The Merchant of Venice: Back to High School Edition

So I had the intention that I was going to experience The Merchant of Venice as a high school student
I am not sure how I was going to do this or what I was thinking when I originally thought of it, but I got completely distracted.

I did find some great resources for teachers!

Judith Elstein created a complete unit for the Merchant of Venice
I like how much she scaffolds the lessons
The students rework the play several different ways
and also in very hand on ways
It was interesting that for one of the activities
she had students cut apart a book of the play
and then paste the pages to wall
and high light things through the entire play
i think this is really interesting
and would work very well for visualizing everything
but i think it would be over whelming using the entire text
it would however make students very comfortable with the actual lines

Folger Shakespeare Library has a huge
database of resources for teachers
they have all sorts of activities and resources
it looks like a great site for teachers
and they also have a Folger Shakespeare Education Blog

I have been watching for something good to chime in on
so hopefully I will be able to make some good conversation
in the bear future to report back on

Anyways! these look like great resources that
I will have to remember when I have my own classroom!

The Merchant of Stratford?

I have just gotten back from BYU Young Company's production of "The Merchant of Venice"
Over all I really loved the adaptation
It was an adaptation for children
They preform at BYU
and then they travel and perform it for schools as well
They had the children sit down on the floor
and also had children play some of the minor parts like Nerissa

The play was held in Margetts Theatre
This was a very interesting set up
They called it a "round play" if i remember correctly
because it was a big room with tier seating set up on all four sides
and then in the center there were floor seat with "aisles" for the actors to walk
so the audience was all around
in the four corners, props were kept and costume changes and everything took place
so there was no backstage either

this set up worked particularly well for what the play was trying to accomplish
being a child's adaptation, the cast was trying to get the audience and the children
as involved as possible
the only down fall that i noticed was that
at times i felt the actors had to go out of their way to get around the children on the ground
which made it feel awkward because of the lack of space

this was bearable, but what was not is that i felt lines got lost
some lines would not get spoken loud enough
when the actor had their back to my side
so the "round" set up made it hard to hear at times
or i could also be deaf....

Like I said, I really enjoyed the play
I thought they did a wonderful job
and it makes me wish I had children of my own to bring to it

to make it a children's adaptation
they changed a few thing about the original script

to start off the actors asked the audience
what they wanted the names of things to be

so they changed:

Audible and Hamlet and a Facelift

So I have started listening to the audio version of Hamlet

I did the month's free trial membership to Audible

What i did find out is you get two free book downloads just for trying them out

and you get to keep the down loads even after you cancel your membership if you would like

I was a little confused when I started to try to listen

You down load two files that are named "Part 1" and "Part 2"

That was 11 hours total. I have to say this idea was very over whelming that it would take 11 hours

so i was trying to figure out how to "turn off" the commentary

but part 1 is simple the files with the commentary 

and part 2 is with out the commentary

--i dont know what they dont just title the files that way....

however! I have listened to about 10 minutes of the commentary 

and still have not gotten to the play itself....

it is all interesting though and gives you a feeling of being there in Shakespeare's time

I still havent decided if three extra hours is worth the commentary though

and just a funny side note

my cat is scared to death when i play the audio book

something about the old lady who does the narration must frighten her haha

with a start of a new play also means a face lift for my phone

i am kind of sad to get rid of my Portia background though

because it has been my favorite one so far

so i guess its almost cheating
because i really didnt really find a new background

i just found Elizabeth E Schuch's Ophelia water color 

it is beautiful

she also has a beautiful Hamlet watercolor as well

i really love her work 

and i want to order some of her print

as well as i wish i was as talented as her.

I did look for other backgrounds and came across this humorous picture

It is "Hamlet" by Stevyn Colgan

haha witty literature humor. 

in response to kaleigh

while searching youtube for interesting things about shakespeare
i found this video:

it reminded me of Kaleigh Jean Spooner's "'Words, words, mere words...'-Grammar and Shakespeare".
now i know it isnt the corpus... but they are scuffing on the idea :)

in which tara takes on her mind.

I always seem to struggle with hearing other people's ideas about their research
and then i get more excited about what they are doing than my own idea.

