Shakespeare Behind Bars: A Worthwhile Way to Spend Time in Prison

Shakespeare Behind Bars is definitely an interesting take on Shakespeare's The Tempest, to say the least. I thought that this look into a modern day prison was really interesting. Personally, I think this view on the purpose of prisons is right on. I think the purpose of prisons should be to keep us safe from people who have committed crimes but I also believe that they can also serve as a place of reform for these people. Now I understand everything is not all rainbows and butterflies and some people do not want to change and they do not feel bad for what they did. However, some people who end up in prison are there based on their own personal circumstances, tough conditions they had to grow up in, and poor choices. I think prison should provide the option to change for their inmates. I am a firm believer in everyone deserves a second chance, so why not try and help these men while they are in there? I feel as though if we do not try and help them, then when or if they do get released, they will be more likely to repeat the acts that lead them to prison in the first place.

I also thought that Shakespeare Behind Bars had some very interesting quotations, especially toward the beginning. The first quotation I wrote down that goes along with my discussion above is that "prison should make a difference." I think this an interesting way at looking at prison. However, it makes sense. We might as well try and help these people while they are in prison. I believe that warden also said something along the lines that we are "paying 42 dollars a day for something." If we are required to give that money anyway, why not put that money into making a change?! I also thought that it was interesting that the warden in Shakespeare Behind Bars described himself as a warden "who hates prison." I think that speaks volumes on the function of prisons in the America.

Anyway, back to the Shakespeare in Shakespeare Behind Bars. I think that Shakespeare was a perfect selection for these inmates, especially The Tempest. In fact, someone in the movie said that people back in Shakespeare’s time that performed the plays were thought of has thieves and rapists. This an interesting corellation between the two ideas. I also thought the emotion of the characters fir while with the setting in the prison. I think that these inmates were able to channel the emotion needed for this play by thinking about their own personal experiences. This type of acting can make one feel as though acting is a form a therapy. The inmates ended up becoming very dedicated to this project and were really good at what they do. By helping someone find a way to release their emotions and finding something they feel they are good at, can do wonders for the personality and make them feel as though they are worth something, they have something to live for. Aren't these the driving forces that cause people to change for the better? I think that good old Shakespeare had a huge impact on these inmates and rightly so.

Creative Engagement Week 12: MacHomer - An Additional Adaption of Shakespeare Not Mentioned in the Prologue

As I was listening to this week's prologue, I thought of an additional example of an adaptation of Shakespeare that was not mentioned. When I was in high school, my English class took a field trip to see MacHomer.. an adaptation of MacBeth with all Simpsons characters. It was an extremely entertaining yet accurate way to tell the story of MacBeth in a different way. The play is put on animatedly and live but all the voices are done by one man, Rick Miller, who is also the creator. If you look him up, you will find his impressive resume. I'm going to leave a link to the MacHomer website below for those of you who are interested in further investigating this adaptation of MacBeth. I'll also embed a clip of Rick Miller discussing his play. If you have the chance, I strongly suggest seeing this, you will not regret it (especially if you are a Simpsons fan!)

http://www.machomer.com

A Modern Day Volpone

Volpone was definitely filled with comedy but it was also very ironic and kinda tragic at the end. However, the characters definitely got what they were asking for by the end of the play. At the beginning of the play, I was not really sure where the play was going to end up. There were many turns and twists in the plot. There were also many sub-plots under the main plot. Jonson was definitely trying to make a statement on human nature, especially when it comes to greed. A majority of the characters are extremely self-serving, always wondering what they can do to help themselves. Even Mosca, who in the beginning of the play, was more concerned with obeying Volpone began to think more about himself than others by the end. The characters in this play would never put someone else over their own wants and needs and it ultimately leads to their downfall. I wonder if Jonson was commenting on what he believes should happen to people like this in real life. Does he think that people who are this greedy and care about themselves having it coming to them? Or in a perfect world, would justice be served?

When reading Volpone, I couldn't help but think of who I would cast to play these characters. As I begin reading, I took this play to be one in which we were supposed to be amused. This concept changed for me by the end of the play. However, I still believe that my original actors and characters could still pull off this interesting play. My first impression of Volpone was someone who had no reguard for anyone else. He did not care who he hurt, in fact, he got amusement out of the misery of others. A character that reminded me of Volpone in our modern media was Aldous Snow, played by Russel Brand, whose character was two big for just one movie. Aldous Snow appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. This character is one who only cares about himself in the beginning of the movies. Although this character shows some soft sides throughout these movies, I still think his mischievous and self-serving character could fill the shoes of Volpone. While think about the other characters, I could not help but picture Jim and Dwight from The Office while reading the exchanges between Peregrine and Sir Politic especially in Act II, scene ii. Peregrine knows that Sir Politic is so gullible that he will believe anything that he says and it assumes him. Similarly, Jim plays tricks on Dwight or tells him outrageous stories that only Dwight would go along with in order to assume himself while at the office. This relationship takes a turn later in the play when Peregrine seeks revenge on Sir Politic. Jim and Dwight have definitely been at odds more than once during the show. The relationship between Peregrine and Sir Politic is a humorous but complicated one just like Jim and Dwight's.

