The Last Post

• We'll just go through a basic rundown of the learning expectations.
• 1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy
  
  
  Demonstrate mastery over fundamental information about Shakespeare’s works, life, and legacy

  a. Breadth (knowledge of a range of Shakespeare’s works)

  b. Depth (more thorough knowledge of a single work)

  c. Performance (stage and screen)

  d. Legacy (history, scholarship, popular culture)

  
  

  Did pretty well here - read a bunch of plays, watched a bunch of film productions, went to a couple live plays. I learned a lot about Shakespeare, and specifically about the plays we read.
• 2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically
  
  
  Interpret Shakespeare’s works critically in their written form, in performance (stage or screen) and in digitally mediated transformations. This includes 
  a. Textual analysis (theme, language, formal devices)
  b. Contextual analysis (historical, contemporary, cultural)
  c. Application of literary theories 
  d. Analysis of digital mediations
  
  
  I did a lot of this, especially in trying to analyze some of Shakespeare's most important speeches (in Julius Caesar and Henry V especially). I broke down most of them to the point that I could make a desperate attempt at trying to recreate them. I also analyzed other plays in the most general sense.
• 3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively
  
  
  
  
  a. Performance (memorization, recitation, scene on stage or video)

  b. Individual creative work (literary imitation, art, music)

  c. Collaborative creative project

  
  

  The soliloquy I wrote for William the Conqueror (literary imitation) was one of the most difficult things to write... ever. Not only does iambic pentameter kick my but, but Shakespeare was a genius. Trying to write something that could be passed off as him is like trying to compose a piece of music that could be passed off as Beethoven or Mozart (impossible). It was really fun to try, though.
• 4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully
  
  
  
  
  This includes engaging in the following:

  a. Formal Writing. Develop and communicate your ideas about Shakespeare clearly in formal and researched writing and through a format and medium that puts your ideas into public circulation.

  b. Informal Writing. This mainly means through regular online writing

  c. Connecting. Share one’s learning and creative work with others both in and outside of class.

  
  

  I first tried connecting with other people by using a wiki, to let the diversity of thought analyze a Shakespearean theme (existentialism) in a group setting. The wiki didn't take off too well, so later I spammed my Facebook and Twitter followings to look at what I wrote and comment on it. Later I took the piece of faux Shakespeare I wrote around to others and had them analyze it, video taping their analysis for our final project.
• 5. Gain Digital Literacy
  
  
  Students use their study of Shakespeare as a way of understanding and developing fluency in 21st century learning skills and computer-mediated modes of communication. Those skills are grouped under the following categories.

  a. Consume - Effective and independent selecting, searching, researching, 

  b. Create - Producing content that demonstrates learning and which can be shared for others to profit from.

  c. Connect - Engage with other learners within and outside of the class to develop thinking and share more formal work.

  
  

  I don't know if digital literacy was something I was particularly lacking in, but I used the following:

  
  

  Google Docs, Prezi, YouTube, WikiSpaces, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, iMovie and Capture.ly as a part of this class. That's a pretty broad range of digital tools.

Expert Analysis

Video Interviews

Here is some video for our project. It's uncut and rough, but it can be edited later if we decide to go through with it.

Experiment #3 - Crowdsourcing Faux Shakespeare

I have long been fascinated with the idea of crowdsourcing. See the video below for a brief explanation.