For my research paper, I really love Macbeth.
It is just a strange passion of mine.
and that should be obvious from my blog title and stuff
so i have thought about focusing specifically on this play
--i dont know how though

but i have done a little bit of research with the last few plays about
the play sources and where Shakespeare seems to be getting his ideas and plot lines

I like this idea for a research paper
but i am struggling narrowing it down and making it work
(of course that is hard when i dont know the specifics even of the paper yet haha)

i also am kind of interested in the sexuality within the plays ---also very broad...yet very racy and interesting!
or adaptations... who doesnt love adaptations..
maybe shakespeare and teaching?

i am just really fighting my brain in a thumb war
of coming up with something really edgy and obscene
and something that interests me and seem as cool as everyone else's ideas

or maybe something with the modernization of shakespeare?
what if combined my ideas into one?

this may make something entirely all too huge
but maybe i could focus in more on one thing or one play
i have an idea of perhaps looking at how plays are modernized with:
-"translating" them into modern english ie No Fear
-changing the plot lines into modern stories with looking at movies like Scotland PA and Macbeth
-maybe working in Shakespeare's sources with how he rewrote known stories with plays to begin with

 this feels like an all too large and wild of an idea...

but, in continuance of this source research i have been doing

bloggingshakespeare.com

I submitted the class project/ blogs to bloggingshakespeare.com!
So hopefully we get some recognition!

The Trader of Italy: The Merchant of Venice

Thus, far I have been reading online with No Fear Shakespeare. I really enjoy reading this way digitally because it breaks the text up on the page that for some reason is appealing to me-- not sure why. They just seem to put the perfect amount of text on the page. And when I read on the computer, I have to be able to physically/digitally highlight the text which this site allows; so it is perfect for my weird necessity to be able to follow with my eyes. But what I like about the No Fear is that it has what they call their modern translation side by side. This is nice for when i read the same lines seven times and dont know what i just read and then i can read the "modern" right to the side.

But this post was originally one and has turned into two. While researching for my next post (which i am really excited about), I found Mike LoMonico's blog post "Shakespeare…in other words." 


Mike talks about the use of "translated" Shakespeare sources and their use specifically in a high school setting. The first thing that he points out that I think is so true and so interesting (and which may be something interesting to research) is why Shakespeare is so commonly translated but not other complicated, thick language literature like Dickens, Hawthorne, Melville, or Fitzgerald for example. 


He then goes on to say that students shouldn't have need for a translation if Shakespeare is taught in "in an active, performance-based approach." Which I think this is so true and takes me back to my Macbeth vs my Romeo Juliet experiences. 


The most interesting and true thing that he pointed out is the fact that the translations take away from the beauty of the language. You lose all of the things that Shakespeare is known for and why he is famous when you straight read the translations. 


I think that yes Shakespeare's plots and complexity of the stories are very amazing and definitely admirable but  I feel like he is really known for his language and the actual words and that is what people think about with him.  


So that brings up the question if these translations should completely be done away with? Should annotations be the only source for better understanding in reading? 


I personally feel like the modern texts can be a great resource. But if you read all of the comments with the article about how it is good for students to get the idea when they dont understand the language but then students should have Shakespeare scaffolded (broken into baby steps for better understanding) to them --everyone makes wonderful comments and arguments which all are very valid. 


For now, this almost makes me want to completely not use the translations as a help but then i feel like if you use then as an annotation of type of resource it is good. 

I dont know. This feels like an English teacher's moral battle. I probably should have made a vlog of this topic and I still may. So be on the look out for that. 

Shakespeare and the Gesta Romanorum

I thought that article I found for Henry V about the sources was very interesting, so I went back to Blogging Shakespeare and found the same lady's series for the sources of The Merchant of Venice.

In the series of Shakespeare's Sources by Liz Dollimore, she once again finds what Shakespeare is using for his source and idea. She specifically compares the 13th Century Gesta Romanorum (which was a Latin book of tales) in which there is a story that is almost the exact same plot line as the Merchant of Venice. She did also state that there are many more stories as well in history with the same plot line.

I thought this was very interesting because it is like Shakespeare took an age old fairy tale almost and created a new and dynamic play. He took the simplicity of the original story and added more characters to give the story more depth. This also allowed for his to create questions for the readers to ask them selves like if friendship or love is stronger and about Christianity and even now people draw Anti-Semitism form the play. It is also interesting that in the original story the princess saved her lover; but in The Merchant of Venice, Portia saves her lovers friend. So Shakespeare put all of these complex spins on the original tale to really create an interesting plot. 

This also shows how much literature is taking others ideas and creating them into new stories. Like what was done with the Lion King to Hamlet, Shakespeare did this with the story from the Gesta Romanorum to The Merchant of Venice.

The article was really interesting, so if this sparks your interest you should definitely read the original article or you can just take my word for it haha

Portia Watercolor

So with every new play we read, 

I try to find a wallpaper for my phone to coordinate.

For the Merchant of Venice, I found this

beautiful water color by Elizabeth E Schuch

I really love it and think it is very beautiful.

