Showing posts with label Shakespeare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shakespeare. Show all posts

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Shakespeare in 140 characters: Brit Lit students tweet "Twelfth Night" (Part II)

In preparation for a play they will be performing for TAPA, British Lit students have been working hard on learning the intricacies of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", through reading and re-reading the text, filing out worksheets for their lovable teacher, and, most recently, tweeting the entire play to the entire world. By popular demand, here is another selection of the amazing tweets done by them.

The Characters

#Viola











#Cesario





#Orsino











#Olivia











#TobyBelch











#Maria











#Feste











#Sebastian











#AndrewAguecheek











#Malvolio











#Antonio











at 4:05 PM 0 comments
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Monday, March 4, 2013

Shakespeare in 140 characters: Brit Lit students tweet "Twelfth Night" (Part I)

In preparation for a play they will be performing for TAPA, British Lit students have been working hard on learning the intricacies of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", through reading and re-reading the text, filing out worksheets for their lovable teacher, and, most recently, tweeting the entire play to the entire world. Here is a selection of the amazing tweets done by them.

The Play


Act I, Scene 1 (#a1s1)








Act I, Scene 2 (#a1s2)








Act I, Scene 3 (#a1s3)








Act I, Scene 4 (#a1s4)











Act I, Scene 5 (#a1s5)








Act II, Scene 1 (#a2s1)








Act II, Scene 2 (#a2s2)








Act II, Scene 3 (#a2s3)








Act II, Scene 4 (#a2s4)








Act II, Scene 5 (#a2s5)








Act III, Scene 1 (#a3s1)








Act III, Scene 2 (#a3s2)








Act III, Scene 3 (#a3s3)








Act III, Scene 4 (#a#s4)








Act IV, Scene 1 (#a4s1)











Act IV, Scene 2 (#a4s2)











Act IV, Scene 3 (#a4s3)











Act V, Scene 1 (#a5s1)



















at 4:05 PM 0 comments
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Monday, December 17, 2012

EXTRA, EXTRA: British Lit students got your Christmas reading here!

For their final project of the semester, British Literature students were assigned to show how much they understood William Shakespeare's Macbeth by making a graphic novel interpretation of the famous story. If you're looking for some cool comics to read over the Christmas break, consider a few of these great stories!
A Day
Aleena and Belle
 Annika and Sally
 Brian and Samuel
Chanda and Emily
 Christine and Kevin
 Joyce and Sian
Kelly and Mandy
 Patrick and Robert
B Day
Amy and Anderson
 Grace C. and Janelle
 Grace Y. and Kathrina
Krikki and Vivian
 Minnie and Takako
Thanks so much for your hard work, Brit Lit—excellent job!
at 7:28 AM 1 comments
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Monday, November 26, 2012

Hey, Brit Lit: Do you Noh what this is all about?

Let's see how smart British Lit are. As you watch the following video, fill out the first 2 columns of the KWL guide that I emailed to you.



at 8:30 AM 0 comments
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Sunday, November 25, 2012

British Lit: Who is Akira Kurosawa?

Originally posted 11/27/11.

In case you're interested in 1) how Mr. Webb spent his break, and 2) what's happening next in British Lit class, take a peek at this awesome-sauce movie trailer.



Any thoughts?
at 5:05 PM 0 comments
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Poets and they didn't know it—Brit Lit's Sonnets.

u         /       u         /      u       /        u         /  u        /
The students of Brit Lit were given an [A]
u      /          u        /        u     /       u  /  u        /
Assignment built to test poetic skill. [B]
u          /    u       /        u           /           u       /          u    /
O'er many sleepless nights the work began [A]
u          /    u       /        u       /           u          /       u         /
And in the first few days, they got their fill. [B]

u       /     u      /   u     /        u  /     u         /
Of all pentameters, iambic's worst, [C]
u            /       u        /      u /    u       /             u                  /
With English and Italian rhyme schemes, too; [D]
u     /    u      /      u             /           u      /       u         /
Experience would help, but it's their first [C]
u     /           u    /   u  /         u       /          u     /
Attempt at poetry, that much is true. [D]

