These are the best of a wonderful bunch of final blogs by students of ENGL210 in 2022. These blogs show the depth of appreciation for Shakespeare and the Renaissance that these students have uncovered for themselves through writing informally and creatively and through interacting with their peers. Some of the best learning in all my teaching years has been achieved through opening up the doors of creative expression through this blogging platform. Thank you all for your creativity and insights. I wish you all (including those not included in this showcase) the very best in your future careers as teachers, or whatever else comes your way…. Michael G
Hi Alexa, I think this is the best summative entry because it is honest, direct and really insightful into the unique observations Shakespeare made on the nature of love. And as you so well indicate these are insights that can really help to shape our understanding about love in our own century where love has become so debased by the media and the obsessions with externals. Thank you for your courageous insights AND for your real appreciation for the way blogging has helped you to open up to the depths of the period through spontaneous writing and interactions with your peers.
Wow Liarn, that is an amazing concluding entry! So good! You have shown powerfully how the task of comparing a literary text and a work of art from the Renaissance, and then having to blog about this – imagining yourself as the character in the painting- really led to a much deeper understanding of both the play and the painting. Your answer is a perfect illustration of how interdisciplinary work (literature/ art) coupled with being inducted into working with creative blogging -imagining yourself as a character- all this has produced such a powerful result in creative understanding.
Carmel, this is a beautiful and thoughtful summary of why you think Shakespearen is still so important to our own times. I was especially touched by your recognition that many of the emotional flash points that are part of our 21st Century experience are there, staring us in the face in Shakesepare- and HE has this amazing capacity to lift us through these events with more understanding. Great work Carmel!
This is a wonderful summative entry Ruby, especially because you understand with such sensitivity the amazing impact Shakespeare has had on redefining the nature of love, especially from a woman’s perspective. Your write beautifully too (with the occasional glitch!) and capture the way in which Shakespeare has re-inspired you as an adult reader.
Alysha, this is a wonderful summative entry. I liked especially the way you were able to connect Shakespeare’s sonnet 146 to the core of all of his work. That takes a real insight to see that connection. Well presented and well written too!!
Maddison, this is one of the best summative entries to link Shakespeare’s powerful observations about racism and social injustice to our own century. Well done for bringing this aspect of the Bard’s insights so sharply into focus. Great work Maddison and good wishes for your future.
Michael
Tamra- Leigh- your Summative Entry is an amazing entry that shows the growth from someone who had little understanding of Shakespeare to someone who suddenly finds the whole world opened up in a new way.
Thank you Andrew Coleman for your really thoughtful depiction of Mr Shakespeare as a sage for us all across the centuries. You have the knack of putting your finger on some of the most important moments in our journey through Shakesepeare. Great work!
Ciara, this is a wonderful summary of how much you have been able to draw from this unit. You write beautifully about your experience of the plays, but you also weave in, so well, the way that your experience of Renaissance Art and of the historical context provided by the Shakespeare room at the Mitchell Library helped to deepen your appreciation further. This is outstanding work.
Andrew Carloss
Thank you Andrew for creating one of the most insightful and powerful recommendations for the way Shakespeare still has the power to transform lives in our own times. Powerful stuff Andrew!!!
A fabulous summative entry Kate that shows a thoughtful approach to the way Shakespeare still resonates with the experiences of our own time.
Georgia this another wonderful entry that shows your deep and thoughtful engagement with the literature and the art of the period. Your comments on the painting of Aesop and the way you relate this to Shakespeare’s fool is fabulous, and your ability to discern the deep links between all the plays and issues in our own century is very thought-provoking!
HI Frankie- this is lovely, solid, appreciative entry that brings together your strong sense of how Shakespeare’s plays hold many truths for our modern times. But you have also recognized, beautifully, the benefit of linking literature with the visual arts. Clearly this link has helped you to make all kinds of connections that help your understanding of the period and of the language of the age of Shakespeare.
Rebecca, this is powerful summative entry that shows clearly how our own contemporary world can learn so much from the way Shakespeare observed the complexities of the world in which he lived. You have a beautiful way of making linkages between then and now: the hallmarks of a great teacher.
Michael Griffith: Home Page- Literature and Life Summer 2023 