She also has many other water colors that she has done for

most of Shakespeare's plays here.

They are all so beautiful; 

I really want to buy some prints for my future classroom

or even just for my home!

She has an Etsy shop where

she has but the paintings on some cool items

or just to buy the prints!

pretty cool!

word play and so many tennis balls

I talked earlier about all of the imagination and specifics worked into Henry V
I noticed that A LOT of people were posting about the pun of the "tennis balls"
so I decided that I needed to do some more research into it and look farther into it
I found this Folger Shakespeare Library webpage adapted from Mowat and Westine
that talks about all of the word play in Henry V

i find it so amazing how in depth and clever Shakespeare can be
I think the thing that makes his clever-ness so effective
is the multiple layers that it gives the speeches and writing
and it makes everything mean so much more.

that article was really interesting
there is also a few more articles on the left
that talk more about Shakespeare's writing in Henry V specifically

its all really fascinating and helps to show
how much more amazing and talented Shakespeare was

Sopapilla

I have a lot of thoughts.

But I was thinking about this play
and how Dr Burton was saying how important the history plays actually are
and i was thinking about the opening scene where
Caterbury and Ely are discussing this horrible bill
that is going to pass and change their lives
so they decide that Henry needs to invade France

Well i am using my Shakespeare brain and think
that this is somewhat similar to our own lives
SOPA and PIPA are huge life changing things that
could change the way we digitally live

so my solution
some one invade France!

all joking aside

i read a really interesting article from Blogging Shakespeare
also in this idea of the play being related to current events 
Liz Dollimore's article talks about the source of Shakespeare's play
i found this really interesting
this also helps to show a look into Shakespeare's daily life
and shows how much more you can learn and much more you are learning than you think you are

just kind of interesting
and i like what a reader said in the comments with:
"Interesting. Ultimately, everything is allegory."

interesting and lost imagination

So i have to say I am highly struggling with our chap Henry.
I just cant motivate myself with it

i was pleased and surprised to see that the movie is on netflix!
(which means we dont have to worry about Sopapilla lol --SOPA PIPA and torrentz... for now or my husband doesnt have to worry about them.)

so maybe i need to watch the movie and then hope my interest is re kindled.

i know it has been said many a times in class
but i just want to reiterate how interesting the idea of not having an elaborate scene is
it is interesting how specifically in this play we have the Chorus to set all of the scenes
i wonder how Shakespeare's people reacted to it
if it was a pretty common thing (since we saw it in the tempest now as well)
or if it was something new to his people
and whether they thought it was good or bad

it also makes me think that perhaps we are a people of lost imagination
we rely on the coolest special effects and the best computer graphics
so that makes me think that in our digital era and age of digital literacy
that we are more un imaginative than ever
we expect more things to keep us entertained than ever before
i am sure if something came out that was very minimalist
and required you to create the scene with your imagination
that it would not do very well and get bad reviews

just something interesting i thought about as always

King Henry the Moewth.

I figured since I had such a cool background for The Tempest, I needed a cool one for Henry V. So I give you Henry the Meowth by Susan Herbert.You have to check out her other renditions as well because they are hilarious.
Pretty funny. I may have to buy her books and the Shakespeare one for my future classroom...

Complexity of Ariel

I chose to try and look a little deeper into The Tempest. I didnt really have a path that I knew I wanted to take, so I just searched randomly for articles. I came across an article by Katherine Steele Brokaw titled "Ariel's Liberty."


I found the article rather interesting of how it discusses the "preformed Ariel." It goes to describe the different portals and how the role really allows for each actor/actress to portray her completely different. It was also interesting to read that s/he is such a dynamic character that often directors will chose to cast several actors/actresses to preform Ariel so that they can full capture all of the aspects of her/him. 


The article then goes on to state how most of Shakespeare's characters are very specific on how to be played, yet Ariel has a million possibilities of how it could be pulled off. I find it interesting that Shakespeare chose to do this for Ariel and it seems to be because s/he is not "real." He seems to have wanted Ariel to be very ghost like and un real. The name Ariel may have been a play on "aerial" further emphasizing this idea of an unreal spirit. 


This article makes me want to watch a performance of the Tempest which I play to do this weekend. I will have to focus specifically on the portrayal of Ariel. It also makes me want to go back and pay more attention specifically just to Ariel and the vagueness and where there is the room for interpretation. I wish I had access to several adaptations so that I could compare them. Perhaps I will try to find some different You Tube clips.

This was pretty interesting and something I hadnt thought about.


