So I've got to get some goals set in stone before I continue on, but they will most likely evolve throughout the semester as I find certain sources I get more out of than others.
- Read the ENTIRE play or work we're assigned and underline passages. This may seem like a really simple goal, but I have a feeling I might get too caught up in other sources that I don't enjoy and take time with the primary work.
- Watch 2 performances of each play that we read. I've got to be realistic here for times sake, but I am not limiting myself to only two performances. I can think of about three Hamlet performances I reeeeally want to watch: Mel Gibson's (again), Kenneth Branagh's, David Tennant's (BBC, I saw the clip of his "To be, or not to be" speech and think it is better than Mel & Kenneth's)
- Memorize a passage....no specifics yet.
- Sarah has inspired me to really put myself out there and make a goal to be in an actual Shakespeare performance. I don't know if this will actually be fulfilled during the semester but I am determined to do it some time, however nervous it makes me just writing it...ehh.
- I'd like to have a good sense of what Shakespeare's popular plays are about. I hear them cited so often but I don't know them all. This would be more of a breadth goal, but a goal I think is useful in life. I'll write short summaries on this blog of each play we read and other popular plays that we aren't assigned.
- Going along with the theme of "quotidian Shakespeare" I want to find out more about Shakespeare's life. If I remember right, he's one mysterious guy, but I think as I search for information about his life and what parallels it has to what he wrote and when that I can find some interesting stuff. I'd love for comments of interesting tidbits people know about Shakespeare.
- I've always heard Shakespeare was a plagiarist, but never really believed it. Now there's proof of it in the back of my Shakespeare textbook, so I plan to read that about each play so I can get a better sense of what source they come from.
Seven too much? Isn't that supposed to be a lucky number? Wish me luck.
To end on:
Okay, the stares a little creepy. But the elocution? THE BEST!
