Shakespeare should be more fun than this.

[readingredhead]

Well, I'm writing this from within my Shakespeare class, which should say something about how much it's keeping my attention. At first glance, I thought that the professor would be a pretty interesting guy. At first glance, he vaguely reminded me of Mr. McClure -- obviously a good thing. But this second real lecture has been so uninformative that I'm rather annoyed. Especially because Shakespeare is so great and it shouldn't be butchered. Not that it's being butchered yet, but still...I think it could be a lot better. I thought that it was going to be a lot better. Oh well, I'm not dropping the class -- it's what I need for the English major, and while he's no Goldsmith, he at least speaks in occasionally understood English. I'll deal because I have to.

Vikram Chandra, my creative writing teacher, is growing on me a bit. At first I didn't really like him because he didn't seem very personal, the total opposite of his wife, who was my teacher last semester. But now I know he's at least ridiculously smart, even if not fully personable still. I think things will go okay in that class, too, though I'm not quite comfortable with it all yet.

Russian history is awesome. The professor is a really great lecturer, provided that you're close enough to the front of he room to hear him. And it helps that Russia is just that awesome and interesting. There's a freakish amount of reading -- an 800 page reader, plus two textbooks and two novels -- but I know I'll be able to get it done.

My early English class is actually a lot better than I'd thought it would be. Chaucer's not at all hard to read, and my GSI is the same one I had for English last semester, and she likes me and I suppose I like her as well. Prof. Adelman is interesting so far...

The seminar's turing out well...I haven't really done much with it yet, but I'm looking forward to it still. We get to see a lot of stuff that's in the archives at the Bancroft library, and we have good access to the collections. They've got the first four Shakespeare folios!

...really, I'm just bored bored bored of this class, but I need to tell myself it's necessary, and if nothing else, by the end of the semester, I'll have read a lot more Shakespeare plays.

Comments

[pentaverse.livejournal.com]

Don't you know that nothing is ever boring? There's too much going on in the world for that. You could analyze the prof's analysis and find his flaws. You could compare your readings to his and discover your own biases as his come into focus. You can think about what the person sitting next to you is thinking, be it about the lecture or not. You could drink half a gallon of water. You could skip class to study Shakespeare in what you think to be a meaningful way.

Whatever you choose, let his flaws illuminate your own and you will learn even from the biggest idiot alive.

James Joyce was never bored with people, studying their personalities and manners of speech... but he was also drunk. You could drink before class, too, I guess?

[readingredhead.livejournal.com]

This is very true. "Bored" is I suppose not the right word; I was frustrated that today's lecture took a different tack from Thursday's, which I liked immensely. I want this to be a class that engages me; the material is there, but I also have a thing about having engaging teachers. I thought Altieri could be one of those, but now it looks like I might have to engage myself.

The suggestion of Joyce's method is, of course, necessary, but I have a class directly before the Shakespeare one that I'd actually like to pay attention to... :)

[transientrain.livejournal.com]

Just remember that Shakespeare himself didn't take Shakespeare seriously. Laugh at him every now and again. :)

[readingredhead.livejournal.com]

Oh how right you are. I just finished reading Midsummer Night's Dream and I've been reminded of that. I don't need someone to tell me what to think of the Bard, anyway -- I can do that well enough on my own, when it comes down to it. I should just focus on reveling in the language, feeling the texture and life that it's full of.