Brokaw, Katherine Steele. "Ariel's Liberty." Shakespeare Bulletin 26.1 (2008): 23-42. International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <https://www.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ibh&AN=31603658&site=ehost-live&scope=site>.

Shakespeare and Prospero

This may be a completely off interpretation, but I was thinking about Prospero being a representation of himself. That made me wonder if the other characters are representative of people in his life as well. So are Caliban and Ariel his...lovers? Ariel could be Anne and Caliban could be the dark lady? This might be completely a completely arbitrary interpretation, but it got me thinking.

UPDATE: Read my comment below.

i cant stop myself

just a thought

My boss got quite a laugh as I was making this at work too btw...

Pops, if you caused this storm with your mad skills, knock it off!

I would like to thank the "Book Phantom" for the modern Miranda quote  that I used for my title from the line " If by your art, dearest Father, you have Put the waters in this roar, allay them." While doing some brief looking into quotes originating from Shakespeare, I ran into that site. Let me just say I laughed for some time. Husband didn't think it was near as funny as I did.


I started reading The Tempest today. During church. I will admit. I have only read the first act thus far... and need to read more... but I am enjoying it thus far. It is a little romantic-y, but that would make sense since we are reading this for our romantic breadth.


While trying to do my homework during church, I was searching for an e-reader for my phone. I wasnt having the greatest of luck, but some how i ran across this interesting app that had all of  these illustrations that you cans set as your background--i dont quite understand "background" apps but i suppose its convenience. But the illistrations are by Edmund Dulac from around 1908. I thought the pictures were pretty, so when i turn on my phone I first have the awesome reminder of my VIP experience and Chino on my lock screen and then the ever impending doom of reading The Tempest  and Miranda as my background. At least the doom is pretty right?

Blogger confession #1: Does anyone else feel weird randomly posting on all of these blogs of people we dont really know yet? I mean I know we have had 2 class periods together, but i go to blogs and look at the "author" and think 'are they really in my class... I dont even recognize them." So mainly I just feel like a weird stalker creeping on your blogs and like i am leaving creepy unwanted comments haha

Blogger confession #2: while creepily commenting.... I hate your captcha forms.  like really. it would make my life 100% easier if i could just click "comment" with out having to verify an ink smudge of a word.

/rant.

Thou Sonnets Art Boring.

When choosing my sonnets to read, I specifically focused on trying to pick the most popular ones. I did this for the purpose that as a future English teacher those are the sonnets most commonly taught in a classroom setting. Thus, I chose and read: 1, 18, 29, 60, 64, 73, 94, 97, 116, 126, 129, 130, 138, and 146.

I suppose I read 130 and 138 in more depth per se because I found those two out of the twelve most interesting, and I specifically chose 130 because I had a funny experience with it in middle school and a classmate wanting a copy of it to give to his girlfriend and the teacher embarrassing him with the fact he misunderstood and that there are much more flattering love poems. However, I think I read all of the sonnets in some depth because I read for understanding rather than just reading it. I used this website to read the sonnets which I found very useful because rather than giving a straight analysis it gave more of just a clarification for things that I may had not understood.

With my title I am not necessarily saying that I think the sonnets are boring because I in fact find many very beautiful and others very interesting (like 151: what is that), but I am more saying that from a view point of any one who didn't have a strange love for all things literature like say a high school boy in his English class, I think that he or she would find the sonnets very boring.

Tara V: Shakespearean History.

As I started to write this, I believed it would be rather short and simple. Now as I plan all that I have to say, I find it interesting how much I have to say. Thus, maybe this is a testament to how impacting Shakespeare is.

To start I offer you this picture that shows my first spark of love for Shakespeare, Macbeth, and Banquo:

I was really excited to enroll in a Shakespeare class. What I was most appealing was the format of the class. It is what really turned me on to enrolling this semester and to this section. I am studying English teaching, so a more hands on teaching style appeals more to me and is what I look for for inspiration. Also, if it is something that seems more enjoyable, I think I will better enjoy it.

Shakespeare is something that I feel is not appreciated like what it should be. What people definitely do not realize is how much Shakespeare influences our world and how enjoyable it can be. And that's what I strive to do as a teacher: show my students how English and literature is really fun and matters in our world. I think that begins with my better understanding and love for English and, in this specific case, Shakespeare.

As for my history in Shakespeare, I was first specifically introduced

BYU Shakespeare Plays Winter 2012

Upcoming plays on campus this semester.

Merchant of Venice: Jan. 25-Feb 4, 2012

Love's Labor's Lost: March 14-30, 2012

The Comedy of Errors: March 28-29, 2012

Something to look forward to!