Get ready for confusing homework hence / Sir Shakespeare's rhyme scheme takes some time to crack!

Originally posted 11/14/11.

For the last couple of years, I've had to spend most late Fall—early Spring mornings walking nearly a mile to  TAPA, in the (typically wet/cold) Taipei Winter rain. I hate that. So gross. Maybe my least favorite moments of my time in Taiwan.

That's part of the reason I was so excited to get a scooter is that I would no longer have to make the death march in the terrible weather. A great example of that was this evening, when, in the nastiness, I was able to speed home, still drenched, but at least in less than 5 minutes. Awesome. It was this epic joy I felt in my heart that I decided to compose a Shakespearean Sonnet to this love:

  u       /      u          /            u         /        u      /      u      /
My scooter's paint job's nothing like a Benz;    [A]
  u       /           u       /        u         /             u       /       u       /
its scuffs and scratches prove that it's been used.    [B]
  u       /      u        /   u      /     u           /        u         /
The Harley of a wealthy man who spends    [A]
  u            /      u          /    u      /      u      /            u     /
looks perfect next to my machine, abused.    [B]

  u         /      u     /   u     /     u      /      u      /
The engine of a Harley Davidson    [C]
  u        /  u   /       u        /        u      /      u      /
Will easily outwork my motorbike.    [D]
  u       /          u          /   u    /      u      /        u      /
A brand new Yamaha, so fast, so fun,    [C]
  u    /      u            /      u         /        u      /      u      /
Is nowhere near to what my motor's like.    [D]

  u           /      u          /           u         /        u      /      u       /
Yet thine two-wheel'ed steed dost daily move    [E]
  u             /          u      /    u       /        u       /         u       /
Miss Webb and I betwixt our home to school.    [F]
  u            /    u          /        u         /    u     /      u          /
While other bikes more valuable may prove,    [E]
  u        /       u      /     u        /     u      /       u         /
For transportation's value, it's my jewel.    [F]

  u       /       u      /        u         /      u          /      u      /
So let's go get some money from the bank    [G]
  u       /               u            /        u     /      u      /      u      /
Because you've earned a fill-up of your tank.    [G]

OK, how about this? Is it a true Shakespearean sonnet after all? I'd go with yes:

• It's lyrical (i.e. not telling a story).
• It's 14-lines long.
• The entire thing is written in iambic pentameter.*
• It has the English (Shakespearean) rhyme scheme of ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG.
• It has 2 different thematic sections with a turn in the middle:
• First 8 lines: My scooter sucks in many ways.
• Last 6 lines: My scooter is awesome in many ways, and I will reward it (with gas).

Can you guess where this is going? If you guessed "HEY TEACH-AH, ARE WE GOING TO MAKE OUR OWN SONNETLAAAAAS?", then yes, you guessed right.

So here's the plan: starting today (for A-Day classes) and tomorrow (for B-Day classes), you'll be working on writing 14-line sonnets about something you have a love/hate relationship with. You'll need to write in iambic pentameter with a defined rhyme scheme (i.e. Italian ABBA/ABBA/CDECDE or Italian ABBA/ABBA/CDCDCD or English ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG—you pick!). Also, you'll need to make sure you label both the meter and word stresses and the rhyme scheme.

OH, and, just for an added bonus, I'll give extra points to my, let's say, top 3 favorite sonnets in both classes. You have one week to get this project done, so it'll be due at the beginning of Week of Prayer. Get started!

*One line I really had to get creative with: "two-wheel'ed." That's pronounced in 3 syllables. It's cheating, but whatever. I'm cool. I can do it.

As requested: Why I Tossed Your Résumé.

Click me for the blogpost!

Communications students seemed to really value the awesome advice in Brent Miller's awesome blogpost about the common mistakes in resumes, so, as you begged for, here's his post. Use it this weekend as you prepare your resumes for class on Monday. Remember that I want it printed out, and, even though resumes are usually only one page, this one may be two pages long (this time).

Also, the most awesome of you will watch this preview of what your interviews may look like.

"ARE YOU SAYIN' I'M A HUGLY SISTA THOUGH?"

For Comm...

"I'm not sure what to do with my hands..."

2 things today for Communications class, before you head out on break:

1. This:
   
   
   
   
2. Look at this list of Demonstration speech topics:
   
   
   
   Remember, what you're supposed to do is to pick 5 different Demonstration speech topics (that you can actually do) and write 5¶s—one for each of your 5 picks. Again, write something like this:
   

   1. How to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich^*—It's easy to make a PB&J sandwich, but I would teach not only how to make one, but different things you can do to make it delicious (e.g. different ingredients, tricks with temperature).

