shakespearian.literature.eng 336/335
standing at a fork in the road - which way do i go?
sophomore year, fall semester
As of my first year of college, I went from failing physics, shattering my dreams of becoming a forensic scientist, to a journalism major. I knew after flunking the what was called "easy physics," I knew a degree in biology was unfortunately not for me. I had never wanted to work in a newspaper or magazine, especially as a journalist. So I set my sights on becoming an editor. I had plenty of electives at my feet, and the first one that caught my eye was English 336 - Shakespearian Trgedies and Romances.
going.with.the.flow
After.I realize the class is completely booked, and being #12 on the waiting list, I desperately e-mail the professor, begging him to allow me into his class. Needing something to go right after my freshman year blunders with physics, I get the approval email from Professor Paul D'Andrea. I wasn't expecting anything compared to what Dr. Fox-Good taught or felt during her lectures, and I high under estimated Professor D'Andrea. He is a Harvard graduate, with graduate school at Oxford under his belt as well, so the intimidation level and pressure to do well with papers and interpretations was certinately felt in the class.
Being a sophomore in a 300 level class, I thought I was going to be able to take the skills I learned in IB English and wow the Harvard graduate. Well, I was wrong. My classmates were very educated, saying interpretations I never would have thought of, as well as the Professor spitting out anything you needed and wanted to know about Shakespeare and who he was. We had a quiz on each of the 10 plays we read, sometimes having a quote asking who said it, others asking about a minor character and their shining moment in the play, their contribution to the plot. If you didn't read, you didn't pass. Sparknotes wern't enough, especially when it came time to for an hour and a half for the in-class midterm. Regurgitating information on the spot was something I was used to thanks to IB tests and my in-class midterms and finals we had in high school, but this was college, and I had a Harvard graduate to impress. Needless to say, I did well in both of the courses I took. The first was tragedies and romances (336) and the other, which I took in the following spring semester, was histories and comedies (335). Once again, my writing style and analysis technique was put to the test and allowed me to grow as a student.
Links
Here is a breif autobiography, provided by George Mason's English department.
For both papers listed below, the question is stated on the cover page at the beginning of each paper, so you get an idea of the kind of material we studied. I was particularly fond of my first essay. I incorporated the idea of sin pretty heavily and felt confident in my connections to the themes throughout three differet plays.
This is my FInal paper from the fall semester, Eng 336: Tragedies and Romances.
This is my Final paper from the spring semester, Eng 335: Histories and Comedies.