Learning Outcomes in Reflection

 

1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy 

a. Breadth (knowledge of a range of Shakespeare's works):

Throughout the class, I was exposed to four of Shakespeare’s plays that I had never personally read.  To a certain degree, I wish we had stuck more closely to his works and been exposed to more, but it was a great experience to become more familiar with King Lear, Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, and The Winter’s Tale.  Beyond the reading of the plays, interacting with my classmates and reading through their papers, I became more familiar with a broad range of Shakespeare’s plays and on top of that, varying analyses of these.

b. Depth (more thorough knowledge of a single work):

The majority of the class I spent analyzing Shakespeare’s Othello, a play I had previously read in high school, but never in the way that I did during this course.  In the effort to find my own analysis of the work, I was introduced again to the play in an entirely new way and became more familiar with it than I ever could have in High School.

c. Performance (stage and screen):

I had the opportunity to watch film versions of Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, and King Lear.  On top of that, I went and saw the children’s stage version of Henry V.  These productions illustrated to me the true nature of Shakespeare and the way in which it should be produced.  Shakespeare is first and foremost a playwright, and his works have been perpetuated because they can be reproduced and adapted in a myriad of ways.

d. Legacy (history, scholarship, popular culture):

I wrote papers on The Winter’s Tale and on Othello.  This experience introduced me to the background histories of these plays, the staggering amount of scholarship, and the way in which these particular plays have been adapted into pop culture.  Shakespeare has a remarkable presence and his influence has leached into today’s society just as much as he did during his own time.  Movie adaptations baring his plot themes and characters have introduced the masses to Shakespeare’s mastery often without them even realizing it.  His wide range of plays has developed into a remarkable standard for today’s authors to achieve.  He applies to the scholarly just as much as to pop culture as I have come to realize more and more throughout this course.

2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically 

The final research paper that took up a majority of this class has become a remarkable learning experience in terms of familiarity with Shakespeare.  There is so much room for analysis and the perpetuation of his works is better realized in the amount of time I spent researching, a time period that could have carried on and I still would have been discovering new things, new ways of looking at his works.  Studying Othello, helped open up that world to me and the potential there is in studying and analyzing Shakespeare’s works critically.  Even with all the scholarship already accomplished, spanning decades, there is still room for my own analysis.

3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively

At the beginning of the semester, we were assigned a sonnet, mirroring the pattern of Shakespeare.  The assignment, to be honest, terrified me, because I am no poet.  In the process of writing that sonnet, however feeble it was, I spent the time to read many of Shakespeare’s sonnets and watch readings of them on YouTube.  I was thoroughly introduced to the pattern of those sonnets the sheer prowess with which Shakespeare wrote them.

4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully 

My roommates and I often discuss the things we are researching in our classes.  My roommate Paige in particular is a psychology major and discussing Shakespeare with her is always an interesting journey through the literature.  She especially inspired and helped me through my final paper.  Blogging about my research and the assignments on Digital Dialogue to share our insights on the literature tended toward tedium, but as we got deeper into the course appreciated them nonetheless.  I was able to build off the insights of others and it helped with beneficial discussions during class time that really introduced me to Shakespeare’s work better than anything else could have.

5. Gain Digital Literacy 

This, for me, was probably the most difficult part of the course, but it did help me along with the research process and introduced me to information that I never could have approached.  I learned a lot about blogging and social media and how reaching out to other people can really aid in how we read and interpret Shakespeare, especially in today’s society where technology plays such a big role.