The Many Theses

This is the general direction I am taking my paper at the moment, but I have more research to do on this literary tradition. Any instances that you've spotted would be incredibly helpful.

Thesis Types:

1. {policy}

The English landscape and pastoral life should be looked at through a different scope than Shakespeare’s plays because his version is a romanticized and unrealistic representation.

2. {definition}

The characters in Shakespeare’s plays, in particular his comedies, are understood through his use of setting to display personality traits and societal norms.

3. {evaluation}

Shakespeare’s display of the romantic English countryside is a better way to understand the literary tradition of idealizing pastoral life than that of his contemporaries and the poetry of author’s that followed him.

4. {causal}

Much of modern realism and regionalism in American literature was indirectly inspired by the representation of characters in Shakespeare’s romantic countryside.

5. {comparison}

Many readers find Shakespeare’s portrayal of pastoral and country settings to be beautiful and idealistic, but in reality they were romanticized and trumped up versions used to further the plot of the play without going into great detail about the characters themselves. 

The Five Deadly Claims

1.      Policy: The deaths of tragic heroes in Shakespearean tragedy should not be overlooked because rather than simply ending a character’s life they provide a single redemptive moment in which the true nature of the hero is revealed.

2.      Definition: Death in Shakespearean tragedy is not an ending but rather a destination that the tragic hero must arrive at in order to realize his or her true potential as a human being. 

3.      Comparison: Although Shakespearean comedies end much more happily than tragedies, tragedies are ultimately more satisfying because the deaths of the tragic heroes give the audience a chance to see both the hero and the world itself as they really are, with any pretense stripped away.

4.      Evaluation: Despite the many redeeming qualities of Shakespearean tragedies, they succeed as stories because the death of the tragic hero provides a fitting climax to all the action and tensions within the play.

5.      Causal: The deaths of tragic heroes in Shakespearean tragedy provide pivotal moments in each play that combine all the various themes of the play into one central meaning. Without those pivotal moments, key themes of the play would be more easily lost on the audience.

Another Stab at My Thesis

I decided to tweak my thesis, and decided to make another video to help me refine my ideas. I'd appreciate it if you watched this and gave me some quick feedback.

(I just noticed that the last couple seconds are cut off. That's supposed to be "applied to our plays today")

My Soulmate Thesis

I'm doing it, even though you all will hate me for it.

I'm going to make you squirm in your seats and rethink everything you ever thought you knew about Shakespeare. I'm going to turn your world upside down and blow your mind.

I'm going to claim reality TV as a modern-day Shakespeare derivative.

I argue that reality TV is a derivative of Shakespearean theater (with maybe a little less class), even finding its roots in early theatrical aspects such as commedia dell’Arte, or the use of stock characters. By focusing on the artistic, albeit ridiculous, aspects of reality TV such as editing to form a plot and the creation and dramatization of stock characters, we can shed reality TV in a new light, taking away from some of the superficiality that we can't seem to shake in reality TV.

Thesis! Thesis!

I think I've found a better thesis. Or a better way to express my thesis and supporting ideas. 

Thesis

The concern with ambition, legitimacy, and family relationships gone wrong in Shakespeare's plays are stemmed in how these issues affected the Tudor dynasty and shaped the world of sixteenth and early seventeenth-century England. 

Supporting arguments:

• Ambition in Shakespeare's characters is a corrupting and self-destructive characteristic because it was often the same case for the ambitious power-seekers who lived in the Tudor court.
• The legitimacy of characters in Shakespeare is fixed by birth but is subject to legal changes by those with authority as was often the case in the Tudor period.
• Family relationships in both the Tudor dynasty and in Shakespeare's plays arise from personal betrayal or merely the fear of betrayal, but in both cases this leads to a betrayal of familial responsibilities. 
  
  
  I feel better now that I've sort of crystalized what I want to talk about. The finer details of the points may change depending on further research. 

Hooray for Martin!: The Results of the Tweethis

Martin, who was the person on goodreads I e-mailed about my thesis statement, messaged me back today!  He gave some really great advice and mentioned the connection between Greek myths and The Winter's Tale, which I think would be another interesting element to add to my thesis.  Maybe these myths add to the realism of the play in some way, like the archetypal characters.  

Martin also made a connection to the Bible, which I think is a more approachable and diplomatic way to say supernatural elements, like spiritual things, are true to life.  He directed me to some conversations on goodreads and said he was interested in my topic!  I'm going to write him back to say thank you, but it feels so cool to have someone, possibly in England, who I don't know, but is now sort of invested in my topic and my paper.   

I'm working on it . . . Annotated Bibliography Version

Working Thesis Statement:

In Shakespeare’s Henry V, Henry is often seen as a manipulative and controlling individual. While at times Henry may seem calculating, Henry is sincere in his endeavor to do what is right and best for his people.

Tweethis Thesis In Progress

My prospective thesis is that unlike tragedies, the romantic and ekphrastic elements of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale lend a trueness of life to the play, suggesting that those supernatural elements are the reason why the play is unexpectedly realistic.  

I found a great group on goodreads called Shakespeare Fans that has read through and talked about many of Shakespeare's plays, so I would definitely suggest checking it out.  One of the contributors to The Winter's Tale discussion used a lot of great resources and seemed very knowledgeable about the subject.  I messaged him on goodreads with my thesis and an explanation of what I'm thinking about the paper.  This was a couple of days ago, and he hasn't responded yet, but I hope that he will!  When he does, I'll post about it!