These characters were the ones that really stuck out to me to cast easily, I'm still trying to figure out who could play the characters. What were some your ideas about who could be in this play while you were reading?

Different Representations of Utopia: Creative Engagement Week 10

When I found out we were spending an extra week on Utopia, I wanted to see what I could online about Utopia. When I googled Utopia, the google images caught my eye and I decided to take a look. I found some serious depictions of Utopia and also some satirical representations. I think I enjoyed the satirical representation (in the middle) better because I did not really take Utopia that seriously. I'll embed the pictures in this post. What do you all think about these representations? Do you think they are realistic? Should they be? If we were assigned to depictUtopia for ourselves, what would yours like look?

Utopia as a Satire: Was Sir Thomas More Mocking Us All?

When I first began reading Utopia for this week’s readings, I went in with the intent to do a first pass reading of the introduction, More’s letter, and Book 1. But as I was doing my first pass on More’s letter to Peter Giles, I became really interested in what he was really trying to say. He begins to describe to Peter that they have overlooked the fact that they do not know “in what area of the New World Utopia is to be found” (523). He talks to his friend as if someone wants to know where Utopia is actually located. He says he is “ashamed not to know even the name of the ocean where this island lies about which I’ve written so much” (523). At first I read this as if he really was concerned, but the more I thought about it, I took it as More being sarcastic to anyone who might actually believe this place exists (or could ever exist).

With this idea in mind, it affected me as I continued to read. I began to wonder if this idea seemed impossible and unattainable to More and that he may have been simply showing and teasing us with something that we will never have. It is almost as if he could be mocking us with the idea of a better society and structure. He presents this amazing concept, but in reality, it is highly unattainable.

If I think about it in this way, I begin to compare More with Satan in the form of the serpent in the Bible. The serpent lures Eve to something that he describes as perfect and makes her long for something she should not touch. In this sense, More is like the serpent because he describes to us something so perfect and something that everyone would long for. Who wouldn’t want to live in the most perfect society? Did More have this intent while writing Utopia (even if it was an underlining motive)?

To extend off this comparison even more, let’s say we somehow achieved this society, would it be as perfect as we once believed? Adam and Eve were faced with so many hardships after taking what they had longed for. Would we experience those same hardships? Would we get more than we bargained for with form of society? As humans, we are inherently competitive. Could we just send people out to the country to help with harvesting? Would people view undeveloped and free land as something that should not be built on or owned?

I think if this Utopia were to ever even come close to existence, we could come across more problems than you would think. Do you think More knew this the whole time and he meant to just throw something out there to tease us with? Or was he really trying to make a difference in society?

A Letter to a Younger Me: A Warning for UD's Teacher Job Fair

Dear Past Me,

In three years you will have to begin your job search. Crazy, I know. I just want to warn you and give you some advice on what to expect at UD's Teacher Job Fair (Project Search). The day will being at 7:30, you will get there a half hour early because you always get anxious that you will be late to things like this. Check-in won't start until 8:00 and of course they won't let anyone in before than (even though it will be raining outside, so pack your umbrella). Luckily you will there early enough to squeeze your way into the space between the two doorways to the entrance of the Bob Carpenter Center. It will seem like a hundred people have been crammed in like sardines into that small space, but relax. Finally at 8:00.00, not a second earlier, not a second later, they open one, count in ONE single door for the stampede of eager (and in some cases, desperate) teacher candidates in to check-in. People will instruct you to "find your line" (go all the way to the right). After you receive your packet of the schools that will be conducting scheduled interviews and which schools will be conducting unscheduled interviews, search for a spot on the bleachers close to the floor filled with recruiters but also close to the aisle. You do not want to have to climb over the seats in your heels and your suit, now would you? From 8:20-9:00, come up with a game plan. First hit your favorite school district, sign up for an interview and then push your way through the to the next district you like. Repeat until all interview spots are filled (this will happen faster than you think). After scheduling your interviews, all you have left to do is wait. Relax, they won't ask you anything you don't know but they will ask things you haven't prepared for, so take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and dazzle them with your knowledge and motivation. Whatever you do, don't second guess yourself after the interview is over and torture yourself with all the better things you could of said, it will only make things worse, trust me! Relax and go in confident, you know your stuff, I should know. At the end of the, you will have done everything you could and the only thing there will be left to do is wait...