Crowdsourcing is effective partially because when people have diversity of thought, they can look at something with fresh eyes and a different perspective. That's the reason we peer review, that's the reason we have group workshopping in our writing classes, and that's the reason private companies have been able to put people on the moon, fix our toothpaste and stop our orange juice from going brown at less than 1/10th the cost of what it previously would have been (see the X Prize foundation for more on that). 
I tried a couple ways of experimenting with connecting people through an open call previously, first by asking people to add their thoughts to a wiki I set up. I think this failed largely because it was too much work, and wikis are too difficult to edit (especially for one who is unfamiliar with wikis). A few people contributed, but most people weren't sure of what they should contribute or how.
Since that was too much work I asked people to comment on/critique a later soliloquoy of the faux Shakespearian character William the Conqueror. A lot of people read the post, and a few people commented, but they were cut off from participation -- they could only say, "I like this" or "I don't like this."
I'm an entrepreneur, and in my spare time I and some other BYU students have been working on a project called GrassWire, which we hope will help crowdsource journalism, lowering the barriers to entry for would-be journalists yet keeping high quality due to crowdsourced editing/fact checking. Our theory is that if one person takes ownership for and provides the original content for a news article, others will edit and/or fact check as they read, and from their suggestions the original author can improve their article. It takes crowdsourcing to a new level, and basically creates a virtual, mass-oriented workshopping for each article.
So what if we combined the concepts of collaboration/crowdsourcing and social validation and turned them into group creation?
In other words, what if I wrote something for our faux Shakespeare play, and instead of just posting it on the blog I put it in a Google Doc (a format familiar to all), and asked the same social network that got over 100 views to the last soliloquy in 24 hours? I would be able to revert back to originals if I didn't like changes, and the diversity of thinking and creativity would make the sections that may be hard for any individual better; for some it will just click. 
I'll write something, and see how much better everyone working together can make it.
E Pluribus Unum.

Traditional VO/SOT/VO

I'll be honest, I'm a bit confused as to what we're supposed to do with the movie, but here's a crack at it.

Most everyone else that's doing it has applied something from their major or their hobby, be it Chloe dancing or Kent fighting, etc.

So I'm a Communications major (with an emphasis in Advertising, like Kent), and as a prerequisite media writing class we had a unit on broadcast journalism and how to write a package or VO/SOT/VO (Voice-over, sound on tape, voice-over).

An excellent example of that is this (warning: explicit language at about the 20 second mark).


So I decided that (along with other blogging) I'll write a VO/SOT/VO for a potential Shakespeare report (although I'm not in the group telling the story of how it came about, it should help a bit). We could easily prepare it as if it were a real newscast, even with something as simple as iMovie.

Social Validation

So I posted on Facebook (about 800 friends) and tweeted to my Twitter followers (200+) to critique my blog post. This is what happened to my stats.

I had 110 page views in the last 24 hours. I've had 419 all-time.

Not as many people commented as I would have hoped (but I can't blame them, I wouldn't have either), but it's started some discussions among friends (unfortunately not on social media, so I can't show you those). I'll keep you updated.

Battle of Hastings Speech - "Come With Me" Clause

Here she is. See the previous post for some of the patterns we wanted to follow. The scene: This time the Norwegians are still across the border, and have to decide to cross, and to "burn the boats" as it were. Look for the appeals to regret, God and victory, as well as lines similar to those found in Julius Caesar. I also put in a couple of sayings that we could have hypothetically taken from Shakespeare (like we did the rest of the English language) that we don't know the origin of with surety.

Here is the first clause, the "Come with me or go home" clause. More to come later. It takes forever to write this stuff. Shakespeare is a wizard.

To sink or swim? To cross or shrink? To Him
Whose hands of dust and self created life,
Invisible may be, yet with us still,
To Him declare retreat, in coward's prayer.
I shall not hear't; shan't the knowledge bear,
Nor glimpse of caitiff see, nor tim'rous hear;
The death before the bout, preludious knell!
To sit ashore in shame; defeat across
Innoble brow forever stamp'd. 'Tis not
my cup to drink, if thine speak now. To run
And live? Impossible, if still be life.
Return to wife or child, to craft or trade
with yearning to forget the fruitless day;
The day thou might'st have made the cross.
So be we valiant? Be we errant fools
By trusting God who formed us of this soil?
'Tis better still to die on yonder isle
Than doubting live, unknowing 'twixt the two.

The Battle of Hastings Speech

I've blogged a lot about "the sizzle vs. the steak," or what it takes to create a pump-up speech, and I think I have what it takes to make a great speech boiled down to a few elements. So here's what we need for a great speech before the Battle of Hastings.

1. A great motive. The normans weren't fighting to win England, they were fighting for something greater. Something higher that William could appeal to.

