My Self-Evaluation: Where Did the Semester Go?

Here is the culmination of my blog: what it is at the end of the semester. I'll try not to tear up as I write this...

• Posts
• Quantity: 33 blogs total. 8 are related to the research focus.
• Content: I would argue that I fulfilled the variety requirement. Some of my posts, such as my first post, were more casual in nature. While other posts definitely took on a tone of formality, for instance, my post about Othello. I also use a fair amount of pictures and video, like in my most recent post about the puppet show. I have evaluated movie clips and such in earlier blogs, like the one about the witches from Macbeth, but I tend not to comment on my pictures as much.
• Format: I used jump breaks a lot in my later posts. Most of posts tended not to need it, since they aren't very long. I tagged my posts with subjects, but not with the learning outcomes. There were only a few titles that really don't expose what the post is about. One good title that I felt that I used was Othello as a Case Study.
• Research
• Thematic Focus: I clearly have a focus, indicated from my original hub post. I also have posts that expand on the theme. My site design is not overtly dedicated to the subject of love, but the background is red, which is the color of aggression (and love).
• Thesis & Cohesion: My original hub post post does not really have a thesis, but more of a question. It is not until my later hub post that I link coherently and actually state my thesis.
• Sources: I definitely have my own sources page, which links to the blog posts and to the sources.However, my earlier posts don't really link to the sources page, since it was created after those posts. 

The Finished Product: Our Puppet Show!

Here is the video for our puppet show. Enjoy!

(If you want more information about the formative process for this show, visit Janelle's blog.)

Peer Evaluation: The End of the End

A screenshot of Jessica's blog.

 So I was assigned to evaluate Jessica Vavrinec's blog. Her main focus has been on young adults and gearing Shakespeare towards them.

• Posts
• Quantity: It looks to me like she has done enough posts to get a good idea of what she has done. I think she did about 9 different posts relating to her main focus, and 31 in all.
• Content: She has a lot of good variety in her posts, with several book reviews, several more expository-type blogs, a comparison between a modern play (Wicked) and Shakespeare (Midsummer Night's Dream),  and textual analyses of Shakespeare. She also did a video analysis of something found on Youtube.
• Format: Jessica is very good about tagging all of her blogs with the learning outcomes, as well as the subject. She's been pretty consistent with this since the beginning. She used the jump break a few times, but there were a few instances where she might have used the break. All of her titles were very specific, with the snappy, attention-grabbing part, as well as the more explanatory part.
• Research
• Thematic Focus: The theme is definitely clear throughout the blog. Jessica had a focus very early on. I think her design is also meant to appeal to a younger crowd, which is probably part of her audience.
• Thesis & Cohesion: Her latest hub post satisfies all the requirements of a good hub post. She hyperlinks, her thesis is clear and makes an argument, and she's well organized. 
• Sources: There is a little less cohesion in this portion of the blog. Jessica does have a sources page, but her hub post doesn't mention it, and some of her earlier posts also do not link to it. However, her sources page does link appropriately. She also has a blog post about scholarly sources.
• Personal & Social
• Author identity: I think Jessica did a really good job of this part. She has an obvious About Me widget on her blog, with a picture. I also have really been able to get a sense of her personality through her writing. It helps that I have talked to her in class, but her personality shines through in everything she writes.
• Documentation of Process: Jessica does a good job of this too. For example, in her post about young adult literature, she almost formats the post in a stream of conciousness style, where the reader gets carried along with her thought processes.
• Interactions: It looks like Jessica only responded to questions in the comments, from what I've seen. Most of the comments were not replied to, at least in the last month.
• Design
• Appropriate to Theme: I feel like the design seems to go more with Jessica's personality than her actual subject, but it's not something that detracts from the aesthetic of the blog.
• Side content: All the side content seems relevant and not at all distracting.

So there you go Jessica! Hopefully I did you justice. I think your blog is great!

The Final Path to Understanding Love in Shakespeare: Last Hub Post

This may be a bit of a rehash for those who read my blog recap from last week, but as I feel like I have some things I need to add, it will still be relevant. 

Thesis

Shakespeare, while drawing instances of love from his own life, tries to capture the essence of what true love is in each of his plays (and sonnets), while differentiating each situation with varying circumstances.

Support/Evidence

1. Othello As a Case Study- I talk about Othello's seeming change of emotion, and how that is actually not the case. Othello does not experience volatile love, because he still loves Desdemona when he kills her. His type of love can be considered "idolatrous" because his manifestation of love is the equivalent of worship.
2. Love is an Ever-fixed Mark- Here is a more textual interpretation of Sonnet 116. I wanted to contrast the poem with some of the ideas conveyed in Shakespeare's plays. I came to the conclusion that inconstancy in love is not really love at all. Therefore, in the case of Romeo and his previous love before Juliet, that was not really love because it changed. (This particular entry is still a work in progress.) I also looked at an analysis on shmoop.com and blogged about it.
3. Macbeth the Movie- Here I just wanted to see if I could see any semblance of love in a play that emphasizes the wickedness of one man and his wife. They are in a marital relationship, but it almost seems more like a business partnership. This only had a nominal connection with my focus. I will look at this play a little bit more when I attend the performance at U of U.
4. Shakespeare's Own Romance- This is where I compared Shakespeare's life with this theme of spontaneity in relationships. It turns out that he had a bit of a shot-gun wedding (or sword-point, whichever you prefer). I compared the rashness of his own marriage to that of Romeo and Juliet. Yet we are fairly certain that Shakespeare did in fact love his wife, as he dedicated poetry to her throughout his life.

Conclusions:

• There are connections between Shakespeare's life and the themes of love he used in his plays. 
• Constancy is still valued more by Shakespeare than volatility and spontaneity.
• Sometimes love is replaced by lust in his plays.
• Love takes different forms in Shakespeare's plays, just as it does in real life, but amplified.
• Love manifests itself differently depending on the person. For instance, some do not acknowledge love, others take an obsessive tact.

 So there it is. I will most likely update some of the research next week.