Do you think Shakespeare is relevant today? Why or why not? Please remember to use examples from the text to support your claim.


Of course Shakespeare is relevant today. So many phrases that we used he had created, for example: Fight fire with fire, vanished into thin air, laughing stock, wear your heart on your sleeve, and all sorts of other phrases. Shakespeare with a huge impact on society today.

The characterization in Shakespeare also stands out, making Shakespeare relevant on a personal level to many people. His plays continue to be performed not because Shakespeare is famous, but because his characters feel very vivid and alive to viewers. While they may be kings, queens, and princes, they struggle with the same issues that many playgoers do, and they have very multidimensional, human characterizations on the stage which people can associate with.

 I have to agree that Shakespeare's characters are very easy for many to relate to. Romeo and Juliet is probably relatable for most teenagers. Maybe not the whole love at first sight and suicide part of the story, but about two people who can't be together because of an argument. They don't have to be in love with someone either, sometimes parents won't let their children hang out with certain people because they think that person is a bad influence on their own kid. I doubt it'd ever go as far as a huge family grudge and the problem results to suicide, but you get the main gist. The plays Shakespeare writes are very easy to relate to.

For your blog today, I want you to write a Shakespearean sonnet. We will go over the criteria on the board, and I encourage you to take notes. I don't expect you to finish during class today. It will be due next class; the beginning of next class.


Everyday you wake up feeling sad,
Your life is sometimes difficult I guess.
Really though it can't be that bad,
Other people deal with a bigger mess.

So don't you dare cry tonight,
Don't you shed a single tear.
Many have bigger monsters to fight,
Stop hiding in that shadow of fear.

Can't you see you've got it good,
Compared to a lot of the rest.
Maybe you should change your mood,
This should take a load off your chest.
Others deal with monsters much worse,
Treat your problems like a blessing or curse.

Please write your blog today about the two characters you met at the Town Meeting yesterday. Who were they? What was their job? Did they tell you anything interesting about themselves? Where did they stand on the law being passed? Why?

I met the plague and a nurse at the Town Meeting yesterday. In all honesty I didn't really get a lot of information, the plague was really simple, it's a sort of disease and its job was to get people sick. The plague didn't really care about the law considering it's not a human being.

The nurse is basically a nanny that takes care of rich people's children. She doesn't want the law to be passed because people in the Nobility class have to pay taxes. If they have to pay taxes that means they lose money, and if the people she works for loses money they can't pay her as much. That's about it, she didn't tell me anything interesting about herself like her hobbies, opinions on the Queen, she was a spy, if she was batman or not.

Dear Nathaniel,

           A law has passed allowing the poor to get a job and money. I'm pleased to know that the king is    sensible enough to create a law that helps our community for once, unlike our queen, who does nothing to help. Mary Queen of Scots would be a much better ruler than Queen Elizabeth. Anyways, since I am apart of the Nobility class I have to help by paying taxes that will go to the poor. I could not be more happy than to do so, after all it will be helping them a great deal. Also because of the new law the children, elders, and the sick will be given the help that they have been needing for so long. Children will be sent to an orphanage were they will be taken care of, and given a profession for the future when they grow old enough to work. Although I worry about those who are unwilling to work at all. They will be whipped in public until they make the decision to go and find work.
           I hope that things are going well for you, like things are going well for me. Maybe you could come and visit sometime, or I could come and visit you. After all I do miss Rose, William, and you quite a bit. Good bye for now.

                                                                             Sincerely, 
                                                                                     Ester 

Journal Entry #1


           Today I had to help with the plans to over throw Queen Elizabeth so Mary Queen of Scots can rule. We have to be more careful though, the Queen is catching on to us. My friend, John went missing a week ago and some believe he was captured by authorities. More and more of us are disappearing which is making it harder to go through with our plan. I am worried about being caught by the authorities, who knows what will happen to me if I am. Going through with this plan puts me at risk, and I am starting to wish I hadn't joined the Clergy after all. It is wrong to doubt my beliefs, and since I am committed to the Clergy, I cannot back down now.


Journal Entry #2

           I was caught by the police today during a riot against the Queen. They tortured me and several other Clergy's who were caught as well. They want to know where the rest of the Clergy are, but so far no one has said anything. I haven't seen any signs of John, and I worry that he may have been executed. If no one give information about the Catholic Clergy then we may all be put to death. I want to tell what I know but I know if I do then I will be a traitor.

Clergyman

Clergy is a term used to the formal religious leadership within some religions. A clergyman, clergywoman, clergyperson, churchman, or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional. Catholic clergy in the Elizabethan Era were mostly considered traitors, and they were chased aggressively in England. Pope Pius V declared Elizabeth a heretic who was not the legitimate Queen and her subjects no longer owed her obedience.The pope sent Jesuits and seminarians to secretly evangelize and support Catholics. They wanted to replace Queen Elizabeth with her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, and several times plotted to overthrow her. Priests were often tortured or executed after caught unless they cooperated with the English authorities.
Schools were taught the official religion decreed by the Queen. Those who didn’t practice the official beliefs was often dangerous and those who believed in the “wrong” religion risked their wealth, freedom, and life. Clergy were mostly Catholics such as Bishops and Monks. People who supported Catholicism in public were excluded from the professions, sometimes fined or imprisoned. Bishops lived a life of luxury and dressed richly. They’d wear a hat called miter and wore many of the same clothes as the Federal lord. Unlike the Bishops, Monks wore loose linen or wool tunics. Men wore wool pants under their tunis and when it was cold they wore wool cloaks. The Clergy were people who worked in the church. It was a separate class once, then became classified under Nobility (gentlemen).