After all of the annotations, I was very relieved to move on from Hamlet. I definitely enjoyed reading Shakespeare, but I felt it was time for something new. I was also very grateful for what ended up to be our final. Worrying about failing the terms test AGAIN was not something I was looking forward too. Acting out Hamlet as our final was a great alternative and I actually learned a lot. Each group's interpretation of their selected scene made me realize how many different ways there are to take in a matter. Not one group's performance was exactly the same, I thought this might pose as an issue. Watching the finals I noticed how each factor in a play can contribute to the effect received from the audience. Each specific movement can mean something, this is what Shakespeare left out by not including specific stage directions. I think he wanted us to be as imaginative as possible with what he left us. After realizing this technique Shakespeare is famous for, I started to notice it everywhere. In every text, art, conversation, etc., there are items missing for others to fill them in. The world around us it completely open to an individual's interpretation.
So far, I've found Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard very interesting, and also very confusing! I think the techniques Stoppard uses are complex and very new to me. I like how the story overlaps with Hamlet, telling the story of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. That allows for the comparison between the two to be rather basic. I can't wait until I find out more of what's really going on in Stoppard's head, I just want to follow along! I'm kind of excited to re-read and annotate this play because I know it will help me see all of the details and meanings behind Stoppard's choices.
I really like your first paragraph! It made it pretty clear that you're really thinking about what's going on in class. I too found R and G very interesting. It's probably my favorite play we've read! One thing I would suggest is to include some of the smaller things we do in class too. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that I was happy about the final. It was cool to see how everyone had a different way of interpreting the scenes and I thought it was fun to try and figure out what lens they were looking at it from. I also agree that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead was very confusing, but as we continued to analyze it it became more and more clear for me.
ReplyDeleteYou have made a lot of very good points. It is cool to see an author's thoughts come to life. I like how you actually went deeper into the things we have done in class and explained how you feel about them instead of just listing them off. Nice job!
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