Well, That was an Exciting Endeavor! aka An Annotated Bibliography

Working Thesis Statement: Unlike tragedies, the romantic and ekphrastic elements of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale unexpectedly lend a trueness-of-life to the play, suggesting that the supernatural elements of the play are what makes the play realistic.  

Digest the Info: Finding my Thesis

This is where I am in brainstorming about a thesis:

The colored web makes me feel more hopeful that there is a thesis soon to come.  I think the ideas, although separated by different colors, could come together in some way, like "Is Hermione really dead?" relating to "Ekphrastic element of Shakespeare's work."  

Venting: Hermione's 16-year long hide-out?

I just thought it would be good to post a little venting.  I feel like there are some good starts to ideas going on in my brain about The Winter's Tale, but they're pretty scattered and varied.  Paul suggested I look at the scene with Hermione's statue coming alive.

I did that today and it's pretty compelling, especially because whether or not her being there is a miracle is ambiguous.  I'm thinking about the part that kind of magic plays in Shakespeare's romances versus tragedies, but I can't seem to decide where I stand on whether or not Hermione coming alive was a miracle or just a 16-year long hide-out in Paulina's house, and I'm not sure how to connect that in a meaningful way to what I've read about romance and tragedy.  What do you guys think?  Is there a direction I could go that strikes you as particularly interesting?

I hope as I go back and read literary criticism and more of the primary text, like what was suggested in class, my stance on Hermione and the connection between her, romance, and tragedy, will be more apparent.  Thanks for your help!

Video Preview of Marriage in The Taming of the Shrew

The individuals who I asked for a response liked the paper and found it interesting to read however they wanted more historical context and more discussion between points.  This was insightful to me because I usually struggle with the actual points themselves but now I know where to add depth and length to my paper for Tuesday.  One pointed out that although the points I argued were strong, she didn't have enough time in between each point for her to think about and fully understand each individual concept.  (She was also confused by me quoting a facebook post from my roommate as the rest of my paper was academic. So as discussed in class, I will need to find a way to somehow maintain a good tone throughout while still including the social aspects.)

Marriage Politics in Measure for Measure

Updated thesis:

In his play, Measure for Measure, Shakespeare draws on teachings from the King James Bible to challenge the moral superiority of the Puritan Manifesto and new Puritan leadership, especially in regards to conflicts between traditionally accepted marriage practices and the stricter Puritan marriage regulations.

Although this is much more condensed than the thesis presented in my last post, I'm still working on researching and refining it, so any feedback would be appreciated.

Revised Thesis Statement and Annotated Bibliography

Thesis Statement:

In his works Othello, Hamlet, and _______, Shakespeare addresses universally applicable themes such as communication and trust that are important for secondary students to understand.


After some thinking and reading comments on my last post, I have decided to focus my research on teachings secondary students about honesty and communication by using Othello and other Shakespeare plays. I am not familiar with many of Shakespeare's works however, and so would love feedback and some guidance from those who read plays with themes that could apply. I also am struggling a little bit to make my thesis argumentative, and would love to hear any thoughts/ideas. I want to explore these themes in two or three (I think too many more than that would be too large of a task) of Shakespeare's plays as well as explore the concept of how things are not as they seem ("honest Iago," for example).

Annotated Bibliography:
Social Graph
There are a few people that I think would be good to keep in contact with as I move forward on my research. One of them is my brother, Steven. We are close in age, and so have grown up together and have always bounced ideas off of one another. Another person is my friend Emily, who is an English major at another university. A third person is one of my favorite high school English teachers Dianne Madsen. She might be hard to get a hold of, but she would be a great resource.

I am on both Facebook and Twitter. I don't use Twitter as much, but I think I can work harder on that network because it is such a good way to reach out to a wider audience than Facebook.

Teaching Shakespeare in the 21st Century

After some deliberation, and a helpful comment from Ian on my last post, I've decided that I am going to focus my paper on teaching Shakespeare in a junior high/high school setting. I mentioned originally that my focus applied very specifically to A Midsummer Night's Dream, but with some comments from Kasey and Catherine I've decided to expand it and focus more on the teaching aspect. I'm not sure how I'll end up tying A Midsummer Night's Dream into this, but I'm currently thinking that this play will be a vehicle to demonstrate how someone could actually use my research in the classroom. 

At this point my very short "tweethis" statement would be: The way that Shakespeare is taught in high schools needs to be adapted to better fit the 21st century. (Notice that I don't say exactly how it needs to change... but it's a work in progress, right? :) And here's my annotated bibliography sharing some of the ways that I'm hoping to gain insight into my topic/better focus my tweethis:

Taking a Pedagogical Look at Shakespeare

1. The play, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, should be taught at a secondary level with an emphasis on rhetorical tradition.
   
    I read one article which talks about the rhetorical properties of the two funeral speeches. I have also taken 2 different rhetoric history classes and I think there is a lot of useful information to be had by students in the consideration of rhetorical analyses. This play by William Shakespeare in particular is full of allusions to the rhetorical tradition. Things like virtue, logos, pathos and ethos, types of speeches, etc., are all things that fall beneath the category of rhetoric. By helping high school students to understand these concepts, it will make it easier for them to spot some of these same things at work in other literature and speeches that they will read throughout their education.