Possible motives:

• God/religion
• Country/nationalism
• Justice (did England wrong Norway somehow?)

2. A "go home" clause. This doesn't have to be sincere. You're already there, are you really going to go home? No, but William needs to give this as an option to the soldiers. "You can go back to Normandy if you want" (but can you really?) "If not, we will fight really hard and totally win." He would say it a little more eloquently, but that's the idea. Each person dismisses the first option in their mind, so whatever you say in the second half they see as their only option.

3. "I'm in" clause. Here William shows his dedication. This is where he is the first to publicly declare after the ultimatum that he will go into battle. This establishes him as the undeniable leader.

4. The difficulty clause. If it's all highs and no lows you're setting yourself up for an ankle-breaking crossover. If you don't know the negative you can't understand the positive.

5. The second ultimatum. We win or we die, no turning back, this is it.

6. All together now!

Now to turn all that into iambic pentameter... that blog post might take a while.

Shakespearian Crossover

This sounds like a conversation I would have with my mom.

LONGAVILLE: I beseech you, a word: what is she in the white?
BOYET: A woman sometimes, an' you saw her in the light.
LONGAVILLE: Perchance light in the light. I desire her name.
BOYET: She hath but one for herself; to desire that were a shame.
LONGAVILLE: Pray you, sir, whose daughter?
BOYET: Her mother's, I have heard.
LONGAVILLE: God's blessing on your beard!

"God's blessing on your beard" must be the Shakespearian equivalent of, "And whose car do you drive? Do you want it taken away?"

The thing that is shocking about these few lines is how literal they are. Indeed, Shakespeare is known for his figurative language. So the reason this contrast works so well, is because we have been primed to wait for such figurative speech.

That's what Allen Iverson said about his crossover. How does it happen that he always breaks ankles when he drives to the basket? It's a phenomenon sports analysts studied, until they came out with a study that I can't find for the life of me, but it works like a charm.

In the first half, Iverson would fake one way. He has a great crossover, so you have to really get a jump on it to stop him. He would go right to left and he'd get you. He'd go right to left and he'd just barely get you. He'd go right to left and you'd be inches away.

And then he'd start right, fake left and go right. You were ready this time. You were jumping to his left. You were going to stuff him. But he went the other way. And your ankles were broken.

See if people are jumping the gun a little bit in these clips, and you'll see why Shakespeare speaking literally seems so sharp. Watch the first clip - Jordan wants Iverson to go to his left (Jordan's right) and he jumps that way in anticipation... twice. Pay attention to how the defenders are jumping before Iverson is crossing over.

William the Bastard Conqueror

Thought from yesterday (since I didn't have time to write it down). When talking with Chloe about William the Conqueror we threw out a few potential personalities for our William the Conqueror. You don't really want to do another Henry V. Trying to imitate that without copying/plagiarizing too much would be difficult. So, what if... William the Conqueror the antithesis or foil of Henry V? So, we have the valiant Henry V.

It seems from reading the play that Shakespeare would have us remember Henry V as a hero. We can see the responsibility weighing down on Henry, that he is not the one who wants to take france for the sake of his own power or glory, and he at times bemoans the fact that he isn't a common man, and that he has to act to bring justice to those under him.

But now, we will have William the Conqueror.

William the Conqueror, while just as hard of a worker and just as determined as Henry, does not have as pure of motives.

But his men don't know that.

He wants to take over England because it's a big, rich, powerful country. He is friendly to his troops not because he respects and reveres them or because he wants the best for them, but because he sees them as pawns. He wants to manipulate them into doing his will, yet when the defining moment arises will always choose his own comfort and the selfish option over helping out his troops and subordinates.

But he can pretend like he's being Henry V-like. 

He conquered at Battle of Hastings. He changed England. He was dominant. But after he had won the victory, what if it all caught up with him? True, this sounds more like a tragedy, but it's just a thought.

H eis said to have died because he fell off his horse. It sounds like the truth could have been twisted a bit.

He died when invading France by "falling off his horse."

