The Craft of Research

Here's another useful tool for all of you English-Writing majors out there. The book I'm using for another class that I find extremely useful is called the The Craft of Research Third Edition by Gregory Colomb and Joseph Williams. The book's original author, Wayne Booth, passed away in 2005, but I didn't include him here. Anyway, the book is available at most college libraries or online for a small amount. I wish I had discovered this book back in my freshman year of college. Maybe I would have passed more courses!

The breakdown of this book is as follows. The authors state in the preface that they wrote this book to

• guide you through the complexities of turning a topic or question into a research problem whose significance matches the effort you put into solving it
• help you organize and draft a report that justifies the effort
• show you how to read your report as your readers will so that you can revise it into one that they will read with the understanding and respect it deserves

The authors state what sets them apart from other handbooks. For the most part, I think they are successful in their reasoning. The book is divided into five parts:

• Research, Researchers and Readers
• Asking Questions, Finding Answers
• Making a Claim and Supporting It
• Planning, Drafting and Revising
• Some Last Considerations (includes postscript and appendix)

So the class in question in a new course titled Research in Language and Literature. The fine details need to be ironed out. Unfortunately, we're the "guinea pigs" for the new course; it needs to be re-formatted before being offered again. I don't like the other required text for this course, it's a book titled, The English Studies Book by Rob Pope. Worst writing book ever! I can't get into it. I recommend skipping the Pope book and going for the aforementioned book, The Craft of Research.

To be honest, I don't like the professor teaching the course, but she did point the class in the direction of at least one good book. So get your hands on this book! Even more so if you're English-Writing at Kean.

The Right to Write

Here's a book that every writer should have in his/her collection. The Right to Write by Julia Cameron. This book was required reading for both my senior seminar class and one of my writing classes I'm currently taking. This book is truly a godsend. It has changed the way I looked at writing forever. The author begins the book quite amusingly. Here's her exact words taken directly from the text:
I have a fantasy. It's the pearly gates. St. Peter has out his questionnaire, he asks me the Big Question, "What did you do that we should let you in?"
"I convinced people they should write," I tell him. The great gate swings open.

Writing for me, has always been a craft. I've spent years perfecting my craft. I hope to make a ton of money off of my writing one day. Ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil in my hand, I've been writing. However, it wasn't until I was in junior high that I actually considered it as a career. I transport myself back to 1992, when I was in kindergarten, taking naps in the afternoon after which the teacher would have "story time." She would sit all the kids on the carpet in a circle. She would proceed with a book she had handpicked herself. She read us the story and let us see the pictures that came with the story. Every day, I impatiently awaited story time. The highlight of my day. It was the only time where we didn't have to do work. My imagination ran wild. What can I say? I got inspired. I vowed to write a story of my own, much like stories in the picture books.
Anyway, here's some of the main reasons I love this book:

• She has writing activities at the end of every chapter
• She's funny and articulate
• She refers to writing as a lover and a friend
• She explains that writing is a way of understanding life
• She says we are all writers, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not
• Writing is a form of prayer and meditation

I give this book five stars. I really recommend it. Buy it off Amazon or check it out at the library. Whatever you do, read it!

Shakespeare's Othello at Drew University

As promised, here's my review of Othello at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Let me start off by saying that even though the theatre is just a brief walk away, I cannot go there often. I usually buy a rush ticket, which was the case last Sunday, Sep 25 when I saw it. Rush tickets are discounted and they give you whatever seats are left, good or bad. Well, my seat was "orchestra right, seven rows up." Translation: my seats were lousy. Of course I don't need to tell you that all the seats for "orchestra middle" were taken. The theatre itself is very small, it only seats about 300 people. I find the outside lobby where they sell Shakespearean souvenirs more appealing than the theatre itself. Don't bother buying the souvenirs there, though. They're nice (t-shirts, hats, feather pens, inkwells, books, maps, etc) but way too expensive--even for a university. Buy them elsewhere, like I plan on doing.

Anyway, on to the play. Of all the actors in this play, the standouts for me have to be Robert Cuccioli as Iago and Lindsay Smiling as Othello. You would think that Desdemona would stand out as well, but Victoria Mack's Desdemona was barely memorable. She's pretty, polite and can certainly deliver lines well--but she's boring...for lack of a better word. To be fair, Othello's virtuous and falsely accused wife can be difficult to cast. The actress must not only possess physical beauty, she must command the stage in a way to not only have Othello won over, but the audience as well. Mack has the looks and charm, but none of the charisma to carry such an important role.

Jon Barker's Cassio was strong, funny at times and greatly cast. He provided comic relief when necessary, but still maintained his honor as Othello's newly appointed lieutenant. He shines in his scenes with the drunken sailors (all of which I wanted to take home with me, they were so adorable) and his brief scenes with Bianca, the Cypriot courtesan. Of all the ladies' costumes, Bianca's is the loveliest, by the way.  Some minor roles were doubled by the main characters, such as Lodovico and the Duke of Venice, who also plays one of the drunken sailors. Matt Bradford Sullivan should earn an important mention for his horrible Roderigo. Just awful. He wasn't funny and he wasn't pitiful. Just merely pathetic. I've seen better Roderigos both onstage and onscreen. Thankfully he doesn't have much stage time and he avoids stealing the spotlight from the two principle actors, which is good. Jennifer Antaramian's Emilia is solid, if generic. She talks with a slight Celtic accent. Whether it was intentional or not, I wasn't sure, but it got very annoying after a while. Emilia is from Venice not Ireland! Ironic, considering she doesn't have a Celtic look.