u         /                 u          /             u            /         u          /       u       /
Yet through their blood, sweat, and their tears we see [E]
u       /         u    /      u          /         u      /           u      /
Success in rhyming and ten beats per line. [F]
u             /     u       /       u        /          u    /    u        /
While many felt their work a failure be, [E]
u   /     u    /   u      /           u        /       u       /
I personally think they did just fine. [F]

u      /         u   /      u      /            u      /      u            /
So take a sec to check out all their work, [G]
u          /  u      /        u          /     u          /           u        /
And only comment nicely—kind, not jerk! [G]

A-Day

B-Day

Aleena
Annika
Belle
Brian
Chanda
Christine
Emily
Joyce
Kelly
Kevin M.
Mandy
Patrick W.
Robert
Sally
Samuel
Sian		Amy C.
Anderson
Grace C.
Grace Y.
Janelle
Kathrina
Krikki
Minnie
Takako
Vivian
Brit Lit students, you know what to do with this: comment on 5 of these posts (3 for the A-Day class, 2 for the B-Day class).
at 9:50 PM 0 comments
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Monday, October 15, 2012

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.
at 4:53 AM 2 comments
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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

What makes a comedy a Shakespearean comedy?


So you've officially run the gamut, huh? Learning about iambic pentameter, 2.5 Shakespearean tragedies, and now, three Shakespearean comedies. You're welcome.

As we're just about ready to finish up with the greatest English writer in history, I wanted you to take a moment to deeply evaluate the three comedies that we watched/read/watched and analyze what they're really made of. As I said in class, try to go deeper than the obvious "TEACH-AH, THEY'RE ALL ABOUT PEOPLE FROM A LONG TIME AGO BEING IN LOVE!!!" That will make me angry. And you wouldn't like it when I'm angry.

Instead, focus on the similarities and differences in themes like (but not limited to) these:
  • Gender roles (i.e. How to men/women act?, How do people treat men/women?, What are the expectations for men/women?, How do men/women act towards expectations?)
  • Power (i.e. Who is usually in power?, How do people treat those in power?, Do those in power act fairly?, How is the "dummy" or weakling portrayed?)
  • Love (i.e. What is real love?, What is fake love?, Is all love equal/How?)
  • Humor (i.e. What must Shakespeare consider "funny"?, What makes something funny?, Is humor timeless?)
Bonus—Not a comedy (actually, a tragedy), but hilarious nonetheless:

at 1:42 PM 0 comments
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Thursday, January 12, 2012

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! ***
at 9:49 PM 0 comments
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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

If a chicken can do public speaking, you can too!

In my first semester of teaching Communications Class, I had six (6) students.

In my second semester of teaching Communications Class, I had six (6) students.

In my third semester of teaching Communications Class, I am beginning the class with twenty-one (21) students. Wow.

I won't lie to you: it's a difficult thing to learn how to do, but if you can do it, it'll change your life! And hey, if chickens can, you should have no problem!



Here, as requested by Thomas, is the Prezi from class today:


Communication—Introduction Speeches on Prezi
at 2:47 PM 1 comments
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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:
at 9:40 AM 0 comments
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Thursday, December 15, 2011

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:










at 8:54 PM 0 comments
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

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...

at 4:32 PM 0 comments
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

蜘蛛巣城 = MacBeth (?) You're about to find out.


Pretty cool film, huh? Now comes the bad part. (You had to know there was a bad part.)
  1. The Criterion Essay
    First off, read the following essay that looks deeply into the differences between MacBeth and Throne of Blood. Stephen Prince, the author of the essay, does a heck of a job of not just saying "THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT ONE IS IN JAPAN AND THE OTHER IS IN WHEREVER MACBETH IS, TEACH-AH!" If Prince writes this essay for me, I'm giving him an A. If a students uses the comparison above... well... you'll have the chance to make this paper better, next Fall, when you take this class again. [READ: You will fail.]
  2. Secondly, please post a comment on that article following the rules of commenting from earlier in the semester:

    1. compliment the writer in a SPECIFIC way.
    2. ask a question related to the post.
    3. add new information, opinions, or perspectives.

