Read-Think-b4-u-Write

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd recorded his musical interpretation of William Shakespeare's 1595 Sonnet 18. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date;   Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd   But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:             So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,           So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Shakespeare is talking about poetry and immortality. The young man described in the sonnet will never lose his youthful beauty as long as this sonnet lives on. How does...

"O, Beware, My Lord, of jealousy; it is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on." Iago to Othello (3.3)   Let's do a close reading if these lines. Think about why Shakespeare depicts jealousy as a green-eyed monster. Why not a blue-eyed monster or a black-eyed monster? How does jealousy tease or make fun of the meat it feeds on? What is that "meat"? When looking at possible essay topics how would you use these lines as evidence to prove your thesis. How does jealousy play into Othello's "uncertain vision"? How does Iago manipulate Othello's inability to distinguish between what is and what seems to be? How does this quote foreshadow Othello's destiny and/or self determination? How does jealousy lead to Othello's irrationality? Desdemona can't imagine any woman cheating on her husband, but you could say she dies at the hands of the "green-ey'd monster". How does jealousy contr...

If you've ever read Roman, Old English, Medieval, or Renaissance lit, you may have noticed how devoid of feeling it is? Many of the ancient sagas from Homer to Iceland are filled with action, especially violent war-type action. But didn't any of these societies have any feelings? Of course, they must've by why don't they ever write about it? Is it because we expect everyone to reveal their every feeling on the page? Is this desire something that makes us modern? I mean pick up a novel, open it to any page and read. Feelings are spread before us in almost every paragraph with gallons of ink. There are so many feelings that it sometimes takes the characters forever to DO anything. "Literature certainly reflects the preoccupations of its time, but there is evidence that it may also reshape the minds of readers in unexpected ways. Stories that vault readers outside of their own lives and into characters’ inner experiences may sharpen readers’ general abilities to...

If the Bard of Avon had written Star Wars , here's how it would have started: "In time so long ago begins our play / In star-crossed galaxy far, far away." At least that's how Ian Doescher imagines it in William Shakespeare's Star Wars. For those of you stumped by Shakespeare's language this may be a good way to launch into a galaxy some find so far away, a fun way to develop your ear for Shakespeare. William Shakespeare's Star Wars is available at Amazon and as one reviewer put it, ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearsome Stormtroopers, signifying...pretty much everything. "Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter—and complete with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations-- William Shakespeare’s Star Wars  will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This  is  the book you’re looking for." Luke Skywalker poses like Hamlet in this black-and-white illustration by Nicholas Delort. Here...