Francesco's Soliloquy

From Sarah's blog post about characters

Francesco- son of the Doge/Duke of Venice, and a member of Venice's Council of Ten. Completely fascinated with Western expansion and anything involving the New World.  Secretly fears his sister, Filippa, although he puts on a good facade to hide it when she's around.  Wants to exile her when his father passes and he becomes the Doge/Duke of Venice.

The following is Francesco's soliloquy about the new world and his desire for the unknown that it represents, having been reprimanded for not sleeping during the night and thereby not acting in his position as future Duke.

My heart hath followed sun as it did set.
Expectest thou that I should sleep the night?
Expect I then that thou shouldst sprout a tail
Should I inform the press thou art a cur.

And eyes attached to heart as always are,
When poor man glimpses sight of purse not own'd,
Or beggar, fete, yet lacking bid from hosts,
Thou sayest, "Do not think!" by this, "Don't want."

Allow one dream to kill the other kind?
Tho treason, blaspheme, sacrelige be vile,
What thou suggestest, worst of all the evil
Tripe that spewest forth from tongue or tooth.


(It goes on, but I'll have to finish later).

The Hokey Pokey - Shakespeare Style

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.

 -- by "William Shakespeare"

Sizzle, not the Steak

I used to work at sales in a software company.  I was awful at it.

I truly believed in the software we had to offer. It was much better than our competitors. It would allow a small business plug into a catalog of millions of product, so they would immediately have something to sell online.

I would go into all of the details of the quality of products, the pricing, the number, the type of code used, etc. etc. etc. And I would barely make quota.

Then there were Jess and Brynn and Greg. They would knock it out of the park every week (unless they broke up with someone). I remember when Greg listened to me on a call once, and I asked him what I was doing wrong.

"You're selling the steak."
"...OK?"
"You need to sell the sizzle."

He was right. I was talking about the "steak" -- the software. I talked about what it was made out of, what it looked like, how it acted, and how it compared. What I needed to talk about was the "sizzle." How you could be successful, you could have your own business, you could have a passive income... all of this was true. It was what you could do with the software, not what the software was. It's hard to sell software, it's easy to sell the American dream.

Shakespeare understood this. Henry V understood this.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage; Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; Let pry through the portage of the head Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit To his full height. On, on, you noblest English. Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, Have in these parts from morn till even fought And sheathed their swords for lack of argument: Dishonour not your mothers; now attest That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you. Be copy now to men of grosser blood, And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman, Whose limbs were made in England, show us here The mettle of your pasture; let us swear That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not; For there is none of you so mean and base, That hath not noble lustre in your eyes. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' Henry V wasn't selling a hard-fought victory. He was selling glory. He was selling strength. He was selling honor. The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea; Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there. Portia isn't defending Antonio (or Antonia, depending on the version), she was selling mercy. How different is it to say, "Antonio should go free" vs. saying, "Mercy is an admirable quality?" Sizzle, not steak.

Ambition Should Be Made of Sterner Stuff

I don't remember how old I was, but I remember at the time we were doing something in class where we were supposed to assign one of ten attributes to each of our classmates. At the end the results were compiled, and we could all see which (almost all positive) attributes best described us.

The overwhelming response to which attribute best described me was, "Ambitious."

I was young enough that although I had a pretty good idea of what ambition was, I decided since it's the attribute that apparently described me the best according to my classmates, I would look up the official definition. I'm sure I found something not far removed from this:

am·bi·tion/amˈbiSHən/

Noun:

A strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Desire and determination to achieve success

Yeah! I'm a hard worker who is determined. Take that, mom!

Yet ambition also can have a negative connotation (or denotation), depending on the context in which it is used. (Interestingly enough if you do a Google search for "ambition negative connotation" the first result quotes Julius Caesar).

"Ambition makes you look pretty ugly." - Radiohead -- Paranoid Android.

Ambition is one of those few words in the English language that can be used just as easily when complimenting someone as when criticizing someone.

"Look at how ambitious that little boy is. He'll go on to great things."
"What an ambitious little #@$%!"

