1. Reflecting on the fact that you studied and did some online research to learn about Shakespeare and specifically the play of Romeo and Juliet before we started reading it together, what are your thoughts on that process or method of beginning this text study?

 

I really thought it was beneficial to not only my self but the rest of his class. It was definitely helpful in aiding to easily learn and understand the play better. I enjoyed that aspect.  It made it more fluid to understand the play because we didn’t need to stop and start we were able to experience it the way it was meant to be experienced.

 

 

2. How do you think it changed your experience of Romeo and Juliet, having studied it and learned so much about it before reading it together? Give one specific example to help support your perspective.

 

I think it changed the way I read the play, instead of being confused and trying to          understand what just happened I was just interested in reading it and getting to the next part, since I knew all of the basic aspects and the story line of the play.

 

3. Would you recommend for other students in the future to go through the step of studying Shakespeare and the play elements before reading it? Explain the reasoning for your answer. Pick one – yes you’d recommend it or no you wouldn’t.

 

I would recommend it the the next class, that way they can just read and understand it fluidly and they don’t need to stop and start all the time to understand what’s going on.

 

4. You journalled as Romeo immediately after he killed Tybalt and lost his friend Mercutio. Explain how you felt completing that journalling, first person writing: challenging, easy enough, a breeze? Explain what about it made it this way for you?

 

I thought it was fairly easy for me, since I played Romeo. I just thought knowing the character so well what would he say, putting my self in his vision and I typed away as if I were Romeo.

 

5. Our debates: You’ve completed many other debates before, you’d shared. How was this debate any different from the others you’ve done previously, or was it different? If it was, in what way was it different? What parts of the planning work helped prepare you for the actual exchange of the debate?

 

It was pretty much the same, I didn’t really plan much I mostly just said what I thought. I think it went fairly well. Just like and debate you have to argue your side. I knew the topic so well so it was easy.

 

6. How do you feel your performance of your debate related to your preparation of the debate?

(Ex: I prepared a lot but performed poorly; it might have been because….. )

(Ex: I didn’t prepare much, but performed really well; it might have been because….)

 

I really didn’t prepare much and that wasn’t a huge issue, I was able to argue my topic and side properly and make a good debate.

 

7. What new elements of developing a presentation have you learned from preparing your Comparison Project? List two specific elements you tried that were different from what you’ve done before and how you felt they worked for you in the end.

 

My presentation was good; it was the same as I always make them really. I didn’t use and different special approaches. I do think the ladder outline did help me to include more information.

 

8. Are you becoming more comfortable with speaking projects and activities? Explain.

 

 

I was always comfortable with that, that is one of my strong points. So no, I think I’m not but I didn’t really need to improve.

I viewed the movie Romeo + Juliet. My personal response on it is dislike. I thought most factors of the film were poor. I was disappointed, the film work was poor. The old language in conjunction with the modern clothing and guns was poor. I didn’t enjoy that aspect of the film. My personal opinion is they should have developed a complete retro setting, or full modern. Merging them confuses things. I did enjoy the story, it was followed fairly well. Every part of the story that was important was welly integrated into the film. Overall i was disappointed, it was hard to follow and understand. I didn’t take much away from the film.

A positive area i enjoyed was really the opening scene where you see the two families thriving in the city of Verona. Totally separate from each other in feuds. Neither get along nor tolerate each other, the big gas station fight breaks out causing mass damage. It just shows you the hatred these two have from each other and gives you a idea of what it would be like in these two families.

Something i did not like was the film work. Even for its age it seemed poor. It was very choppy and rough. Some more time and refinement needed to be thrown into that aspect. It really was not satisfying to watch a movie that looked like it was filmed by a mobile phone.