Final term Paper 12/7/08

Emily Knippel
December 6, 2008
English 327: Shakespeare Tragedies
Dr. Gleason
Final Term Paper: Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s most well-known play of his career and arguably one of his best. It has been performed for over 400 hundred years and continues to wow audiences today. Although sometimes criticized for being overused within classrooms, teachers continue to teach Romeo and Juliet in classrooms due to its deep, passionate plot and emotional rollercoaster of young love, family feuds, and death. Shakespeare himself is a very talented writer, however in many cases; his language usage can confuse those attempting to read and / or act out his masterpieces and as a result, shy away. With that said, Romeo and Juliet contains a bit of drama, tragedy, and comedy helping students, actors, and audiences understand Shakespeare’s unique talents in one beautiful performance.
Baz Luhrmann, a popular director of cinematic film, create a modernized Romeo and Juliet in 1996 in attempt to attract younger audiences with multiple gun fights and actions scenes as well as a beautiful love story. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, Luhrmann was able to lure audiences into what was seemingly a typical, everyday action packed drama, while still keeping the beauty of Shakespeare’s masterpiece. As a student and future teacher, I found Luhrmann’s rendition of Romeo and Juliet to be quite entertaining and educational. Giving students like me the opportunity to view Shakespeare’s once labeled boring play into a new, modern piece of entertainment has really helped us to not only understand Shakespeare better, but also to respect and relate to the masterpiece on another level.
Because my past semester’s Shakespeare: Tragedies class responsibilities including practicing and performing the role of Juliet in an abridged version of Shakespeare’s most well known play, I knew that research and repetition were necessary for me to really “nail” my role. Luhrmann’s 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet was the most recent and well known of all the cinematic performances and my choice for research.
Danes performance as Juliet was not only unique, but intriguing. I as well as other viewers could not seem to take our eyes and ears off of Danes as she portrayed an innocent, interesting, but mysterious Juliet. This is a very risky, artistic decision that most actors would not attempt, however, in light of the modernized setting and plot, Danes risky decision could not have been more appropriate. Specifically discussing the balcony scene where Juliet and her love, Romeo, romantically converse of their current love and distant, but clear future plans together. I felt that Danes was able to take each line in a different light. Every emotion seemed to be brought in while acting this scene and I could not help but be entertained.
Within the beginning of this scene, Danes enters her outdoor patio and pool area to look and the stars and ponder her true, but forbidden love. Looking at the stars, picturing her future, Danes opens her portion of the scene with one of the most famous statements in Shakespeare’s masterpiece, “Oh Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (II.2.33-36). Wearing a simple white dress, hair partially pinned back, and minimal makeup, Danes looks puzzled, realizing that she is in love with a Montague, a sworn enemy of Juliet’s family, the Capulet’s. She, wise beyond her age, is talking to herself, looking up at the moon wondering why her family could hate such a man. She does not understand why the name Montague automatically means enemy when in fact, Romeo is guilty by association. Walking slowly towards the pool, Danes continues.
“’Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name; And for thy name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself” (II.2.38-49).
Kneeling at the pool, with a big smile on her face, she realizes that what she wants is Romeo. I found the beginning of the scene to be very juvenile. Danes is attempting to act younger than she is in real life due to Juliet’s written age of twelve. As is, Danes chose a very “by the book” action of pacing while thinking. In many films, we see actresses of preteen to teenage age, pacing back forward in their bedroom as they talk to themselves about whatever is currently making them upset and / or angry. In Danes case, she is trying to portray a twelve-year-old girl whom is in love with a seventeen-year-old boy and does not know how to handle it. Their families are known enemies and therefore Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is strictly forbidden. With that said Danes acting is very believable as a modern Juliet and truly creates a very realistic picture of what modern Juliet would act and be like.
Later within this scene, Juliet and Romeo end up falling into the pool due to Romeo startling Juliet. While traveling around the pool arm in arm, kissing sporadically, Juliet blatantly asks Romeo to explain himself stating, “…Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say 'Ay,' and I will take thy word: yet if thou swear'st, thou mayst prove false; at lovers' perjuries then say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo, if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully…” (II.2.85-106)
Within many Danes films, specifically Romeo and Juliet have noticed that Danes uses her eyes rather than her body to project an emotion. Within the pool section of this scene, one can notice that Danes uses her eyes more than her body to tell what she is feeling. The character of Juliet comes from a rather rich, proper family. Because the women of a house are considered a lesser species, one could say that an emotional outburst with ones body and hands would be utterly unacceptable. Women, specifically Juliet are seen as timid, quiet women with little to no opinion; quite similar to a robot. Although a bit of a stretch, I feel that although Juliet is playing modernized woman, she is still rather timid.
In contrast however, as the pool section continues, Danes become more affectionate towards Romeo. Excessively showing passionate kisses, Danes becomes more flirtatious and overly emotional. This could be interpreted as a girl maturing into an adult woman, acting out in a way that adult people would towards their significant others. With that said, I do not believe that Shakespeare had written this scene as a make out session. I will give Danes credit for her facial expressions. They do profess a sense of nervousness and perplexity throughout the entire scene.