Robert Cuccioli's Iago was easily the star of the evening. I saw him in another production at the theatre as Salieri in Amadeus. He's a very good actor. Very talented. From the opening scene to his monologues to the audience, he's definitely knows his stuff. I hate Iago's character, but I didn't hate Cuccioli as him. You would have to see him to believe him. I saw him, and I'm truly glad I did. Smiling's Othello comes a close second--especially when his anger erupts in Act 3.  Wow! That sums up what I think about it. His epileptic fits and helplessness as a man slowly losing his mind.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

For all you English majors out there...here's a book I wish I read in high school. By the way, if you're curious about my age, you may take an educated guess: I graduated in 2005.

The name of the book I read recently was The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. I could have really used this book back in high school. Unfortunately, it was published in 2008, three years after I graduated. The book has won many literary awards and deservedly so, it's an intriguing, though-provoking read. It also has many SAT words that are useful for any college-bound high school senior.

The main character Frankie's real name is Frances Rose Landau-Banks. I just LOVE the name Frances and often wish that were my real name. The fact that she is called Frankie (which I love just as much) was a bonus for me. Anyway, she's the daughter of a Jewish mother, Ruth Landau from New Jersey and a WASP atheist father from Massachusetts. His name is Franklin Banks. He wanted a son to name after himself after his firstborn was a girl, Zada. He got another girl instead, so he named her Frances (as close to Franklin as possible) and nicknamed her Frankie. So Frankie grows up to be her father's Bunny Rabbit, the baby of the family, the docile one. She attends an expensive and highly competitive boarding school--named Alabaster Preparatory Academy in Massachusetts where her father and sister attended. She makes the transformation from geeky, shy girl to an attractive young lady and possible criminal mastermind.

She decides to infiltrate an all-male secret society (think Dead Poets Society) in hopes of getting closer to her boyfriend, liven up their usual pranks and to prove herself to everyone, who thinks she is just a harmless girl with no brain whatsoever. Girl power is imminent here, so guys who pick up this book beware. I do not consider myself a feminist, but I can identify with Frankie's need for identity and the desire to be loved for who she is instead of what people want her to be. The universal themes of love and acceptance are prevalent here, and anyone between the ages of 15-95 can identify with this book. I also enjoyed Frankie's compelling (and combative) encounters with the various males in the book. Most notably, Alessandro "Alpha" Tesorieri--the self-proclaimed leader of the Basset Hounds (all-male secret society) and Harvard-bound senior, makes this book. He has to be one of my favorite characters in fiction. The e-mails between Alpha and Frankie are very entertaining and kept my interest throughout the 300+ pages.  Other males in this book are equally enjoyable. There's Porter Welsch, Frankie's ex-boyfriend and a sophomore like she is. The e-mails between the two are fun as well. There's seniors Dean Enderby, Callum Whitstone and Matthew Livington--who becomes Frankie's second boyfriend and described by the author as a look-alike Clark Kent.

You'll just have to read the book to find out what happens to Frankie and the rest of these characters. I don't want to give away important plot points. I will say that this book is one of the more readable and intriguing books I've read in a long time. Take it from me, an English major and book-obsessed. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks would make a great movie! I'd definitely go see it! I'm happy to report that Kean Library has a copy on the third floor!

I have a soft spot for books with private school/academy settings and three-dimensional characters who could very well be your friends/boyfriends. Frankie's motivations and reasoning may come into question with some readers and the fact that her punishment did not equal the depth of her crimes may turn some readers off. It's not the perfect book, it has it's faults, but it's a perfectly written book with an original plot and enjoyable characters I wish I had gone to high school with. High school was never as cool as described in the book. I wish I'd have gone to a high school/academy like the one in the book. Maybe today I wouldn't have such a negative view of high school. Oh well...I plan to write books geared toward the young adult crowd, so we'll see where that goes.

Bottom line: If you have a few hours to spare, read it!!

about me...more or less

I am a senior at Kean University. I should be done by the end of this year. I will not give my exact age--just know that I'm in my early twenties. I'm the oldest of three children and the only person in my immediate family who has dedicated myself entirely to the arts. My major in English/Writing Option. I currently have a Facebook account, but I'm having second thoughts about it. I may cancel it, I'm not sure.

Let me say now that I'm BIG on Shakespeare (hence the blog title) and I've read most of his plays. I enjoy the tragedies more, you know Hamlet, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, King Lear, etc. I'm planning to see Othello very soon (review to follow). The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is located on the Drew campus. I'm happy to report that Drew University is a brief walk from my house and I find myself going there often to see new productions. I saw a wonderful production of King Lear back in 2008. The actors did a great job!

Othello is described by scholars as "Shakespeare's perfect play" with the plot, setting and characters. I first read Othello back in high school and I've been hooked ever since. My favorite character would have to be Michael Cassio. He goes through a range of emotions like no other character in the play and is the only major character who still lives at the end of the play. I'm pretty sure you can guess what happened to everyone else. That is, if you haven't already read the play. I saw Othello at the County College of Morris years ago. I liked that production---so I'm looking forward to seeing it again at Drew University.

OK...enough about me. On to the more exciting stuff--upcoming book reviews and my review of Othello from the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey!