Posted Draft

Here is the early draft, more outline, of my paper.  There is still a lot of work to be done.  If I could receive some feedback, I would really appreciate it! :)

"Tweethis" Statement

I posted my "Tweethis" statement online on multiple social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Goodreads.  My only responses were on Facebook.  The "Tweethis" statement was "Ophelia killing herself through drowning is a symbol of cleansing herself from the social roles and abuse that she had taken for so long."  My fiance responded with the fact that suicide is never the answer, and that is very true.  My paper is on why that was the only choice Ophelia felt she had left.  

 My friend Josh, who recently changed his major from English Teaching to English with an emphasis in Creative Writing.  He liked my theory and led me to another work, which I sadly have not had time to read.  This support of my theory and the responses to my discussion on Goodreads have helped me to see that my "Tweethis" statement is valid, and that people actually care about it.

I had taken a new direction from my original thinking by focusing on the decision of drowning and of the loss of identity at the loss of Ophelia's father, because she no longer had him to make all of her decisions.  From reading the responses online, I knew I was headed in the right direction.

I Would Say He's My Romeo, But Let's Be Honest....

Oliver is much better.  :)

"Tweethis" Statement

Posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+:
"Ophelia killing herself through drowning is a symbol of cleansing herself from the social roles and abuse that she had taken for so long."
What do you think about Ophelia's death in Hamlet?

Taking the Plunge Into Research...Getting My Feet Wet In Social Media

Doesn't she look like she is just releasing herself from life and from her social roles?

Honestly, at the end of this week, the picture above represented me pretty well.  Nothing seemed to go right for this class this week.  I was not able to do as many social connections as I wanted, simply because I did not have any time...which may have been because nothing went as planned for my research.  

Usually, I am pretty skilled at finding articles and making them fit my paper, but the articles that I had found an interest in and that applied well for my paper this time around could not be found anywhere on the internet for free.  As I explored more and more, I got pretty discouraged, but then I thought, "Why not try interlibrary loan?," which I have recently realized the value of as I have been doing research for my other research paper this semester, on Maori English for my linguistics class (I am pretty excited about it!).  Now, I am just waiting to hear back from them to get the articles, and I will continue exploring my options for research.

Before all the failure of article finding, I had watched the 1948 version of Hamlet, which was valuable, because a line caught my attention which never had before, "Frailty, thy name is woman."  Hamlet is referring to his mother's quick mourning time and marriage to his uncle.  But he is also referring to all woman and what he considers their normal fickle behavior.  That of course also made me more aware of all the violence, physical and emotional, that Ophelia goes through, especially from Hamlet and her father.  In a way, Ophelia killing herself through drowning is a symbol of cleansing herself from the social roles and abuse that she has taken for so long; she is freeing herself from the world.

I have not used Prezi much at all, so I thought that might be a good place to explore for what others are saying about Ophelia.  I found multiple presentations, and I posted a few of my favorite ones in a recent post along with what I learned from each one.  I gained some insight on how Ophelia lost part of her identity when she lost her father, because he had taken such strong control over her life.

My social connections were not as many as I would have wished, but I am really enjoying hearing what others have to say on my Goodread's discussion page.  I really enjoyed Katie's words on how many articles have a sexist undertone, because it is very true.  Tomorrow, I am hoping to write many of the scholars of whom I have read their articles on Ophelia.  It would be so exciting if I could hear back from at least one of them!

Also for this week, I need to get my "tweethis" statement finalized and posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, to try to get some feedback on it.  I am planning on getting my first draft written and posted.  Then, I will give feedback on my peers' papers and hopefully get some feedback for my own paper.

Social Networking Follow-Up

I tried to start up a conversation on the Ophelia Community page on Facebook, but so far, there has been no success.  However...on my Goodread's discussion page, I have had some responses.

This has been my favorite social connection so far.  I am trying to get the conversation headed more towards the current direction of my paper, but I really liked what Katie had to say about many of the articles written about Ophelia.  Many of them do have a sexist undertone to them, and I am excited to write a paper showing Ophelia as something other than a silly weak girl.

Prezi on Ophelia

I decided to look at some presentations on Prezi to see how others were interpreting Ophelia.

The first one describes how it is difficult to pinpoint Ophelia's character and explores different interpretations of Ophelia in multiple media forms.  This was probably my favorite Prezi presentation that I found, because of the variety of views that it gave.  

Ophelia on Prezi

I particularly liked this music video called "Ophelia" that is supposed to be from Hamlet's perspective.

The next presentation that caught my eye was "Ophelia The Suicidal Lover.  I really liked how it presented Ophelia with "helper's syndrome," where some girls like to be in relationships where they are needed to help the other person.

Ophelia The Suicidal Lover on Prezi

Another interesting title caught my attention, "Welcome to Crazy Town, Ophelia."  This presentation basically tears the character of Ophelia apart and says that Ophelia is a symbol but a necessary one.  I really liked the style of the presentation, but it goes against what I am trying to prove.  I want to find literary proof against the assumptions made in this presentation.  I feel that this will help to strengthen my argument for my paper.

Welcome to Crazy Town, Ophelia on Prezi

This next presentation highlights how Ophelia is told to do everything she thinks and does, even being told that her own love for Hamlet is a delusion.  I feel that this presentation would look a little more professional if it did not have so many spelling errors.  

Hamlet : The fall of Ophelia on Prezi

This final presentation really highlights Ophelia's insanity well, especially in the BBC clip.  When Ophelia looks into the shattered mirror, her reflection shows her shattered self, her loss of reality.  This presentation really follows one of the themes for my paper.  It discusses how her father had such control on her and made all of her decisions, so after he dies, she has no one to tell her what to do; she is lost, because she lost part of her obedient identity, forever loyal to her father.  Anderson goes on to say that her rambling speech is because she does not know what to say.  Her father used to give her script of what to say, but that is no longer there for her.

Ophelia on Prezi

When Ophelia visits Hamlet's mother and uncle, Ophelia says that people know who they are, but not what they may be.  Do you think that Ophelia knows who she is at the point that she utters these words?