I purposely try to limit my contributions to our blog space to comments, but I wanted this week to respond to all of your great posts on your writing and the blog. I have really enjoyed reading through them this week and thank everyone for your thoughtful reflections on the assignment and your own writing. I hope that this process of review has generated some new ideas for you, even some possible paper topics as we move toward the end of the term.
My purpose in using the blog in this class is really twofold:
1. To create a sense of community around our reading of Shakespeare. In a classroom of 35 students, there is so much rich potential for exploring the work of Shakespeare. Our weekly meetings only allow us to scratch the surface, and I love seeing how many new ideas can emerge from the thoughtful reflections we see on the blog each week. I strive to have a sense of group inquiry in the class, and the blog is one of the main tools for supporting that goal. I learn a lot from reading your posts, and constantly gain new insights to these texts through your writing.
2. To use short writing assignments as a way of improving our thinking, reading, and writing. I think that these posts provide a much more effective engagement with the material than an exam, or even in-class discussions allow. Since I implemented blogging in my Shakespeare classes, I have been really impressed by the level of class discussions, papers, and final exams. I think this all stems from the intense level of engagement that comes from thinking about and crafting these responses. There are many, many great ideas that we have that never materialize into anything because they remain just thoughts. Blogging is an outlet for making these part of a conversation.
I'm happy to see from reading your posts that these goals, and many more, are being accomplished on the blog. Thanks to everyone for these great contributions, and I look forward to reading your responses for the rest of the term!
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