    I will give you points for doing this (or give you a 0% for not doing it) by NEXT CLASS, so please do this as soon as possible!
  3. Finally, the hard part: by NEXT CLASS, I want a first draft of a 5¶(minimum) essay. To make this really easy on you, I have graciously provided you with the perfect thesis sentence:
    The key difference between William Shakespeare's MacBeth and Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood is [WHATEVER YOU THINK], easily seen through [EVIDENCE A], [EVIDENCE B], and [EVIDENCE C].
    This sentence must be in your essay for get points for the thesis. You are not required to use that sentence in your essay, but if you use your own thesis, it must be better than mine. And it won't be. Good luck.

    You MUST bring me your first draft TYPED UP AND PRINTED OUT by NEXT CLASS. Failure to do so will result in an automatic 10% markdown of your final essay score. We will be doing 7i together in class, so not getting it to me means you didn't do it. Make sure it happens.
If we have time in class, we'll read the article together; if not, it is your responsibility to do on your own. Same with commenting. No excuses on getting the first draft done, either. The semester is not over! MANY of you have been complaining about your grades being low—this is your chance to pull them up. Unfortunately, it's also the chance for you to ruin them, so work hard!
at 8:32 AM 3 comments
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

And the winner(s) of Best Sonnet in Brit Lit is...

I had some really hard decisions to make regarding which of your Shakespearean sonnets were my favorites. With the exception of a few, everyone did a really really great job on these, and I wanted to congratulate you on getting something down that many people struggle with! It seems like, between making the Show Me videos writing these, you have Shakespearean poetry pretty down!

I've already spilled that three of my favorite sonnets were written by Vivien, Yalisa, and Beverly, so I'm going to give them extra points for melting my brains with their work. I also want to add the sonnets of Enoch, Jason, Andrew, Tim, and WinWin to the mix. These five sonnets also really stood out as being great examples of iambic pentameter and English sonnet rhyme scheme. Please, if you haven't, go check their work and see some epic poetry! 10 point extra credit for each of them!

And for those of you who aren't happy about your sonnet grades, you can absolutely keep working on them and resubmit, and I'll gladly regrade them and give you a better score! So get working!
at 12:16 PM 0 comments
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Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Sonnet Bar = Raised.

Jackie Chan looks like he read your sonnets.

Last week, I told some of the British Lit classes that last year, we had a few pretty good examples of original Shakespearean sonnets, but also, some not-so-good examples, and I hoped that this year, students could do a bit better.

W
O
W

The assignment is not due until tomorrow morning, but I've already got 3 amazing examples of sonnets from Vivien, Yalisa, and Beverly. I literally could not believe how incredible these sonnets were. PLEASE, if you have 5 minutes, check these things out this evening. I'm completely amazed by what these 3 ladies did, and I now have faith in the rest of you doing even better than what I'd expected before!
at 4:07 PM 1 comments
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Friday, November 18, 2011

How do you explain sonnets to a 5-year-old? ANYANG!

I know I keep talking to my British Lit students about writing their sonnets and all kinds of different things regarding poetry, but it's 1) awesome to study, and 2) hard enough I want to KEEP talking to you about it and giving you pointers. Recently, you guys had an assignment to make those Show Me or Screen Chomp videos explaining how sonnets work. [I HATE SCREEN CHOMP NOW. JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW.] Everyone did pretty good jobs on them, but the most outstanding one, in my opinion, came from little Anyang Esther. She explained masculine/feminine rhyme, rhyme schemes, and iambic pentameter so well that I thought you should all take a peek at her awesomeness. Look:



Thanks for rocking out, Esther! 5 points EC to you!
at 9:39 AM 0 comments
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Mr. Webb done gone and analyzed some rap for poetic value.

Have you ever needed to work on some homework or something, and you get totally distracted by something that isn't due immediately afterwards, but you don't care because you love the thing you're doing? [SAY YES.]