In addition, when exiting the pool, Danes reaction to Romeo after he bluntly asked if she would actually leave him so unsatisfied (II.2.125), Danes turned rather apprehensively as though she was worried that her true love was only looking for a physical act. Danes quickly replies, asking “What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?” (II.2.126) Luckily his response was an insinuation that he was looking for confirmation of their future plans. Leaping into the pool at Romeo, Danes completes the scene by showing one last expression of love and stating “But to be frank, and give it thee again. And yet I wish but for the thing I have: my bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite…dear love, adieu! Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true. Stay but a little, I will come again” (II.2.131-138).
In general, the ending of the scene well acted, but not what one would expect out of Juliet. Danes expression of the words was beautiful as well as well acted and appropriate for Lurhmann’s vision. However, although we all have said “Shakespeare is dead”, I do believe that we as a class and audience can read his play and envision an idea of what Shakespeare would have expected out of his play. Lurhmann’s rendition is not traditional or boring. Shakespeare obviously wrote a play in order to entertain audiences and as a result, Lurhmann’s film and specifically Danes acting is unique and acceptable.
Sadly though, I must point out that I do not believe that Danes took Shakespeare under consideration when playing the role of one of his greatest characters of all time. Although it does seem that she understood her role as a twelve-year-old girl who has fallen in love with a forbidden man, some of her actions within the pool section of the “balcony” scene, although modernized, do not express a timid, twelve-year-old girl that has just recently fallen in love for the first time. In addition, Danes speaks many of Shakespeare’s great lines beautifully, however, I as most people, are used to a stage version of the play. Danes does not seem to have grasped that the words she is expressing were once and are still being performed in theatres throughout the world. There is a monumental difference between acting in a film and acting out a play. In the theatre, each night is a new film. Actors must learn to use the emotions given by the other actors on stage and act accordingly. Within this entire “balcony” scene, I felt that although Danes is a good actress and played her part well, as far as the role of Juliet is concerned, something was missing.
When acting in a Shakespeare play, one must realize the importance of every line. We as actors are presenting a masterpiece to audiences and it is our duty to make our writer and director proud.
On Thursday November 20th, 2008, I along with four other people presented an abridged version of Romeo and Juliet, choosing the main scenes of Shakespeare’s great work. One of the most memorable scenes of the play and most successful scenes within our performance was the balcony scene of Act II. Acted out between myself as Juliet and Kathryn Foley as Romeo, we attempted to wow our audience. Although we may not have wowed them, we definitely entertained.
Because many of my play members as well as myself are English majors, we decided to act out the balcony scene using traditional measures including an outdoor setting, a balcony with Juliet looking yonder, and Romeo, patiently waiting below the balcony waiting for his (or her) love to speak. Due to a time crunch, both Foley and I cut sections of our lines, however, in general, the line cut did not take away from the scene in any way nor did anyone comment on any confusion or a lack of line flow. I thought that the scene was rather successful and as a result was very proud of both Foley and myself.
As previously discussed, when I was assigned the role of Juliet, I knew that I had my work cut out for me. As Juliet, I realized that I must rehearse as much as possible as well as researching different actress’s portrayals of the role in order to get a few different ideas. Although I did research Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, specifically Olivia Hussey’s performance as Juliet, I primarily concentrated on Claire Danes performance within Lurhmann’s modernized version of the Shakespeare classic. Danes performance was easier to relate to since she was attempting to create a modern-day Juliet as well as the obvious fact that we as a class watched, discussed, and analyzed this particular film in depth. In general, I found Danes performance to be very helpful however, because my play group decided to keep most of the original text and perform a traditional version of Romeo and Juliet, our performances ended up being very different.
We opened the balcony scene with Juliet standing on her balcony looking out at the world, gazing at the stars, wondering what to do about her current situation with Romeo. Pondering her next move, Juliet speaks one her most famous line, “Oh Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (II.2.33-36).
Thinking back on Danes performance, I did use many of the same facial expressions and confused / worried tone of voice while acting. It is very evident that Danes’ facial expressions are what make her the actor that she is today. Specifically acting as Juliet, she used her environmental surroundings to helping tune the audience into her thought process and emotions. I took this under consideration when performing on stage and as a result, I do believe that using my surroundings as well as changing my tone of voice and facial expressions helped make the scene more realistic.
Later in the scene, Juliet expressed her concerns that Romeo may in fact not reciprocate the feelings Juliet has for Romeo. Cutting down this particular section due to its length and our groups’ time restraint, I stated “…Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say 'Ay,' and I will take thy word: yet if thou swear'st, thou mayst prove false; at lovers' perjuries then say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo, if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully…” (II.2.85-106)