Remember this letter when the time comes

- Future You

Elizabethans Are the Best! (Or At Least They Think So)

While reading this weeks works, it appeared to a reoccurring idea that Elizabethans thought very highly of themselves, especially compared to the Natives they found on their voyages. The words they used to describe their interactions with the Natives intentionally or not (I haven't made up my mind yet). Also many of the descriptions of their interactions made the Natives out to seem very dumb and not advanced.

One example of this can be found in Drake's Circumnavigation of the Globe, in which he describes his first encounter with the Natives. The Elizabethans need to immediately to impose their beliefs on to these people because they are different from themselves. They "liberally bestowed on them necessary things to cover their nakedness, whereupon they supposed us to be gods, and would not be persuaded to the contrary" (932). First of all, I think it was wrong for the Elizabethans to make these people feel ashamed for being naked, if this all that these people know, then that is their normal. In the Bible, Adam and Eve did not know that being naked was shameful until they ate from the forbidden tree. But because it made the Elizabethans uncomfortable, they had to address it and change the Native's ways. As far as the second part of that quote, I would think that Elizabethans may have been pleased if the Natives thought of them as gods. They sure seemed to think highly of themselves, perhaps deservingly so.

Yes, it may be true that the Natives did not have access to the technology and advances that the Elizabethans had but I think that the people at this time made remarkable advances with the tools they did have. Native Americans often were a head of the game when it came to hunting and finding to ways to live off the land because that the their only option. The coming together of two cultures and races is a difficult especially when one culture or race already feels so though they are the superior.

While examining the end of another account, Amadas and Barlowe's Voyage to Virginia, it points out the success that the Natives had in hunting and maintaining a life without the technology that they possess. He wrote, "we found the people most gentle, loving, and faithful, void of guile and treason [...]" This account recognized the strengths the Natives had including their ability to survive during the winter and feed themselves. It just goes to show that just because someone is different from you, you should not count them out.

Creative Engagement Week 4: Helpful Timeline I Stumbled Upon This Week

In my Rumination this week, I wanted to do some research of the history of British literature on a larger scale. When Professor Calhoun discussed Helen Vendler's comments on Shakespeare's unoriginality, I wanted to research the truth behind it. I found this timeline which lays out nicely the major themes of the time period, the years it lasted for, styles/genres, effect, historical context, and sample works and authors of the time period. In this course we go through the eras chronologically but if you ever wanted to remind yourself of where we are in history, this timeline maybe a helpful tool to use. I know it helped me when I was trying to think of the eras, works, and themes that came before Shakespeare this week.

I hope some of you find it helpful! :)

Here is the link:

http://www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu/gdumler/English%205A/Periods%20&%20Timelines/british_literature_timeline.htm

If Shakespeare’s Ideas Are Not Original, Whose Are?! -- Appreciating the Form of Sonnets

Rumination #2: Week 4

When I first read our Prologue for this week and the introduction to Shakespeare in our Norton’s Anthology, I was surprised to read that Shakespeare’s thoughts and themes were thought to be unoriginal. I just reread some of Vendler’s claims that are mentioned in the Prologue for week four. I decided to investigate these suggestions. As I was researching British literature, I stumbled upon a pretty helpful timeline, which I will post and explain above my rumination as my creative engagement for this week. The timeline gives a pretty good jist of the major concepts of the time period and also provides some staple examples by authors of the era.

So far in our course, we have “traveled” through the Old English/Anglo-Saxon Period in which there was an emphasis on fate, the success of heroic characters (as we saw in Beowulf), and expression of religious beliefs. To me, none of these concepts showed up as prominent themes in Shakespeare’s sonnets. The next stop on our travels was the Middle English Period. This is where I began to see Vendler’s point. When we read the works from the Middle English period, we saw themes revolving around love, which Shakespeare also focused on.

