Blogs upon Blogs

When reading over the three blogs that I have posted thus far, I noticed that I have a tendency to ask questions in responses to the reading we have done in a given week. It is usually a question about something that strikes me as unusual or odd. On average, it seems that I use anywhere from 2-5 quotes from the text within my post. I can see the influence here of high school essay requirements, in which we had to use a certain amount of textual evidence to support our statements!

In my first post, titled “Where is the hero?” I noticed that I asked a central question, and then used a lot of quotes from the play to demonstrate my point. I detailed the qualities of each character, and then showed why I thought these qualities proved them to be non-heroic. I then made a conclusion based upon the evidence that I had presented. I have to say that in reading this post over again, I was impressed with the amount of detail and textual research I put into it. Also, this post generated a lot of comments – the most out of the three that I wrote. I cannot determine whether or not this was because of its content, the way in which I wrote it, or because it was written at an early point in the semester, when everyone may have been more eager to respond.

In reading my second post, called “STD’s galore,” I noticed that I really delved into the use of Shakespeare’s language. Again, I wrote about what stuck out to me most when reading the play. I also used a lot of textual examples to analyze Shakespeare’s use of puns and double entendres. This reflects my interest in his manipulation of words, and how he uses language as a “code” that the reader must decipher. I then spewed forth a series of questions in relation to this use of language, attempting to provoke some discussion, as well as hash out possible answers. I noticed that I have a lot of fun looking back at specific pieces of text, and using those pieces of text to analyze characters, language, or greater themes explored within the given play.

Finally, in my third and most recent post, titled “Full of False Formality,” I drew parallels between situations presented in Shakespeare’s work and current issues in today’s society. This was the first time I attempted to bring his plays into a modern context, and this post became more of an exploration of an idea, rather than a textual analysis. I do not think that this marks a change in my writing, but rather my attempt to dissect an idea outside of strict textual interpretation. Despite this attempt, I noticed that I still have the tendency to be a bit “descriptive” with my posts; in other words, I go back and summarize the plot in order to demonstrate my point, without much focus on my own ideas. This leaves little room for me to explore my original question.

Overall, I think I have tendencies toward asking questions and using quotations in my blog posts. This reflects my affinity for class discussion, as well as language exploration. I enjoy the utilization of blogging as a way for me to further reflect on our readings, beyond just swirling thoughts inside my head. It allows me to expand on and articulate those thoughts. Furthermore, writing and reading the responses to the original posts are a great way for students to share their ideas and provoke discussion amongst the class.