As Danes performs this scene with worry and stress attached to her vocal tone, I mimic her with the same tone. Although I did attempt to mimic facial expressions, obviously on stage, above on a balcony, the audience cannot see my face as well Danes in the film. Therefore, I had to adapt and rely solely on my voice in order to try and express my feelings and emotions towards Romeo. Sadly in the section of the film, Romeo and Juliet are basically one person, attached hand in hand in a pool as well as vocally enhanced by microphones. I on the other hand was not given a microphone nor was I in close enough range to Foley and the audience to whisper. Because of this, I needed to somehow act as though I was whispering to avoid drawing attention to myself by other people within the house. All I could do was lean over the balcony and quietly yell my lines to Romeo (Foley) to insinuate that I was whispering while still allowing the audience to hear me.
As one can notice, Danes and I had many similarities in our performances. My excessive research helped me to understand the different acting tactics that Danes used as well as different ways to adapt on stage as opposed to in a film. I learned that although facial expressions are crucial to any good scene, vocal tone and body presence are the most important aspects of a successful performance. When attempting to express certain emotions, a person’s tone of voice can either confirm or reject the initial mood. For example, when acting out the last line of the scene, I had to express the emotions of happiness that Romeo does return my love, while still expressing nervousness because I hear my nurse from within the house. Stating “But to be frank, and give it thee again. And yet I wish but for the thing I have: my bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite. I hear some noise within; dear love, adieu! Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true. Stay but a little, I will come again” (II.2.131-138), I tried to keep a nervous tone to my voice while still acting happy. Danes does an excellent job of taking multiple emotions and combining them when expressing one or two sentences. She seems to really nail scenes when combining these emotions and as a result I tried very hard to mimic this when completing this scene. Although we did have different settings and time limits, both Danes and my scene ended successfully.
Because film and theatre are very different due to props, settings, stage space, and time, Danes and I did have a lot of differences when acting the same scene. On stage, I was in a balcony, looking down on Foley expressing my words and emotions as quietly as possible, but loud enough that the audience was still able to articulate what I was trying to profess. Danes on the other hand was next to Romeo. She had microphones, unlimited time, more props to use, and endless takes in order to get the scene exactly how she, the other actors, and Luhrmann wanted. Because I only had one shot to get the scene right as well as minimal props and another actor’s performance to worry about and therefore took a safer root when performing.
Specifically discussing props, Danes use of the pool created a more sexual expression of love than I did when verbally expressing my love from a safe distance on the balcony. This did change the mood of the scene in general. I wanted to portray Juliet as an innocent girl in love with a man solely based on emotion. Luhrmann and Danes seemed to want to portray Juliet as a sexual person, attracted to Romeo on a more physical level as well as an emotional level.
Another prop used was the outdoors. Using the sky and actual natural environment created a different, more whimsical setting than our intimate stage. The visuals provided by the sky as well as Danes constant use of the sky as her focal point brought depth to her inner emotions and verbal pondering. I on the other hand had to adapt without the use of an actual sky which obviously makes the action of looking out at the stars less realistic. Anyone who is ever on stage knows that actors and their audiences must use their imagination when acting or viewing a play. With the exception of a few theatres such as the Globe theatre, most stages are completely surrounded by walls and a ceiling. The Schroeder Auditorium at Cardinal Stritch University is no exception to this and as a result, every person attending our performance as well as the actors had to make sacrifices.
Over this past semester, I have learned a great deal about William Shakespeare and his tragedies. Specifically centering on Romeo and Juliet, I realized that although Shakespeare may have had an idea of how he wanted his play to be performed, he never really could have expected that a masterpiece such as Romeo and Juliet would be interpreted and acted in one specific way. The words written on a page are only the beginning. Whether it is performed on a stage or behind a camera, a play must be acted in front of an audience in order for it to be a success.
Danes performance has taught me that although Juliet does have a written description of how she could be portrayed, that does not automatically mean that she should be portrayed that way. Danes performance was memorable. She successfully expressed most lines written by Shakespeare, while still taking a unique risk, stepping out of the box.
Although I may have attempting to portray Juliet in a more traditional light, I did use many of Danes physical expressions such as facial expression, vocal tone, and body language when acting on stage. It helped a great deal to research different actors and their individual portrayals of Juliet, however, I learned rather quickly that no two Juliet’s will be the same, yet all are beautiful. Shakespeare created a wonderful play that could never be acted in one specific way. If he had expected that all actors would follow in his “tunneled” vision of what the play of Romeo and Juliet should be or worse, we as actors believe that Shakespeare was so dense to insinuate that a play should be professed one way or no way at all, than Romeo and Juliet would not be the masterpiece that we know and love today. My classmates as a whole proved this true when acting out their individual Shakespeare plays in our performance. Each group did an excellent job of interpreting Shakespeare’s works without every really acting in a traditional fashion. We all performed in unique ways, creating individualized renditions of great Shakespeare tragedies, something that I know Shakespeare would have appreciated.

