Year 1, Month 1, Day 2: Shakespeare Institute.

Today was the first day of classes for me.  I begin my studies here with a class called Research Skills taught by my Academic Advisor, Professor John Jowett.  A class very reminiscent of my very first research class at New York University, Methods and Materials of Research, wherein we were expected to develop our very own research project, complete with interviews and artistic-based conclusions.  Along those lines, the very first class of this module was spent in discussing what we will be covering during the fall term, such as the use of different sources and materials for research.

A question that was brought up in class today by Prof. Jowett, that was then discussed by the students in groups, was "What is the nature of postgraduate work, and how does it differ from what you have experienced up until this point?"  While the groups spent ten or so minutes discussing, there were many different answers to the question posed as there were all kinds of different life experiences and wisdom in the room.  A few of those differences are listed below, or at least the ones that I could ascertain from the conversation that followed.

1. Academic vs. Practical Theatre Experience: Specifically the differences in ways of thinking as an academic as opposed to being a theatre professional.  This seems to have been a very common sentiment around the room today.
2. Focus of Academic Study vs. Broad Umbrella of Study: Loosely translated as being able to study the minutiae of Shakespeare and his body of work versus the broad general study of theatre or literature.
3. The Study of Original Material vs. Criticism: I'd agree that the opportunity to sit down in front of a First Folio and flip the page might be a vast improvement over the mere description of the event itself by someone who has also done so.  Kind of like the difference between seeing the Grand Canyon, and hearing someone's description of the Grand Canyon.
4. Being Careful About Digression of Topic vs. The Reformulation of the Entire Idea: Digression in paper writing is bound to happen as research becomes more and more available and readily accessible.  The difference here lies in whether or not the research is truly part of the question you are trying to answer, or will you actually change the question to fit the answer you have just found.
5. Taking Meticulous Notes: Not just in class, but while you are reading any pertinent material.  The mere fact that every researcher has that moment where they are trying to recall a bit of information, and not knowing where or when you heard it first.  It's like trying to quote a movie you saw only a week ago, but having seen twenty movies since then you can't quite remember where you heard it first.
6. How to Refine Internet Searches without Losing Valuable Resources while Still Finding Pertinent Information:  Welcome to Google... and Google Scholar... and Bing... and DEEP (The Database for Early English Productions)... and well, the library.  Practice makes perfect.  You will only ever know if you've found it all be either reading it all, or asking someone who has read different resources.  What I got from this is that if you don't use your fellow students as resources, you're a schmuck.  And... you will NEVER find it ALL.

 The next topic of discussion involved class assessment in Britain at the MA level.  As it was explained to me, there is a PASS grade, a MERIT grade, and a DISTINCTION grade.  Each of these, however, are graded with a lower numerical value than they are in the USA.  PASS begins at a numerical value of 50.  MERIT at 60.  DISTINCTION at 70.  The grades you should strive for are in the low 70s.  An occasional 80 might be given, but very rarely.  I would think a 90 would be given if Shakespeare himself submitted an analysis of his own work... but then, given his predilection to make up words on the fly as it suited his purposes, he might receive a few critiques from the headier professionals at the institute.

At the last, I received my very first assignment.  Critique a published work as if it were a paper to be submitted for a class.  The article in question:
   Kahn, Coppelia. "The Magic of Bounty": Timon of Athens, Jacobean Patronage and Maternal Power. Shakespearean Quarterly. Vol. 38, Issue 1. 1987. 34-57

God, I hope Dr. Amy Cordileone isn't watching.  I'm sure I'd get a critique on my citation skills today.

So, I plan on reading Timon of Athens, then reading the article, then critiquing it.  By next Tuesday.  That's easy, right?

For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chops,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements. -- Macbeth, Act I, Sc. II.

Year One, Day 2 -- Words Written: 0