Essays?

I'm confused?  Where are your pre-JC essays?

Introduction to Shakespeare

William Shakespeare had his first child 4 months after his marriage.

William Shakespeare had three children. Susanna was born in May 1583, six months after the wedding of her parents Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare.

(http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-children-and-grandchildren.htm)

He made plays, poems and sonnets.

Obviously he wrote a lot of plays, poems and sonnets. 

Famous Plays: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar…

Famous Poems: A Lover's Complaint , Phoenix and the Turtle…

Famous Sonnets: When in disgrace with fortune, Let me not to the marriage of true minds…

(http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-plays.htm)

(http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-poems.htm)

(http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-sonnets.htm)

A website for learning about William Shakespeare

lots of information in here:

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/

Where do we share or write on the google doc for the Shakespeare points/questions??

I couldn't find the one Ms.Lees supposedly shared with us? O_o Or did I not listen clear enough? Help pleaseeeeeee.

My 2 questions and sources:
William Shakespeare (2 points/1 source) Alison WU

INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE

Introduction to Shakespeare

1. He died on the same day he was born.

             How William Shakespeare died is unknown for now, but it seems fitting that he died on April 23rd, the same date given for his birth.

 

http://www.arogundade.com/when-where-and-how-did-william-shakespeare-die-what-caused-william-shakespeares-death.html

 

2. He also acted in his own plays

             William Shakespeare did indeed act in his own plays. However, it is not known exactly how many roles Shakespeare played himself. It is assumed that Shakespeare played smaller roles in a variety of his own plays, including As You Like It (Adam), Macbeth (King Duncan), Henry IV (King Henry), and Hamlet (Hamlet's father).

 

http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/facts/facts.htm

 

3. He married a merchant's daughter

             This I could not find a exact answer and a reasonable source. However, according to Wikipedia, he was married to a farmer's daughter; Anne Hathaway.

Shakespeare Facts, Myths, and Questions

Here are my three points:
1. Who was Shakespeare's sponsor?
>  Technically, King James I of England should be Shakespeare's sponsor. He was fond of arts and brought              Shakespeare's acting company under his patronage. King James I also granted Shakespeare's company a Royal Patent and changed their name from the Lord Chamberlain's Men to the King's men.
Source: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/faq/kingsmen.html

2. Shakespeare was baptized three days after he was born.
>  Confirmed, he was guessed to be born three days before he was baptized on April 26th, 1564, in the Holy Trinity Church.
Source: http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/faq/faq.htm

3. What was Shakespeare's favourite colour?
>  Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence that recorded his favourite colour, or any other of his likes and dislikes. At that time, it seemed irrelevant to write about these things. In fact, we barely know.anything  about what he did as a child.
Source: http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-childhood/

Also, this website contains lots of useful information and facts about Shakespeare: http://absoluteshakespeare.com/index.htm

Shakespeare Stuff

Some fun and informative links to Shakespeare and information about him.

http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=588
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/

Was Shakespeare gay?Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, apparently not intended for publication. The majority of these sonnets address the poet's love for a young man. There is no historical evidence to indicate Shakespeare was bisexual or homosexual; he was a married man with three children. However, the poet's intense romantic feelings for the young man in the sonnets have led some to believe Shakespeare was having a homosexual affair.

But is the speaker of the sonnets expressing Shakespeare's personal feelings? Does the young man belong solely to the realm of fantasy, as do Falstaff and the Three Witches? Since we do not know the answers, critics often choose to refer to the speaker of the sonnets as simply "the poet", to illustrate that he is a character, and not necessarily William Shakespeare. For much more on this topic, please see the commentary for Sonnet 20 and Sonnet 75. 

THIS IS FROM THIS SITE: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/shakespearetopquestions.html 

Response to "No Blue Pill, No Red Pill" by Ana Christina Pratas

Response to "No Blue Pill, No Red Pill" by Ana Christina Pratas

 

             The constant modern development makes education a necessity for survival. Nowadays, strong education leads to a significantly better future. However, even after realizing this, many students suffer to motivate themselves to learn. Hence, teachers step in to do their duty of inspiring the students for motivation towards learning.

             "Learning may be social, but in the end its individual." I am in total agreement with this quote. Social interaction is a crucial part of learning, however, without the learner's will for education, learning no longer exist. As mentioned in the article "It is the inspiration and not the motivation that an educator may trigger among learners" thing means, only oneself has the ability to trigger the motivation within himself/herself. In other words, it is not the teacher's duty to get their students to 'want' to learn. It is the students' duty to motivate themselves.

             “If you can see it, you can achieve it." Motivation is the key to a successful education and the most powerful tool for motivation is vitalization of your goal. This goes beyond having an idea of what you want to accomplish, however, constantly imaging yourself at your goal.

            There is no recipe, no secrets, no short cuts. Learning takes time and effort, however, without the motivation, all time and effort will be wasted in no time. As mentioned in the article, in reality, "Learning is hard work. There are no red pills. There are no blue pills." However, also in reality, as soon as you grasp the motivation to learn, the 'hard work' can pass by like nothing. Because "If you can see it, you can achieve it".

Reply option?

Does the reply option for comments work for any of you guys? It's not working for me, just wanted to know. Also I need some help on how to make reply work. =.="

Response to “No Red Pill No Blue Pill”

        The post “No Red Pill No Blue Pill” is written by a educator who is frustrated in teaching. It analyzes the processes and problems of learning in a particular writing style, in an attempt to regain her lost motivation.