Works Cited
1. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Peter Holland. New York: Penguin, 2000.
2. William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. 1996. DVD. 20th Century Fox, 2002.

Final Blog- Our performance and the my final thoughts on Macbeth

Good morning,

Last night was a ton of fun, stressful yes, but all in all, I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. I noticed that a few people were taping the performance and I am actually very interested to see how it looks. I know that our final term paper is a comparison of our performance to our film actors performance and I think that a visual may help to provide a bit more detail than if we simple wrote from memory. I am excited to hear more of the reactions from my fellow classmates on Monday!

Honestly, I do not really know what to say in reference to Macbeth. Although the witches played a big part in at least planting the idea of King into Macbeth's head, it was indeed Lady Macbeth's brown-nosing remarks along with many negative cunning remarks that pushed Macbeth over the edge to murder his King and take over the throne. After killing King Duncan, Macbeth becomes very upset and begins to lose his sanity. After numerous betrayals and murders, Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk and eventually joins Macbeth in his insanity. In the end, it is Macbeth's head held in Macduff's fist that completes the play.

After having read the play a second time, I can now understand that the witches foreshadowed the entire play within the first few scenes. Although their contradictory language does leave some room for interpretation. All in all, I appreciated this play more in the class, reviewing the language than I did in my Theatre class where the acting itself was analyzed. One needs a bit of both to truly understand and appreciate one of Shakespeare's great works. Macbeth is no exception.

MacBeth and Throne of Blood 11/13/08

Good morning,

Yesterday's class we discussed the three witches in Macbeth and the meaning behind the opening scenes of Shakespeare's play. I must reiterate that although I do see the point of many of my fellow classmates that the three witches are simply telling the future, I feel that those three witches are indeed evil and although they can see the future, their contradictory statements and odd word usage seemed to be deliberately professed in a way that confused the opposite party. Lady Macbeth also played a very big role in Macbeth's fate. She has always been power-hungry and truly wanted to be Queen. As Macbeth's wife, she has a lot of sway with her husband and has different, cunning ways of getting what she wants. Using the witches statements as support only made Lady Macbeth's position stronger. With that said, without the witches help, I do not believe that Lady Macbeth alone could have convince Macbeth to murder many different people including the King in order to gain power.

Each film based on Shakespeare plays (specifically Macbeth) has a different way of portraying each character. The way one expresses each character and their personality can shape the entire feel of the performance. With that said, in the case of Throne of Blood, I do believe that the characters, specifically Lady Macbeth did an excellent of portraying an evil, cunning woman who knows exactly what she wants from her husband and how to get it. She had Macbeth in the palm of her hand every step of the way. I did appreciate this version and could see myself using a unconventional version of a Shakespeare play such as Thrown of Blood or Ran in my future classroom.

King Lear- final thoughts 11/6/08

Good afternoon,

Yesterday's class was rather educational. I was very surprised by the number of students who agreed with me that King Lear is not Shakespeare's best play. Although in may look better on stage, I feel that Titus or Hamlet would bring a better source of action and Othello's soap opera plot line is more powerful that Lear's ego driven self and lack of intelligence to understand his family and their lack of leadership. Lear does attempt to prevail in the end, but sadly both he and his daughter die before a true reconciliation could be made. I found King Lear to be one of the more easier reads from his long list of tragedies due to the language. The plot itself is complex enough to please an audience, however, I would be interested to see King Lear in film or stage version. Although Ran was well-made and professed the inner plot lines of Shakespeare's work, a Western / European version may have a different impact on us as students and viewers.

The next play that we are scheduled to begin is Macbeth. I have never been a fan of Macbeth since last year when I read and watch the film version in David Oswald's theatre class. I have a feeling that I will appreciate this classes analysis a bit more due to the literature emphasis rather that Ian McKellen and Judy Dench's performances. For those who have never read this interesting Shakespeare tragedy before, I assume that they will have a lot to say. I have always felt that this is different than other Shakespeare plays. Now, having read Hamlet, I can easily compare the two, stating that Macbeth is taking Hamlet one step further.

King Lear, Ran, and Romeo and Juliet 10/30/

Good morning,

Due to classes cancellation Wednesday, I decided that the best blog topic for this week could be on the rehearsal Monday as well as my interest in King Lear.

