My Relationship With Shakespeare

I will be honest.  Shakespeare has never been my favorite writer.  I appreciate everything that he has done for our culture and language, but I have always struggled to be absorbed in his writing.  When I was faced with the decision of choosing which major author class to take, I originally thought, "Anything but Shakespeare."  Then, I began to think, "But maybe...that is why it is the right choice for me.  What better way to develop a love of Shakespeare then to take a semester long class completely focused on his works?"  When looking at the different course descriptions from the various professors teaching the subject, I saw Dr. Burton's name.  I really enjoyed his class during spring 2011 where we looked at literary works through multiple lenses and incorporated the changing ways of gathering information through technology to revolutionize the classroom experience.  This section was the right section for me.  I remembered Dr. Burton's love of Shakespeare and knew that he would teach it in a way to help me gain a better understanding of Shakespeare's work.

In the past, I have read a handful of plays and another handful of sonnets, my favorite so far probably being the play King Lear.  I am looking forward to experiencing some more of Shakespeare's works and developing a greater understanding of them.

Through my reading of Shakespeare this semester, I plan on focusing on the analysis of the words upon the page (or in the case of this class, upon the screen).  I will focus on the meaning of different passages and on Shakespeare's literary style.  My other focus is something that I discovered I cared a lot about in my last class with Dr. Burton, which is e-Learning, incorporating electronic forms in learning and teaching.  I want to explore new ways to explore Shakespeare in this way, that could possibly help future readers of Shakespeare to develop a love of his works at a younger age.  This semester will be very exciting, and I look forward to discussing these ideas with Dr. Burton and my fellow classmates & bloggers.