Shakespeare Blog Post #1

After doing some research into my play (Richard III) and taking into account that I do not have my peers to rely on, my first reaction to learn about the play is to search up general overviews of the play on the internet. I used http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/richardiii/summary.html to get an idea of what the play is about. I could read word for word using this website but without the help of peers or a teacher hovering over me, I thought that it would be too difficult to understand. I read into the characters and their brief descriptions as well as the themes and motifs of the play. I took down some notes that I believed would be important later on in my studying of Richard III.

Knowing that no one else can help me with the play gave me the idea of searching for an already annotated version of the play. I will use “no fear Shakespeare”. I will use the no fear version to understand the play in depth and allow myself to reference specific parts of the play with ease.

To research my play I am and have made use of the “Electronic Products” sheet given to us by Mr. Chesser. I’ve gone into EBSCOHost and learned what to search in regards to Richard III.  I think this will especially come in handy when we are to write our essay on the play.

I’ve also downloaded a visual of the play. With Mr. Chesser’s suggestion I downloaded “Looking for Richard” which stars Al Pacino. It is the play done by Pacino and he and the other actors talk throughout the movie on what happens in it. They speak of how important Shakespeare is in today’s society and interview people on the streets. Al Pacino admits it is a very tough play to understand and he even says nobody knows Richard III.  They say in the movie of how tough the plot is to follow and by watching this movie I believe ill easily understand it since I am watching it from their standpoint.  The movie will allow me to see the actor’s emotions and body language which reading the book could never do.

Although it is a very confusing play, with the no fear Shakespeare and an interactive view of the play by Al Pacino and many different references on the internet, I believe that this play is something I can understand and actually take interest in.