This modern day connotation of the word makes the funeral speech of Antony that much more amazing. Antony is placed in an odd position where he is supposed to praise Caesar, yet praise those who murdered him. Undoubtedly the word "ambition" in this context is used in the negative sense, but Antony's words make "ambitious" seem like the least likely word to describe Caesar.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me.
But Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
...
When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
...
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
...
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And sure he is an honourable man.

And he ends it with a bang. How can you call a man who denied a crown three times, "Ambitious?" Was he really striving for fame and glory, or was he just great enough that he was destined for it? This theme ran throughout the play. Is it our fate, or our cunning?

Semester Project

I'm trying to control myself.

You see, I tend to get excited about things, and then when the rubber meets the road I realize I don't have as much time to put into things as I would like. It's a classic problem in business -- you talk a lot, but you never get stuff done. I could tell you of countless companies that fail this way.

So for this semester project, as much as I can see a vision of something earth-shattering and awesome, reality is we will be coming up on finals, and we will be busy.

But I would like to see a wide variety of people coming together, each using his or her various skills (as discussed in class) to contribute something unique to one project. Maybe the whole class won't join in, but I love the diversity that the class showed. so...

The big idea


(It hurts me to say it like that... I'm an entrepreneur who doesn't pitch ideas without traction and loads of research, but...)

We could create either a trailer for a documentary or a very short documentary -- a "the making of" a fictional Shakespeare film (that would be the project had we infinite resources). You can show how x produced a song, or y producing the storyboard (yes, I just reduced names to mathematical variables).

Simple, could go a lot of different ways, room for creativity, feasible.

How's My Blogging?

Yeeeah, I'm way late on this one, and I'm slow on my blogging. I'll pick it up, promise.

So as far as evaluating my blogging so far, we have the following. My notes will

• 1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy
  
  
  
  
  Demonstrate mastery over fundamental information about Shakespeare’s works, life, and legacy

  a. Breadth (knowledge of a range of Shakespeare’s works)

  b. Depth (more thorough knowledge of a single work)

  c. Performance (stage and screen)

  d. Legacy (history, scholarship, popular culture)

Well, I'm reading a lot of Shakespeare, and I do understand it, but my blogs certainly don't convey this. I need to work on #1.

• 2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically
  
  
  Interpret Shakespeare’s works critically in their written form, in performance (stage or screen) and in digitally mediated transformations. This includes 
  a. Textual analysis (theme, language, formal devices)
  b. Contextual analysis (historical, contemporary, cultural)
  c. Application of literary theories 
  d. Analysis of digital mediations

I also need to work on this one, turns out.

• 3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively
  
  
  
  
  a. Performance (memorization, recitation, scene on stage or video)

  b. Individual creative work (literary imitation, art, music)

  c. Collaborative creative project

I've done better with this one. I have a creative work coming (see next blog post), and have been working on a bit of a collaborative shakespeare project (that didn't get too far off the ground, but I made an attempt).

• 4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully
  
  
  
  
  This includes engaging in the following:

  a. Formal Writing. Develop and communicate your ideas about Shakespeare clearly in formal and researched writing and through a format and medium that puts your ideas into public circulation.

  b. Informal Writing. This mainly means through regular online writing

  c. Connecting. Share one’s learning and creative work with others both in and outside of class.

I've made a little bit of an effort to share Shakespeare stuff on Facebook and Twitter, but I could do better. I also haven't been participating in the classroom blogosphere as much as I should have been.

• 5. Gain Digital Literacy
  
  
  Students use their study of Shakespeare as a way of understanding and developing fluency in 21st century learning skills and computer-mediated modes of communication. Those skills are grouped under the following categories.

  a. Consume - Effective and independent selecting, searching, researching, 

  b. Create - Producing content that demonstrates learning and which can be shared for others to profit from. 

• c. Connect - Engage with other learners within and outside of the class to develop thinking and share more formal work.

I'm not sure how much digital literacy I needed to gain, but I consider myself "perfectly adequate" as far as this is concerned. If this means going into the HTML of my blog posts and editing, I've been doing that.  I've been enough of an Internet/computer nerd for long enough that this has never truly been an issue.

So here's to more/better/more analytical blogging going forward. Cheers,

Austen