That just accidentally happened to me. I wasn't prepared for my last class of the day (Sorry, Communications) because I was too busy studying poetry. Rap, specifically.

Check out my favorite song of the day:



Meter Key:
iamb:  u / 
trochee:  / u 
cretic:  / u /  
Ok, here's where I got into trouble: I took Travis McCoy's first rap verse and analyzed it, line-by-line, looking for what poetic tricks he did in it. Here are the lyrics, with the rhymes and the meter:
 u  /     u      /         u   /     u     /    u      /     u        /     u         /   
If I was just another dusty record on the shelf [A]
 u                /         u        /       u       /        u       /       u       /     u    /     u      /   
Would you blow me off and play me like everybody else [A]
 /   u   /        /       u       /            u       /            /            u        /       u        / 
If I ask you to scratch my back, could you manage that [B]
 u            /       u           /         /       u       /   u         /   u        /      u       /   
Like [ICKY] yeah, [ICKY] Travie, I can handle that [B]
 /         u      /          /   u     /  u   /       u     /  u       /    u              /    
Furthermore, I apologize for any skipping tracks [C]
 u                /       u        /      /        u       /             u       /    u    /    u           /   
'Cause this the last girl that played me left a couple cracks [C]
 u   /         u      /       u       /       u      /        u     /          u      /    u     /   
I used to used to used to used to, now I'm over that [D]*
 u               /     u         /       u       /    u      /       u     /     u       /    u    /   
Cause holding grudges over love is ancient artifacts [D]*

 u   /      u        /     u      /     u    /       u       /          u        /    u        /    
If I could only find a note to make you understand [E]
 u        /      u   /     u     /     u         /       u        /         u        /      u        /     
I'd sing it softly in your ear and grab you by the hand [E]
 /            u      /        u    /         u         /           /         u       /     u          /       
Keep it stuck inside your head, like your favorite tune [F]
 u             /          u         /         u  /    u  /       u     /     u        /       u      /       
And know my heart's a stereo that only plays for you [F]
Now here are some thing I'm seeing:
  • The A lines have the same construction and the same length (7 iambs (  u /  ) = 14 beats).
  • The B lines are CRAZY. 
    • They begin with two cretic (  / u /  ) in a row, which I think is pretty rare. (You hear cretic in phrases like "SEE you LAter, ALiGAtor" and "AFter a WHILE, CROcoDILE".) The squeeze 3 syllables into 2 beats, like the poetic equivalent of a musical triplet () .
    • The 2nd B line has two DJ scratches that sound like the word "ICKY," and even though McCoy doesn't say them, for the beat of the rap, they must be included. (Each act as a trochee, or  / u  .)
    • Therefore, even though the two lines are 14 and 13 beats, respectfully, they still match.
  • The C lines are pretty similar to the B lines, with a 14 and a 13, and a cretic beginning the first. The difference is that instead of having some iambs, they go with trochees at the end of each.
  • The D lines have the same construction and the same length (7 iambs (  u /  ) = 14 beats) as eachother, and the same as the A lines. Furthermore, the A and D lines rhyme with eachother, so they could both be labeled the same. (I won't because McCoy didn't intentionally try to match those two sets to eachother.)
  • The E lines have the same construction and the same length (7 iambs (  u /  ) = 14 beats) as eachother, and the same as the A and D lines.
  • The F lines focus on trochees at the beginning, but switch to iambs at the end.
Travis McCoy:
A modern-day Shakespeare?
When you put it all together, it sounds... aesthetically right-on. Again, I'm not telling you that Travis McCoy deliberately writes his raps by saying "SHOULD I BEGIN THIS LINE WITH TWO CRETICS HERE SO SOMEWHERE, OFF IN A FAR AWAY SCHOOL, SOME NERDY ENGLISH TEACHER WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO SPEND 90 MINUTES BLOGGING ABOUT?". He doesn't. But, like when you multiply 5 x 5 in your head, you go through a few different steps within a second, a poet/rapper can just weave together meter and rhymes to create something magically pleasing to your eardrums.

Good luck using this as some further ideas for your sonnets!
at 4:24 PM 0 comments
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