As far as Romeo and Juliet are concerned, I am very interested to see how the performance on Movember 20th pans out. We are performing an abridged version containing many, many lines. I am a bit nervous about the line memorization in this short time, however, it seems like are group is coming together quite well. Our Genesian helpers gave great pointers and seem to be very willing to help. This whole process has been rather stressful and I can only imagine what will occur in the next few weeks.

On to next class period. I have never read or seen a performance of King Lear. It has been argued that King Lear is one of Shakespeare's greatest works. It is referenced in other Shakespearian films including Shakespeare in Love and should be quite a challenge in class. I am definitely looking forward to beginning this tragedy. With that said, I am very interested, yet nervous to watch Ran. A Japanese redition of Shakespeare, it is based on a few different Japanese legends as well as Shakespeare's King Lear.

Wikapedia.com states that "according to Stephen Prince, Ran is 'a relentless chronicle of base lust for power, betrayal of the father by his sons, and pervasive wars and murders that destroy all the main characters'. " This plot lines sound utterly intriguing and mildly entertaining. I am excited to enter class on Monday and see everyones reaction to this film.

Othello: Film vs. Play and our individual analyses 10/23/08

Good morning,

No class on Wednesday has left me with a few loose ends with Othello. I feel that the physical characteristics of the actors in Parker's film is very similar to my original vision for the characters. However, their acting choices are a bit less accurate. When watching the film, specifically in the beginning, it seems as though Barbantio is fearful of his daughter and her unorthodox actions whereas, I imagined him to be a bit more angry as I read Shakespeare's script. Another example of an odd acting choice is that within the film, after Othello and Desdemona wed, Othello seems more happy and in love that I imagined from reading the text. With that said, I do believe that all of these acting choices are a matter of stage direction done by the Director.

Finishing the play, I will be interested to compare the film version to Shakespeare's written word. Each contain their own interpretation and it is our job as the viewer / reader to analyze their interpretations. With that said, I do not feel our class will come to one, agreed consensus on what Shakespeare may have wanted. As Carmen has mentioned, Shakespeare is dead. It is our jobs as readers to take past experience and analyze accordingly. As we experienced with Romeo and Juliet, Titus, and Hamlet, we as a class all see a different form of these tragedies. This is what makes Shakespeare great.

Othello in class October 15, 2008

Good afternoon,

Today's class was rather interesting. I always knew that Othello would produce controversial conversations of race, gender, and power, however, I never anticipated that current politics would become one of today's main topics! Because of the heated debate about Iago, Othello and their hatred, I thought that it would be most appropriate to continue to discuss my thoughts on how Shakespeare may have wanted this piece to be interpreted.

Although Shakespeare is indeed dead and has been for many years, I feel that it is our duty as students and readers of Shakespeare's masterpieces to give our own personal interpretations of his works and compare. From what I have read in this class and previous classes as well as viewed and played in a production of Othello, I can honestly say that Shakespeare wrote this tragedy to illustrate his utter disgust with his current world, whether politics and / or the public itself. He seemed to want to show how one small inkling of hatred can start of war.

In relation to the subject of racism, I am not sure how much racism occurred in Shakespeare's time, however, generally speaking, Shakespeare's time had many different categories of class. This could be our modern day battle with race. Shakespeare adds many different forms of discriminatory language that helps to support his disgust with his world as well as deepening the plot of his tragedy. I do not believe that his wording and racial innuendo is out of line nor inappropriate, but rather appropriate for this play. As pointed out in class, ALL OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS ARE OVER THE TOP. The language and extreme acts of hatred towards Othello and other characters is no more inappropriate than Romeo and Juliet killing themselves because the could not be together, Titus killing his offspring because they were "out of line", or even Aaron's personal goal in life to be evil.

I am very interested to complete the Parker film and compare it to our modern day Othello, "O". I have been searching for a good intertextual connection from the cinematic world and I think Josh Hartnett and Julie Stiles will help us all understand Shakespeare and his work better.