However, after I began writing this Rumination, I started to think of another quote by Vendler mentioned in the Prologue by Professor Calhoun. He pointed out Vendler’s quote that “The appeal of lyric lies elsewhere than in its paraphrasable statement” (14). I will admit that I had to reread this statement several times before I could make sense of it for myself. What I took away from this is that maybe what we should be appreciating about Shakespeare’s sonnets is the actual format of the sonnet and not necessarily the sonnet’s theme or message. Sonnets are definitely a difficult form of poetry to write. In the appendix of our anthology, a sonnet is defined as “a form combining a variable number of units of rhymed lines to produce a fourteen-line poem, usually in rhyming iambic pentameter lines” (A48). It also goes on to explain the Shakespearean sonnet as being “formed by three quatrains (abab cdcd efef) and a couplet (gg)” (A48). Talk about a mouth full! I was challenged by my high school honors English teacher to write my own sonnet, and let me tell you it was not easy. There are so many things to work with while trying to express an idea. You not only have to worry about conveying your ideas but you also have to think about the meter and the rhyme scheme of the sonnet. I now understand Vendler’s point that, yeah, maybe Shakespeare’s sonnets about love were not the most original themes or ideas but maybe that is not what we are supposed to worry about while analyzing the work. To me, Vendler was trying to tell us that the actual format of the sonnet is something that we should appreciate while reviewing the sonnets of Shakespeare instead of the theme or message of the sonnet.

As I started reading the sonnets from this week, my focus was more on the main idea of the sonnet. However, after I began this Rumination, I continued reading and rereading the sonnets focusing on the format of the sonnet versus the message. It really is impressive that Shakespeare was able to write this many sonnets while having to focus on the meter and rhyme scheme of each one. I definitely have a newfound respect for the sonnets of Shakespeare.

Lyrical Sequence: The Love Songs by A Fine Frenzy in "One Cell in the Sea"

When I first listened to our wildcard assignment for this week, many artists and albums came to mind. The album that choose to focus on is “One Cell in the Sea” by A Fine Frenzy (AFF). AFF is composed of only one female singer, Alison Sudol. Most of her songs focus on the lost of love and how it feels when it is gone. She also writes about relationships and the journey many can take only to end, similar to many of our readings for this week. Also similar to our readings this week, her songs give you a feeling as if she is singing to some in particular. AFF’s lyrics are very emotional and strong. Itunes describes Sudol’s lyrics as “dreamily evocative wordplay”. Although all her songs have sonnet-like lyrical sequences, I decided to discuss three of her more powerful and thought provoking songs, “Almost Lover,” “Ashes and Wine,” and “Last of Days”.

“Almost Lover” is the album’s most popular song. Sudol writes about the man who was “almost” her lover. She says goodbye to him in this slow tempo song. Sudol explains the reasons why she feel for this man and explains how is trying to deal with her loss. She puts the blame on her stating:

“I should've known you'd bring me heartache,

Almost lovers always do”.

The lyrics in this poem are similar to the sonnets we read this week because she examining why she had these feelings and explains how it feels when those feelings are no longer returned. The refrain is the most emotional part of the song and is repeated through the song:

“I never want to see you unhappy

I thought you'd want the same for me

Goodbye, my almost lover

Goodbye, my hopeless dream

I'm trying not to think about you

Can't you just let me be?

So long, my luckless romance

My back is turned on you

I should've known you'd bring me heartache,

Almost lovers always do”

The album continues with “Ashes and Wine” in which Sudol is also mourning the loss of a relationship. This time she is contemplating if there is anything she can do to bring the relationship back to life. There is a very hopeless feel to the song from the beginning when she states:

“Don't know what to do anymore

I've lost the only love worth fighting for”

She continues on to ask her lover if there is anything she can do to get them back in the refrain:

“Is there a chance?

A fragment of light at the end of the tunnel?

A reason to fight?

Is there a chance you may change your mind?

Or are we ashes and wine?”

This song is filled with emotion and desperation trying to get back her lover.

The last song I want to focus on from “One Cell in the Sea” is “Last of Days”. The lyrics of this song show Sudol’s feelings about how she is handling the loss of a love. She explains that:

“The world carries on without you

But nothing remains the same

I'll be lost without you

Until the last of days

Until the last of days”

Not only did this song remind me of the readings from this week, but it also reminded me of the readings from last week, specifically The Wife’s Lament, in which the wife describes how her life cannot on the same without her husband.

Overall, many of AFF’s songs have sonnet like lyrics and themes within them. If you have not ever listened to AFF and you enjoy female vocalists, I highly suggest the artist and the album.

Change in Structure, Style, and Meaning from Old English to 16th Century: Maybe Love Isn’t So Great?