   ^*You cannot use that in your own list.

If you could get that done by the Sunday, January 29th before we get back (so I can check it on your blog and have an answer for you), that would be great! Have a wonderful and relaxing break!

Every Shakespeare comedy in less than 4 minutes

The A-Day British Lit class watched a video on Thursday of the Reduced Shakespeare Company's interpretation of the Bard's comedies. Here it is for them (in case they need the refresher).



Remember: the assignment is to compare this to what we've seen in Twelfth Night and 10 Things I Hate About You / Taming of the Shrew.

*** NOTE FOR FRIDAY'S B-DAY CLASS: You do not have to do this assignment... yet. You'll probably end up watching this video after Chinese New Year break, and then you can do it. Just chill out for now! ***

Irony via The Oatmeal

Due to popular demand, I'm posting the Oatmeal comic about irony that I showed the English II classes earlier this week. Click either the picture to the left or this link to see this and all the other crazy comics of this awesome site!

Who gives homework on the first day back? THIS GUY. Write 3 things about 10 Things

Welcome back, TAPA! Hope your Christmas break was as awesome as mine was. Coolest thing I did over my vacation in Boracay was hang out with these little guys:



So, now that we're all here, we need to get right back to work. Usually, in British Literature, Second Quarter is focused entirely on Shakespeare, and then when we get to the Third Quarter, we move on to other things. However, we only got the chance to read MacBeth and watch Hamlet, and that's really unfair to you, because you really should spend some time with the Bard's comedies. Therefore, we're going to go through three straight comedies: Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, and Much Ado About Nothing.

Here's the twist: for the first comedy, we're going to watch a 1993 adaptation called 10 Things I Hate About You. In class, we'll get through about one hour, but there will be a bit of time afterwards you'll have to finish up on your own. Therefore, your three assignments are to:

1. Finish the film. The  clips below are the 9th, 10th, and 11th parts of the film. Finish 'em.
   
2. Read the Lambs' Tales of Shakespeare summary of TotS. In 1807, siblings Charles and Mary Lamb wrote shortened, children-appropriate versions of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays. You can find the summary of Taming of the Shrew here. Read it.
   
3. Write a three-paragraph summary of three  specific  modernizations in 10 Things. Post it to your blog, by next class!

There it is. Get to watching.

---

Part 8:


Part 9:


Part 10:


Part 11:

Chickens + Shakespeare + Post-it Notes = FTW1,000

While presumably looking for pictures for your To Be or Not To Be and What is a man/My Thoughts Be Bloody, a few of you found these Post-it Note looking comics online.

If you researched a little bit, you would have found they come from an internet comic called Savage Chickens. They don't just do cartoons about Shakespeare, but about all kinds of stuff. However, in honor of you completing a semester of British Lit (and ending Hamlet), I present the following:

Another dose of awesome: Animaniacs do Hamlet

When I posted the Greatest MacBeth Clip on YouTube EVER, I lol'd and thought "Wow, those cartoons awesomely did an adaption of Shakespeare. There is no way to improve that."

I was wrong.

Presenting, Hamlet and Yorick...

The importance of the third comma

Hey British Lit—here you go :-)

(via Mr. Burkett)

MacBeth + Animaniacs = Greatest MacBeth clip on YouTube clip EVER (?)

When Mrs. Webb and I were young, we both used to watch a TV show called Animaniacs. It was a really hilarious Warner Brothers cartoon that was kind of the equivalent of a Sponge Bob, but 1) not as annoying, and 2) occasionally educational. I still think of many of the jokes I heard on there, like, 20 years earlier.

Today, I was working on some stuff online, and I stumbled upon this. For your viewing pleasure, the 3 witches of Macbeth... Animaniacs style.



For extra awesome sauce life credit, check out the related video about all the countries of the world. Learn the whole song and I'll buy you lunch.

Put Shakespeare into action: insult your friends with Elizabethan invective

invective [in-VEK-tiv] — noun

1. vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach.
2. a railing accusation; vituperation.
3. an insulting or abusive word or expression.

Reason #432 that life was better in the time of Shakespeare than today: instead of naughty curse words (like @#$% or &@%#$* or whatever you kids are saying nowadays), people used to use invective to curse out their enemies. Neatorama, one of my favorite blogs, recently shared a cheat sheet on how to blast someone, Shakespeare-style. Feel free to create your own epic invective and refer to your friends as such for the rest of the day, and post your favorite combination in the comments.



I'm a huge fan of loggerheaded beef-witted strumpet, for what it's worth.

Art imitates Life.

Apparently, if I ever need a substitute teacher for my classes, the guy who draws XKCD might be the best option:

(h/t to Mr. Burkett)