Shakespeare Blog Reflection Paper, posted 10/13/08

The stages of reading development are an interesting aspect of everyday learning. We as students and teachers use these stages to better our analytical minds and our written thoughts such as blogs. With that said, I do not think that we should look at reading development through stages, but rather as benchmarks. Many classmates have noted that these stages are a spectrum. However, I would rather label each stage as a benchmark, using the information from the previous stages to improve upon the current benchmark. After reviewing each of my blogs from the past few weeks, I have noticed a lot of growth. Although I started as a stage one / two, I do believe that I have improved my understanding of the material learned as well as how to verbally profess opinions in an analytical fashion. Due to the improvement in my blogs and my successful completion of benchmarks one and two, I have currently labeled my self as a stage two / three of the reading development levels.
Before this semester began, Shakespearian tragedies we an exciting part of my educational history. With that said, I never truly had the chance to analyze and / or discuss these literary masterpieces to the length and depth that they deserved. As a result, my reading development was between stage one and stage two. I was able to compare and contrast Shakespeare’s works to other literary works, cinema, and other classmates points-of-view; however, I unfortunately was not at a stage where the world was ever considered. My entries contain many different example of “I-centered” material as well as some descriptive language.
One specific entry that describes this stage is my first blog, published in week one of class. Describing John Madden’s film, Shakespeare in Love, I simply give my personal opinion of the film, stating “…I simply loved this movie because it showed who Shakespeare really was, giving us as viewers a chance to see him as a real human being with all the human characteristics of love, imperfection, and utter reality” (Blog Entry #1, 8/27/08). Tying in stage two, I later discuss how as a future English Teacher, a film of this magnitude could be a great teaching tool due to its topics of race, gender, politics, economy, and love, issues that we deal with in everyday life (Blog #1, 8/24/08). Although this could be a blog entry helpful to some, most would find this publication to be rather boring and “text book”. It does not have a lot of emotion, nor does in contain outside sources that could be used as an intertextual connection or a compare / contrast.
As unfortunate it is to admit, I notice that my second week’s blog was very similar to week one. I do not believe that I grew in my stages of reading development. Because we had not read anything yet in class, I based my entire entry on Luhrmann’s classic, Romeo and Juliet. Very similar in descriptive language and “I-centered” comments, I was able to connect this film to my future classroom, but not fully to any other outside sources or to the world. In my week two blog, I was able to take the opportunity to point out my opinions on the acting, stating “there were a few scenes containing "overacting" such as Juliet and Friar's scene after Romeo's banishment or Romeo's intensity before killing Tybalt after Mercutio's stabbing. Their facial expressions of eye popping, blood red faces, and rolling of intense tears along with wailing body motions, and vocal screams, adds a bit too much drama for one scene” (Blog Entry #2, 9/3/08). I decided to state this opinion because in class, I had a conflicting opinion with another student in class, but was unable to give my opinion on this subject because of time-restraint. Interestingly enough, my classmate believed that the acting was perfect and appropriate. Although I deemed it appropriate as well, I felt that it was a bit over the top, but perfect for a 14-16 year old audience.
As the week’s continued, I found myself using my blog as a way to state an opinion that I may have not professed during class time. With more class discussion and reading under my belt, I noticed that my blogs seemed to transition from stage one / stage two to a solid stage two. By week four, I was able to take what we had accomplished in class, as well as the literature read for the particular class and compare. Specifically in week four, we discussed the difference between camp, parody, and pastiche. Commenting on Titus Andronicus as a film and Shakespearian tragedy, “The movie itself is very "camp" as I pointed out in class due to its very serious plot line and quick scene changes. However, after reading Shakespeare's play itself, I found the piece to be rather Pastiche (with thin lines of Parody weaved within)” (Blog Entry #4, 9/17/08). Continuing, I was able to compare the film and literary piece to the band, Journey, and their music video. “Very similar to a Journey music video or even Luhrmann's rendition of Romeo and Juliet, the plot itself is meant to be a tribute / celebration of the work itself. However, in attempt to create a pastiche performance, I believe some of the overacting and scenery / props create a bit of a spoof within the piece” (Blog Entry #4, 9/17/08).
Week four seems to be a great stepping-stone. I am more acquainted with blogging as well as understanding the importance of using outside sources and class discussions to support my theories. This is one of the main aspects of stage two as well as the connecting link to stage three, a stage that I have not reached in my other classes. Students as well as I must learn to use those connecting links between stages to help make are blogs better and more developed. The more details and outside sources presented, the better analysis given.