Rumination #1: Week 2

The first thing that I began notice as I progressed in my readings was the obvious change in structure from the Old English time period to the 16^th century. Although they are poems, the literary works we read from Old English are not what one thinks of when one hears the word poem. Poems are usually thought of as rhyming lines with a regular meter or rhythm. Both “The Wanderer” and “The Wife’s Lament” following more of an essay or journal style writing in which the speaker tells of their hardships and sorrows being away from their loved one(s). In the Middle English works, the structure becomes much more apparent. The works of this time period are ballads in which Chaucer includes three or more stanzas written with the same rhyme scheme. Middle English is where we begin to found more structure in the ballads and lyrics, which often help the reader to remember the poem better. As we move to the 16^th century, we see Wyatt continue the use of structure. The structures of his poems are Petrarch sonnets but they steam away from the usual rhyme scheme. Also in the 16^th century, Howard uses the English sonnet structure in his works. Usually ballads and sonnets are truly representative of love, however, this may not be the case, as I will investigate in the next part of my blog entry.

Not only did I notice the change in structure of the works we read this week, I also noticed a shift in the style and meaning behind the works. Although all the works focused on love as a central focal point, they all have varying views of love. In the beginning of our literary journey, “The Wanderer” shows the devastation of losing a loved one and the need to replace them or move on to a different place in order to heal. Love is portrayed as something that is great when it is there but as the speaker in “The Wanderer” learned the hard way, lost love is the worst thing to have to deal. The speaker’s life seems as though it is a miserable burden day in and day out. The speaker in “The Wife’s Lament” also feels as though lost love is unbearable. The speaker points out that this the only she can think of and has faith that her loved is going through the same despair.

In the Middle English time period Chaucer writes about the frustration one can feel while in the state of being in love. In Chaucer’s “Troilus’s Song”, the speaker makes comments that allude to love as something that you can never get enough of, “For always thurste I, the more that I drinke” (Chaucer 316). In “Alison”, also written during the Middle English time period, the speaker claims, “I am for wooing worn out from waking” (437). Both these lines imply that love is some exhausting and frustrating on top of being great.

In the 16^th century, we come to read sonnets by Wyatt. Sonnets are normally thought of a love poem, something written about love and how great it is. However, Wyatt did not necessarily stick with this rule of thumb. Wyatt seems to have this negative view towards women, which shows up in sonnets. In the modern prose translation of “I Find No Peace”, the sonnet ends with “Equally displeasing to me are death and life. In this state am I, Lady, on account of you” (Wyatt 597). Here Wyatt is basically blaming his misery on the woman who he used to be in love with. Wyatt does not make love out to seem so great in this sonnet. Also during this time period, Howard wrote sonnets, which were said to be concerned with the structure than the actual inspiration of the poem. It seems, as though both writers of this time were writing sonnets, which typically are very lovey-dovey, that were not focused on the benefits of love.

All this being said, these "love" poems left me thinking, is love that great? (especially when it ends)

Connecting The Bloffice RSS Feed in UD Email

Okay so, after talking to Professor Calhoun, I now know how to connect The Bloffice to UD email account (Google Apps). The steps are pretty simple and I'll them below in case you are interested.

1. Login onto your Google Apps for UD

2. Click the word "Settings" in the top right corner of your screen (right next to the Sign-Out option)

3. Open the Web Clips tab under Settings

4. Go to The Bloffice home page and copy and paste the URL

5. Paste the URL on the left hand side under Web Clips

6. Hit search

7. Once it recognizes the website click Add

Now your RSS feed (located directly at the top of your inbox) will show you posts made on The Bloffice. This will allow you to stay more updated with posts made so you don't fall behind or miss important announcements. I deleted most of my default Web Clips to ensure that I'll see The Bloffice updates but that is totally up to you.

I hope this helps some of you! I know I check my email a lot more than Blogger. It'll kill two birds with one stone :)

Subscribing to The Bloffice

In order to stay up with the posts made to The Bloffice, I investigated how to subscribe to the posts made on it. In order to subscribe to the posts, you need to go to The Bloffice's page. Once there, scroll down and on the left side of the screen, you will see the bold words "Subscribe To", under that you can click on posts, I selected Google since that it the email account I have set up. Once you select Google, it will direct you to Google reader. Google reader is linked to our email. To change from viewing your email to your Google reader, look at the top left side of your email screen. However, I have NOT figured out to add Google reader to your udel email account because it is not one of the options in the top left corner. I have a separate gmail account that I was able to add Google reader to. Therefore, I will be checking my other gmail account while looking for updates on The Bloffice. I am still trying to figure out how to add an email notification to my udel account. Once I discover how to do this, I will post another blog with the directions.

Testing

This is my test Blog.