Rest of the Year Stuff….
For all of April we will read Twelfth Night and perhaps The Tempest aloud in class. This will free you up to do the following things:
April 14th or 15th: Watch the performance of Twelfth Night at Sierra Waldorf Elementary School. (Time 7:30; cost is free; location is 19234 Rawhide Road; and because the show is outside, bring a sweater.) For the following Monday, write a brief (200-300 words) response.
(If you didn’t yet see the movie Merchant of Venice, then go on April 19th or 20th at Signature 10 and write a brief response.)
April 18th: Memorize a sonnet. Come to my office by 5pm and recite it. Also, providing I get them back to you in time, write a transcript and boo-boo page for your latest essay.
April 20th: Game day! Create some kind of outdoor game that relates to the plays and sonnets and life of Shakespeare that we’ve studied this year. Yes, you can work with others on this.
April 27th: We meet from 8-10am on this Wednesday. In place of a final exam, come with these things:
Writing:
A. The Long One:
Write an essay (about 5-7 pages in length) that finds a connection among many of the works we’ve read this year. The likely approach is to analyze how one particular theme or character reappears across different plays and sonnets. Here are some ideas off the top of my head:
Possible themes: evil, good, appearance vs. reality, mortality, ambition, love, conscience, comedy, honor, God and Fate, women, bigotry;
Possible characters: the villain, the friend, the lover, the fool, the elder.
Possible sources: Richard III, Othello, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, The Tempest.
These are just some suggestions. Come up with an idea of your own, but be sure to clear it with me. Also, I encourage you to include things about your own life as they meet these themes and characters.
And if you want, you can write this in a more creative way than an essay style. You can take on the first-person of a theme or character and have them express themselves. (“I am Evil, and I brought forth from Shakespeare’s black soul my lovely angel, Iago, to drive to madness….”)
B. Two Shorter Ones:
1. Write a 3-5 page essay on whether you think Shakespeare deserves his reputation as a genius. Consider him as a writer of words, an observer of humanity, and as a writer of plays with many diverse characters. In answering this, cite some of your favorite lines and passages. Also, in answering this, speak to why Shakespeare has lasted so long while other playwrights from that era are seldom read or performed. If you’d like, you could write this as a letter to Shakespeare—or some other creative format.
2. Write a final “Dear Jimbo” letter. Make this one longer and more thoughtful than the previous two. Include the effect this class and this Shakespeare lad have had on you. Also include an evaluation of your overall performance in this class.
Also, on the final day,…
· Prepare notes to share with us…
a. some of your favorite words and lines and passages;
b. any random memories of the things we did in here this semester;
c. any comments on the effect any of this has had on you.
· Bring…
a. a candle (dripless, please);
b. a self-addressed stamped envelope;
c. a little gift that you will give to someone else in the class selected at random.
Extra Credit: Before the Iraq War there was a quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that was making the rounds. Anti-war protestors rallied around it, even distributed it at rallies. But there was one problem: It’s a fraud. Shakespeare didn’t write it and nothing close to it exists in Julius Caesar. So, for extra credit, write a few pages that argue why this is not Shakespeare: in style, in content, in rhythms, in imagery, in scope of imagination or insight—or based on whatever you want. You might need other quotes from real Shakespeare to fortify your proof.
Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war
In order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor,
For patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.
It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.
And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch
And the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed,
The leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry.
Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism,
Will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.
How do I know? For this is what I have done.
And I am Caesar.