You may remember that a while back, I put stuff I wrote for homework into my blog posts. Those generally got a good response and people suggested that I continue doing so. Unfortunately, I don’t have any exciting topics to write about for homework anymore like I used to, and a lot of things I write wouldn’t make much sense outside of the context of my classroom.

I wrote a short paper answering a handful of questions for a homework assignment for my Shakespeare class today, and I decided that it was stand-alone enough to make enough sense even after being dropped into my blog without context. If you’re not very interested in Shakespeare, you would probably want to skip this section.

A Shakespeare play should be read twice because each iteration has a distinct purpose. The first reading should be done quickly to get a general idea of what the play is about. The second reading should be done slowly, closely, and carefully, paying attention to the details of the plot, characters, and dialogue. The play should be dramatized while read the second time, and the reader should make notations as (s)he reads.

A play should be read as a drama and not as a novel or essay because not all of the visual com­ponents of the play are contained in the text. The reader must use his/her imagination to visualize the setting based off of clues found as implications in the dialogue. Dramatization also makes the story more realistic and the conflicts more applicable to humans, as it was intended to be.

While reading a Shakespeare play, a reader should notate clues that may hint at what type of play it is. Shakespeare does not hide anything from his audience (meaning, they are always “in” on the secrets), so picking up on genre clues may help the reader predict and better expect the outcome of the play. A reader should also notate the extra plots and how they tie in to the main plot to better understand the development of the main plot. Finally, a reader should notate details and descriptions of the characters to better understand their actions. This can be done by paying attention to their dialogue, which will help identify their style of speech and social status (higher-class characters will use more sophisticated language). Characters can also be analyzed based off of how other characters describe them.

It is a mistake to modernize the setting of a Shakespearean play because these plays were written with elements of realism found during the time the plays were written. As a result, an attempt to modernize the setting will result in a contradiction with the realistic elements woven into the play.

Tip of the Day

When mowing the lawn, remember to check to make sure you have enough gasoline to finish mowing the entire lawn.

Or else you’ll run out of gas and have to go buy more gas while your lawn sits half-mown.