Continuing reviewing my blogs, I noticed that between week five and week six, my blogs presented more information and detail that was not provided earlier in the semester. As a result, it seems that I have grown in my blogging, improving my writing, analysis, and discussion topics, currently placing my reading development in between stages two and three. I have not yet reached the entire third stage, however, I have shown signs / presented certain aspects of stage three.
One example of my transition is within week five’s blog. I discuss the topic of opinions and how personal experiences and past history can shape a person’s analysis of a play, book, or film. During class, a discussion came up about the character of Aaron in Titus Andronicus. This created a heated discussion on whether he should or should not be sympathized with and why. Because of this lengthy debate, I decided that my blog should reflect the different opinions of my classmates as well as scenes within the story that support or go against those specific comments. “…In the hanging scene, the movie provides a lot more emotion and depth than the literature itself, giving Aaron more dignity and ownership than Shakespeare had originally bestowed upon the character” (Blog #5, 9/24/08). Continuing, I point out how a movie can also change a person’s opinion due to visual stimulation. “…The actors and directors [have] more independence to present their play as the wish” (Blog #5, 9/24/08). It is utterly amazing how a film can change one person’s opinion instantly, while another person is not affected. As a result, I felt a comparison between the two sides was the best course of action when publicizing my blog.
A good blog entry also contains intertexual connections that help to support or reject a specific statement or opinion. This is one of the main branches of stage two / stage three, and a very dominant part of the conclusion to my fifth blog. I discussed my opinions of the movie, Titus Andronicus as well as how it could be portrayed better.
“[Titus Andronicus] is a bit over the top at times (as many Shakespearean movies are) as well as drawn out in a few scenes, specifically the ending…most of these performances are modernized for their audience and as a result, can be a bit pop cultured. Consequently, I wish that there was another rendition of the Titus in film version to compare it to” (Blog #5, 9/24/08). To support my statement, I chose to bring up an intertectual connection of a film our class reviewed earlier in the semester, Romeo and Juliet. “Romeo and Juliet is one of the Shakespeare Tragedies that does have two versions and can provide a good visual comparison” (Blog #5, 9/24/08). Bringing in an outside source helped strengthen my opinionated statement. Without an intertextual connection, I do not believe that a statement as bold as mine would be valid. Support is needed when stating any opinion and as a result, this use of an outside source help improve my reading development t from a solid stage two to a middle stage between stage two and three.
Although I am currently in between stages, my goal is to improve my reading development from a stage two / three to a solid stage three, adding non traditional outside sources such as political, psychological, religious, or even scientific support from the world. Text-World is a difficult stage to master because it forces us as readers to think “outside the box” when analyzing, writing, or studying material of written or visual form. It truly is a different way of thinking that needs to be conditioned into our brains. Neither stage one nor stage two of the reading development levels are instilled in us. As readers, we had to learn and condition ourselves to think in a different way than usual; the third stage is no different. However, we must ease into stage three using baby steps. To conquer these steps, I have come up with a few strategies on how to accomplish and master stage three. My first strategy in mastering stage three is to continue reviewing previous blogs, breaking each blog apart, and rewriting them using the different sources, thinking outside the box. In addition to reviewing my previous blogs, I will also review my classmates’ previous blogs. Depending on what level of reading development each blog is, I can review their material and learn what more I can do to make my blogs better and more credible. The final strategy that I will use to improve my reading development in not only my Shakespeare class, but also all other classes is to simply read more. The more I read and the broader my spectrum of reading material is, the better informed I will be and consequently, the better my blogs will be. In addition, as a future teacher, reading is my number one resource for educating my students. If I do not read, how can I as an English teacher tell my students to read? I must practice what I preach. The more I read, the better teacher I will be.
The stages of reading development are benchmarks to a better student, teacher, and person. Although many classmates feel reading development should not be a stage, but rather a spectrum, I feel that we must master one stage before moving on to the next stage. However, with any benchmark, one must take the information previously learned and use in within the next stages of learning. This is the same for reading development. I have mastered stages one and two, however, I will never master stage three if I do not take the information learned from my previous benchmarks, and use it to better my stage three blogs. If I take a few points from each stage as well as completing the strategies listed above, than stage three will not be as impossible / untouchable as originally thought.