This is a response to “No Red Pill No Blue Pill” by Ana Cristina Pratas. Read about it here.

The writing style of this post was unique and appealing in many ways. Its brief, narrative,  and first person story-telling style used in the introduction and conclusion was effective in adding “life” into the post. It also helped express your frustrated feelings vividly. This certainly explains why your “recipe” to help student make connections and learn is by stories. Next, the usage of visuals in your post aided my understanding of your ideas, while also making the post less dull. One thing I would suggest is that maybe you could try to place the visuals so that

they 

don’t 

look 

like 

this.

Occasionally, it may slightly disturb my reading. Finally, the text to text/world connections you made to “The Matrix” and the webinar discussion were quite thought inducing. Overall, I really liked the style of your post and the way it conveyed your ideas.

        

        Lots of great ideas were shown in the post, most of which I can really relate to. An example is your idea of “Learning may be social, but in the end it is individual.” Yes, of course we learn at school - English, mathematics, socials, and sciences – but in the end, why do some students excel while others do not? As you wrote, “Learning, assimilating skills and information is left to the individual.” That final process of absorbing is still done by oneself. Later on, you discussed the eight steps of learning, more specifically, the passion portion. In a student’s view, I would think of motivation as part of the “push”. In my opinion, passion is the initial excitement that causes us to begin the process of education while the push or motivation is the power that helps us continue on that journey. Also, I think that it is the educator’s job to constantly remind us of that passion.

     
        In the next part of your post, you talked about the transition between high school and higher education. I was especially interested in the part where you wrote about “accountability” and “responsibility”. After doing some research, I came up with an explanation. Accountability is induced responsibility, you do something because others – teachers, in this case - require you to do it. On the other hand, responsibility is taking up something according to your conscience. I also found a picture that Dean Shareski posted: 

Understanding these differences further helped me interpret the next idea you presented. I realized that high school education to university education is jumping from accountability to responsibility. Instead of constant supervision from a teacher, we are expected to adopt the self motivated, self-governed, and autonomous way of learning. However, I disagree that “learning hurts”. Although I understand why you think that the rote to digital learning, resistance to change, and fear to be factors that make leaning painful, I personally look at learning as exploration and challenge. Exploring the unknown landscape involves lots of hard work, but when you make a stunning discovery, that joy, that accomplishment - it is all yours.

Spring.

I run in the field, sun in my eyes. Grass glisten from melted frost.

All around me, I see my own kind. Some are running with me. Others, struggling, yet slowly rising from hibernation. Rest is good, but it is time to start again.

No blue pill. No red pill.

Just reality.

Just education.

Just life.

Response to Ana Cristina's "No Red Pill No Blue Pill" Article

                “Learning is hard work. There are no red pills. There are no blue pills.” This was stated by the author, Ana Cristina, in the beginning of the article No Red Pill No Blue Pill. In the article that she hyper-linked Red pill and blue pill, these two pills symbolizes the choice between the blissful ignorance of illusion (the blue pill) and taking the painful truth of reality (the red pill).

                I disagree with that line she said in the beginning of her article. She clearly stated in the middle of her article, “Learning hurts.” Isn't this the same as the red pill, where we embrace the painful, hard truth of learning? This further confused me when she said “Red pill. Blue pill.” in the end of the article. Did she mean that there is a red pill and blue pill when it comes to learning?

                “Learning may be social, but in the end it is individual.” I agree with this statement. She says that the process of how one person learns, being it in a classroom environment, in the library alone, is left to the individual themselves. It doesn't matter how much a teacher may push you to learn something, if you don’t want to learn it, or stay ignorant of it, then there will be no evident learning shown. On the other hand, if they are willing to learn something, out of their own interest, then they will learn more. This is true, even in me. I love searching up things and learning about things that I enjoy, it seems that I sometimes learn even more than what I learn in class sometimes. This also goes back to the red pill, blue pill reference. If a person is unwilling to learn about something, aren't they staying ignorant of that topic, believing what they want instead? This refers to the blue pill.

                What does being an “Autonomous Learner” mean? According to the picture that the author included in her article, it shows four main parts that you need to have so you will be “college ready”, key cognitive strategies, academic knowledge and skills, contextual stills and awareness, and academic behavior  These are demanded from students once they enter higher grades and post-secondary school. I think that these things are important and being an autonomous learner is very important. If you cannot stand on your own two feet, who can you lean on? I believe that leaning on others is not always good because they may not always be there for you. Being able to work and learn independently is essential for future success.

                The author’s writing style is very interesting. She uses some sentences where they can stand alone with no description to back it up, yet I still can understand many things from it. The very first word of the article (excluding title) is “Spring.” Spring makes me think of being beauty, a chance to start again, and most of all, a new beginning where everything is fresh. There are many metaphors in this article, comparing bridges to learning, and fear as unknown landscapes. The main metaphor in this article was the red pill, blue pill comparing it to the way of learning.

This pictures gives me a feel of fresh, and a new start. 

                “Red pills. Blue pills.” This tells you that you can perceive learning in two ways. Being ignorant and believing in only what you believe, or taking in everything you can, takings risks knowing that the road you tread may be thorn-filled and painful.