Merchant of Venice Class Begins April 16!

Yes, spring at Brave Writer means SHAKESPEARE!!! In fact, I'll be teaching two Shakespeare classes this spring, starting with a high school course in one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays, The Merchant of Venice.

The Merchant of Venice class still has a couple of openings, so join us quickly, and we'll get you in. :)

We'll begin with activities on Shakespeare's life and times, study the Elizabethan theater scene, examine Shakespeare's use of language, and finish the first week with a peek at some background and sources for the play.

Then we'll read and discuss the play, act by act, for the next two weeks, and finish the last week with a viewing of one of the film versions (I'm leaning toward the Laurence Olivier version from 1973 right now) and the writing of an exploratory essay on one of several possible topics.

To get us in the mood for our study of Shakespeare, here's a fun version of The Hokey-Pokey in Shakespearean English:

So I hope to see some of you in my Merchant of Venice class, and if not now, then perhaps in the upcoming Shakespeare Family Workshop which begins May 14th.

With a flourish of my quill pen,

Spring Schedule at Brave Writer

The spring schedule is now up at Brave Writer, and I’m going to be a very busy woman. This winter I’ve taught two family workshops, The Groovy Grammar Workshop and the ongoing Playing with Poetry Workshop which is at the end of Week Three of the four-week workshop.

This spring I’ll be teaching a Literary Analysis Class on Little Women starting March 12; we’ll be focusing on Louisa May Alcott’s classic which is quite autobiographical. I’ve read extensively on the Alcott family, studying Alcott’s journals and letters plus several biographies of the family as a whole. After reading through the novel together using the discussion questions (the “Think Piece” Questions) from The Boomerang, then writing an exploratory essay on one of several given topics.

Starting on April 16, I’ll be teaching a Literary Analysis Class on The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. We’ll be reading the play together, act by act and scene by scene using a set of discussion questions, then we’ll write an exploratory essay on one of several topics.

Then starting on May 14, I’ll be facilitating a Shakespeare Family Workshop. We’ll explore Shakespeare’s life and times, the theatre scene of his day, his sonnets and poetry, then his Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.

My classes will end on June 15, and after that I’ll be teaching a new class at Brave Writer over the summer that will be a surprise. :)

I also plan to move this site back to Blogger during Easter break as I’m very disappointed with the lack of functionality of WordPress vs. Blogger.

So, I hope to see you on Brave Writer soon…or if you’d like help with grading your students’ essays, e-mail me at SBarrett0085@gmail.com.

Writing bravely with you,

Moving My Domain

I'll be moving my content from Wordpress to this blog over the course of the next couple of weeks...as soon as I figure out how to move my domain name to Blogger from Wordpress. :) Please stay tuned as this website begins to become the place I want it to be. Thanks for your patience.