Midterm Meta-blog!

In all three of my posts I focus on the theme of power. I explore how main characters display the power that he or she feels they are worthy of. This assumed power often turns on the character leaving he or she to be restored in some way. In King Richards’ case, death was his restoration. Shylock abused his power and in the end was humiliated and his power taken away. Sly puffs his feathers up, for the waitress in the tavern scene, who immediately puts him in his place (and since she is a woman it is even more powerful).

After reading all of my posts I found that I focus on a broad theme and see how it applies to different aspects of the play. Shakespeares’ writing is so faceted that this approach makes the most sense to me. I know that Shakespeare wouldn’t introduce a theme in the beginning of a play and then never refer back to that theme. If he introduced it then it is totally worth exploring. It is that point in time where I become a detective and question the motives of all the characters and how they relate to the theme I have in mind It is interesting to see certain elemnts in my writing because I never realized that was how I approached Shakespeare.

I found that in my first post I really focused on a broad theme and analyzed it thoroughly. This was my first blogging experience and the first time I had seen Shakespeare in a long time. I think I stuck to that theme out of fear that I would digress if I didn’t, but it turned out to be a very successful approach. My next two posts did focus on a broad theme but they were a little less thorough and targeted. While I did have many elements that brought in a common theme, I also explored different elements of the text. In my later blogs I talk about language a bit and even tie two themes together. I think that I was becoming a bit more comfortable with the text but I feel that I should have explored the theme as thoroughly I had in my first blog (which was out of apprehension). My later blogs are a bit more exploratory. I thought that I was progressing but it seems I should have stuck to my instinctual method that I displayed in the first blog.

It is definitely worth it to examine our own blogs in this way. Other people read and post to them but it isn’t often that I revisit one of my older blogs. This forum is a comfortable and safe atmosphere where people can share ideas. It is a place where students can focus on what they want to focus. There is no one telling us what to comment on either. I find myself reading through many posts in order to find one I am most interested in. there also seems to be just enough writing with the blogs. It is something that is easy to read and the opposite of stressful.