The Context of Shakespearean Drama

 Since Shakespeare's time almost all aspects of life have grown and shaped into what we know as life today. Society was shaped in very different ways from beliefs and understandings, cultures, the way we dressed, political and historical situations, down to a whole different language.

Shakespeare lived from 1564-1616 and although that may not seem like the longest time he fulfilled it with many incredible achievements. When Shakespeare was writing his plays which were staged in specialty built theatres, palace ballrooms and also in the open air, he would never have stopped and thought his story and plays were being read in classrooms and homes all over the world 400 years later.

In the Renaissance, this time known as ‘the age of learning’, ideas from classical Greece and Rome were being revived and spread across Europe from Italy. Not only were those ideas being revived but also classical themes in architecture and new techniques being developed resulting in new designs for churches.

Regardless of where Shakespeare's audience fell on the religious spectrum, they were all familiar with the Bible and Christianity, however Shakespeare's personal religious beliefs are still unknown to this day. Many of his plays give us a clear picture of the religious beliefs and effects they would have on daily life, in Elizabethan England. 

Something I find special about Shakespeare is that he made sure his plays appealed to the entire audience. His plays would have complex poetry and ideas which suit the noble and middle class audience, but also plenty of humour and dirty jokes, suiting the groundlings. 

The groundlings were the working people who paid less and stood in the pit in front of the stage. If they didn't enjoy the play they would sometimes go as far as throwing rotten fruit at those performing! 

The wealthy nobles would pay extra so they got a seat rather than having to stand the entire play, sometimes those very wealthy people would even pay to have a seat right on stage! 

These are what I see as the most important aspects of Shakespeare's plays, each paragraph I have written is a context I have taken an interest in. 

Not the ninja turtles

 We are learning about Romeo and Juliet and will soon read their book, therefore we are learning about famous artists back in that time to help us understand more when we read the book.

Reflection

 

Looking back at the planning we did in the beginning I think we stuck to our plan and over the weeks produced a good project. 

Having had the experience of this project, if I was planning another project I would be more organised so I know exactly what my group is doing each day.

The link I will add shows our very first weekly planner we made, throughout the weeks we made more. 

Our first planner week 5 

Our process-

milestone 1

milestone 2

milestone 3

week 6

week 7

week 8

week 9

Time management/ work flow-

Looking back at how well we planned and then recorded each week's and day's work and managed our time, I think we completed each weeks work on time, although as i said above we could have been more organised.

In the future I would have each days work planned out at the start of the week therefore we would know what we were doing at the start of each day.

Research-

Looking at our research and comparing it to what other groups did, I think our group did very good research, although as I read each groups work it seemed everyone had done fantastic research.

Another time, I would use google/websites more as we used books and knowledge from people.

Planning and presentation-

Looking back now at how we planned and prepared our presentation, I think our group did very good, we got our presentation prepared and finished on time and up to standard.

I wouldn't do anything differently.

showcase day-

NPDL slide show

The link above is our slide show that we printed out and was the main part in our presentation.

Here are just a few photos taken of us doing part of our research which was water testing the Mangapouri stream. These photos were included in our presentation.

In my opinion showcase day ran very smoothly and there was a good turn out of people, everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves and finding it interesting to learn the research we had been doing.

My group constantly made sure to have someone at our showcase at all times to assure if anyone would like to ask us questions they were welcome to.

Reflection-

What skills did we use?

we used our initiative to think of the different things we would need to test/ research for our project to have its best outcome.

Would you like to do more of this type of work next year?

Yes I would, I liked that we were able to come up with our own plans and decide what we wanted to do our self.

What did you learn from this process that will help with future projects?

I learnt that even if it is difficult and you may not know what you are doing, if you put your mind to it you can complete it. Going into this I knew nothing about sustainable energy and now I definitely do!

What advice would you give to the teachers if they are running this or something similar in the future?

