated its entertainment.

Annotated Bibliography

I searched online through my University's library (lib.byu.edu) and found a couple of teaching journals, so I went to the library to check them out because they were *gasp* only in print. I discovered some articles I really liked in a couple journals- one that I had searched and some that were surrounding that journal. As I continued in my research I discovered a direction--technology and teaching at (I think) a University level.

1) An, Yun-Jo, and Charles Reigeluth. "Creating Technology-Enhanced, Learner-Centered Classrooms: K-12 Teachers' Beliefs, Perceptions, Barriers, and Support Needs."Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education 28.2 (Winter 2011-12): 54-62. Print. Online: JDLTE Abstracts 

        This article talks about the current realities of technology in education, and looks forward to what needs to change and be overcome. It really advocates the need of technology in the modern classroom and expresses how best to support this change. 

        I found this journal through browsing the shelves where I had found other journals concerning the same topic- teaching in the modern age. 

2) Clyde, William, and Andrew Delohery. Using Technology in Teaching. New Haven: Yale UP, 2005. Print. Online: Using Technology in the Classroom Book 

        This book goes through the standard methods and then suggests technological alternatives, after including the 'potential pitfalls.' I enjoy the structure of this book because it gives teachers obvious ways to adapt some technological resources that would smoothly fit into their classroom by replacing what they are already.

        I found this book in a general library book search for books incorporating technology and teaching (not to be mis-construed as teaching technology which reminded me to be careful in my specific wording). 

3) Petrides, Lisa Ann. Case Studies on Information Technology in Higher Education: Implications for Policy and Practice. Hershey: Idea Group, 2000. Print. Online: Case Studies Book

        I really like this book because it has real life examples of implementing technology in the classroom. It is also more geared towards a University classroom, rather than K-12. I believe that the implications of technology need in the classroom is as real for professors as it is for high school educators- if not stronger because professors have the internet access and student freedom to use technology easier. This book is a little bit dated (2000) but I feel like the argument is actually more valid now than it was then. The need for technological integration has increased rather than decreased with time. 

        I found this book while looking at the books next to #2. I often find the books around the book I originally found to be more useful than the original. 

I actually stumbled upon the broad topic of technology and social media in the classroom because in the beginning of my search I found articles that talked strongly about using Facebook and Twitter in teaching. I really connected with this because I have had professors use both of these social media pathways in their classroom. 

4) Fletcher, Luke. "Can Facebook Improve Students' Exam Writing?" Modern English Teacher21.1 (Jan 2012): 42-45. Print. Online: MET: Modern English Teacher

        This article is about a teacher- Luke Fletcher- in Europe who used facebook in his classroom. He points out some of the major advantages and disadvantages of using this medium. As well as, describing the specific ways he used facebook with his students. 

        This was actually the first journal I came across and the one I am most excited about. I am thrilled because they are a current journal- this article just appeared in their issue last month- and they incorporate a section specifically for technology in the classroom. 

5) Hart, Juliet E., and Trish Steinbrecher. "OMG! Exploring and Learning from Teachers' Personal and Professional Uses of Facebook." Action in Teacher Education 33.4 (Winter 2011): 320-28. Print. Online: Information on Action in Teacher Education

         This was an extensive article about how facebook is used/ can be used professionally and personally. They included some specific examples (that were quite extensive). I found the general ideas in the article helpful, but I am not sure I liked their example use. 

         I found this journal by looking around on the shelf by the other helpful journals I found. I actually almost didn't go back and look at this one, but I am glad I continued exploring. 

6) Jenner, Stephen. "Using Twitter in Teaching." Modern English Teacher 19.3 (July 2010): 39-42. Print. Online: MET: Modern English Teacher

         This article evaluates Twitter as a teaching tool. It evaluates the short messages/ character capacity of Twitter which explains why twitter and not another social media.  

          I found this article after searching through a few of the older editions of MET. I was browsing the indexes of the last issue for different years. 

After I found quite a few sources that gave me more of a direction for my general paper topic I researched in the direction of a Shakespeare play. I just changed my Shakespeare play focus from Macbeth to Coriolanus Wednesday morning, and to be frank that could easily change next week. However, I found a few criticism sources on Coriolanus to see what I could find and consume concerning this Shakespeare play. (I have not settled on a particular edition or audiobook to assist in me consuming the original text yet). 

7) Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations: Coriolanus. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Print. Online: Critical Interpretations Book (Amazon)

          I have only had the chance to skim this book, but it looks like critics applying Coriolanus's time and day to the 'modern' day. This book is a bit dated, but Shakespeare criticism has value for a longer period of time than other books. I think this will be very useful in helping me connect my research paper topic to a deep textual analysis of a Shakespeare play.  

          I found this play by researching an edition of Coriolanus by Shakespeare. I looked around the different versions and the popular criticism concerning the play is right next to the original texts.   

8) Leggatt, Alexander, and Lois Norem, comps. Coriolanus: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1989. Print. Online: Coriolanus: Annotated Bibliography

          This is a very general bibliography of several topics surrounding the play Coriolanus. It is a bit exhaustive and dated, but I feel like I will be able to pick out a few articles and books when I get a greater focus to my research paper and Shakespeare connection.  

          I found this play by researching the original text of Coriolanus. It was a book I ran into while browsing the nearby books and shelves surrounding the original text and other criticisms.