My lack of understanding with Hamlet 10/1/08

Good afternoon,

Today in class, I was very interested in the broad comments made by my classmates. I feel as though Hamlet is a bit over my head at the moment. Most of my classmates have studied this literary work before and sadly, I was not given the opportunity. Zeffirelli's Hamlet has helped make sense of some of the confusing scenes by showing me an interesting visual. I am also very interested to complete Acts II and III this evening and will compare Mel Gibson's portrayal of Hamlet to Ethan Hawk's version this weekend. I feel that if I jump right into Hamlet, studying and researching it from all angles, than I may get a better interpretation / understanding of Shakespeare's masterpiece.

Referring back to class today, I noticed how every classmate had a different interpretation of Hamlet's insanity. I agree with Alexa that his insanity is solely based on emotion. He is emotion driven and as a result, his educated mind seems to over think most of his actions and thoughts. He reason's with himself causing a schizophrenic type personality, which may be one reason Mel Gibson has chosen to play Hamlet as an overzealous (overacted) male. I cannot wait to finish and research the most famous scene in all of Hamlet, Act 3, "to be or not to be..." I feel that after we all complete Act 3, our class will have more concrete arguments to profess.

Conclusion of Titus 9/24

Today in class helped me to realize how one book or play in this case, can provoke endless opinions, thoughts, and class discussions. Although I and many people do not sympathize with Aaron, a few classmates had very valid reasons as to why they actually sympathize with Aaron and his character within the movie. I wish we could have dug a bit deeper into the text and compare those students opinions. As discussed, in the hanging scene, the movie provides a lot more emotion and depth than the literature itself, giving Aaron more dignity and ownership than Shakespeare had originally bestowed upon the character.
Shakespeare's tragedies are surprisingly less detailed than than the cinema presentations. This obviously gives the actors and directors more independence to present their play as the wish. However, in the case of Titus, I think it should have been presented closer to the text. It is a bit over the top at times (as many Shakespearean movies are) as well as drawn out in a few scenes, specifically the ending. As I said in class, most of these performances are modernized for their audience and as a result, can be a bit pop cultured. Consequently, I wish that there was another rendition of the Titus in film version to compare it to. Romeo and Juliet is one of the Shakespeare Tragedies that does have two versions and can provide a good visual comparison. All in all, I did like Titus and am very interested to see how our classmates portray these interesting characters.

Play Day #1 and Titus Andronicus at first glance 9/17/08

Reflecting on yesterday's class, I found our group work to be very productive and interesting. As the Romeo and Juliet group, we have decided to make the play from a females point of view, since we are all indeed women. I am playing Juliet, Kathryn is playing Romeo, and Sarah and Angela are handling all other male roles within the play (changing the Friar to a nun, and Capulet into Lady Capulet). It should be an interesting performance with many interesting acting choices, scene blocking, and dialogue changes. All in all, I am very excited to begin practicing.
Today's class on the other hand was rather entertaining and unique. I am very interested to see how Titus is handled within class since today's discussion illustrated many different opinions on how Shakespeare wanted his play to be understood and professed. The movie itself is very "camp" as I pointed out in class due to its very serious plot line and quick scene changes. However, after reading Shakespeare's play itself, I found the piece to be rather Pastiche (with thin lines of Parody weaved within). Very similar to a Journey music video or even Luhrmann's rendition of Romeo and Juliet, the plot itself is meant to be a tribute / celebration of the work itself. However, in attempt to create a Pastiche performance, I believe some of the overacting and scenery / props create a bit of a spoof within the piece. In general, I am learning a great deal about Shakespeare and gathering many great ideas on how I will teach Shakespeare in my English classes. I am very interested to see how Monday's class will pan out after more classmates watch the movie and read more in depth into Titus Andronicus.

Acting out Romeo and Juliet 9/10/08 @8:40pm

Today's class was a fun and entertaining experience. I loved how we as a class were able to choose scenes from one of Shakespeare's great works, Romeo and Juliet, and actually act them out in front of a live audience. As individual groups, blocking, casting roles, practicing, and performing the specific scenes was a lot more stressful than one would imagine. Because my group consisted of six different people, it was hard to try and find one scene that would allow six parts. To conquer this dilemma, my group combines scenes 1 and 2 of Act 4. Ironically, many people seemed to have the same difficulties and ended up choosing the same scenes. Some classmates seemed to stress over the similar scene choices, however, I found it to be more helpful and entertaining than if everyone chose different scenes. We as a class were able to see how one scene can be portrayed / understood differently simply by watching the actors individual acting choices on stage. I as Juliet played the 12-year-old as a feisty girl looking for a way out, others chose to play her as more of a damsel in distress, looking for assistance. This exercise was a great preview into the unique acting choices that will be professed in our future productions of Shakespeare at his best!

Second blog on the film, Romeo and Juliet, submitted 9/3/08 @ 2:40pm

The dramatic cinema portrayal of the classic Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, is a rather youthful rendition of Shakespeare at his best. Starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, these two actors attempt to recreate their famous characters while still adding personal characteristics to each individual role. When reviewing the scenes last night as well as in class this morning, I was able to get a better understanding of the scenes themselves as well as the characters' acting choices including facial expression, body language, and voice tone. In general, Danes and DiCaprio handled their roles very well. However, there were a few scenes containing "overacting" such as Juliet and Friar's scene after Romeo's banishment or Romeo's intensity before killing Tybalt after Mercutio's stabbing. Their facial expressions of eye popping, blood red faces, and rolling of intense tears along with wailing body motions, and vocal screams, adds a bit too much drama for one scene. With that said, I love this rendition. It is teenage-centered helping students such as a 14-15 year old Freshman appreciate the works of Shakespeare in a different, less "stiff" light.

Shakespeare in Love- August 27, 2008 @ 5:00pm

John Madden's Shakespeare in Love starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes is a beautiful abstract display of Romeo and Juliet. It takes the life of young playwright William Shakespeare and illustrates the mental and physical process he must go through when creating a play (in this case Romeo and Juliet). I simply loved this movie because it showed who Shakespeare really was, giving us as viewers a chance to see him as a real human being with all the human characteristics of love, imperfection, and utter reality. This is truly an educational piece because it helped me as a future English teacher to understand how a director can take a deep, meaningful, often misunderstood play, and create a heart-warming, realistic, modern box office hit. It provides issues of race, gender, politics, economy, and love that we all have to deal with today.