To take a step back and let the students plan their work. Although we planned all our own work it did often still feel as though the teachers took over.

week 6-7

 I was away  although now I am back I have caught up on any of the work i missed out on.

I will explain what my group completed while i was away.

They got all the equipment together that we will be needing with the help from Mrs Hirschberg and Mr Georgetti. 

They used a led light to show the use of power, along with the science taps because they had enough pressure to allow our water generator to work.

Learning Reflection week 5

We have been learning about sustainable energy and ways we can create it. My group is researching how to make energy using the Otaki waterways.

1. What have you achieved/learned/found out since your last post?

So far I have learnt how hydro power is used and I learnt some interesting things from the books we got out from the library.

2. How effectively have you used your time this week?

I think we have all used our time very effectively.

3. How have you contributed to your group’s progress?

I have made sure we all are contributing and all helping out.

4. Glows: something that is going well in your project:

We are working well as a group.

5. Grows: Something you need to work on:

Staying on task not getting distracted.

6. Where could you get help with this? 

Teachers telling us to stay on task.

7. What are the next steps for your project?

Make a model of a small water turbine with the help from teachers.

Night

In the Holocaust memoir 'Night' by Elie Wiesel, three events that impacted me the greatest emotionally were Elie seeing young children thrown into flames, people suffocating in cattle cars and the death march.

He uses a range of language features including repetition , listing and direct speech to describe his experiences in the concentration camps.

The first event that impacted me emotionally was children being thrown into flames. The author's clever use of words (sibilance) made this sentence really stand out to me.

"Never shall I forget the small faces of children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under the silent sky"

How the Nazis effortlessly tossed those deemed

– too young, unfit, ill – into bottomless pits of conflagration; and watched carelessly as innocent faces drowned within a sea of flames.

This made me think to myself, were they even human?

What went through their sick minds?

How were people capable of such torture?  

The second event that impacted me emotionally was the Jews suffocating in the cattle cars.

Fighting to death for a single crust of bread? That was the reality for those poor souls. Suffocating beneath bodies, not knowing if those next to them were lifeless.

"The heat, the thirst, the stench, the lack of air, were suffocating us"

Listing was the language feature used; The author's clever use of words created an image within my mind, an image so clear I can not get out of my mind.

I find it hard to fathom things like this actually happened, it makes me feel so appreciative for the life we live now.

The final event that impacted me emotionally was the death march.

One trip, one falter and that was the end for them. Trampled beneath a herd of human feet, left to wither away beneath the fallen snow.

"We marched without faltering. The SS made us increase our pace."

"faster you flea ridden dogs!"

Direct speech allows the reader to feel engaged and understand to a deeper level, The direct speech as of above proves how harsh the SS officers truly were, not an ounce of pity felt. This makes me feel ill thinking humans are capable of such cruelty.

Prior to reading 'Night' by Elie Wiesel I did not have much knowledge around the Holocaust; I now am aware truly how devastating it was, completely inhumane, utter cruelty.

Elie used a range of language features including repetition , listing and direct speech to describe his experiences in the concentration camps.

My heart goes out to the millions of Jewish families who lost their lives, I can not even begin to comprehend the sheer terror Elie along with all the other victims endured.

'Night' was written in a way that lets the readers truly feel the Jews pain through the in depth words. He uses a range of language features such as repetition, listing and direct speech, to name a few.

Reading about his experiences made me feel sick to my stomach, I can not fathom such inhumane, pitiless behaviour; deep down I will not let myself except that the Holocaust happened, it seems like something that would not happen on our planet. 

Elie Wiesel, Author of Night, Aged 12

 Our English class is studying the memoir Night, by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.

I worked in a group with Eva, Pearl and Preslee to create an Empathy Map for Elie at this age.

Elie was sad he couldn't find someone who would teach him about the Kabbalah as he was very eager to learn about it, they would tell him he was to young and not ready for it. Elie came from a very religious family and was very loved by them.