I have met the reading goals I have set for myself thus far in the course. I have read and briefly studied a play from each of the genres, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Richard II, King Lear, and Hamlet. This has fulfilled the breadth requirement. I have also read through a few sonnets, including Sonnet 116, 32, 24, 120. I have read an article comparing the language and dialog of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream written by Ian Johnston. As I advance in my learning plan to study in greater depth specific works of Shakespeare, I plan to read more secondary works and other resources.
I have enjoyed reading through the different genres of Shakespeare’s works. I think what has impacted me most is from one of my first blog posts where I question why Shakespeare has endured so long, and why is he and his works so popular and still studied today. In later posts I refer to this question and have come to believe that it is because of the great emotion that he puts into his characters. This emotion is easily relatable as a reader, and thus these personal, emotional themes that Shakespeare invokes is what has allowed him to be studied throughout the ages.
I don’t think I’ve done anything really great so far. Most of my posts have been pretty minimal. One thing that I really want to improve on is looking for outside sources to include in my posts. I think that by referencing articles and secondary sources I will enhance the quality of my posts and it will be more beneficial to my peers and me.
Max has been a great help, in that he has shared with me in class some things that he is doing on his blog, and on his comments that he makes on other’s blogs. This has helped me have a more focused idea of what to blog about. Jennifer Prusse also has made some good comments on my blog, which helped me to go deeper than my original post did.
