A Trailer Like No Other

Prepare yourselves, because this trailer for my project will blow your mind. It's just a teaser, so of course all of the points I'm trying to make will have a little more substance in the final version. 

I couldn't figure out how to put links and tags and stuff into the actual YouTube video. That would have been helpful, I think, but there's not much I can do about it.

Market Study

I've decided to aim my video at the Young Men and Young Women (teenagers) in the church. With this audience, then, I've decided that it would be useful to send it (or a prototype of it) to the youth leaders in the church and see what they think of it. I also want to show it to the people I hope would actually benefit from it (aka teenagers in the church).
So I've made up a list of some people that I am going to contact about my video. I've divided them into two groups: people who I want to see the video, and people I want to help me make the video.

• People I'll send it to:
• Bobbie Jaspers:  a former Young Women leader. She is still pretty involved with the youth in my home ward, so she would know if they would like or appreciate the video.
• Shirley Powell:  former seminary and Young Women teacher. She knows everything about everything the kids back home do, plus she loves me. She'd be happy to give me some feedback!
• Whoever the current Young Women President in my ward is:  I don't know who it is right now, but I'll get my mom to tell me. Obviously she would know what the Young Women in my home ward like and if my video would be something they'd watch willingly. 
• Joy Anderson:  ward Young Women counselor AND a former stake Young Women leader. AND she's my neighbor and my mom's best friend, so she pretty much can't say no to me. She has connections both in the stake and in my ward. I would like to see if she or someone else can distribute my video around the stake and see what other youth leaders outside of my ward  think of it. Maybe they can even show it to the teenagers in their wards.
• Jim Bell:  bishop of my home ward. Nuff said. He knows everything about the ward and the kids in it. 
• My mom:  she had 6 kids. She knows a little something about what they like.
• Dr. Burton's wife:  apparently he has talked to her and she's interested in it. She's a Young Women leader, so that's helpful. We'll see what happens!
• People in the limelight:
• Me. I hope I can get in contact with her.
• Sadie Klein:  lived in Florida, and went on a fifteen-minute rant when I asked her if she ever had any experiences because she was a Mormon. She's got plenty of stories and said she didn't mind being filmed.
• Travis Moore or Thomas Sheffield:  both of these guys have higher-quality cameras, so I hope I can borrow one so that the movie doesn't look super ghetto. 
• Jeni Perez:  I posted on Facebook about my project and she offered to tell me some stories about her experiences! I'll post about her response later.
• Katherine Morris:  one of Dr. Burton's former students. Apparently she's from California and had to deal with the whole prop 8 thing. I sent her an email so I'll post when and if she responds. 
• James Blackburn:  my roommate's fiancee. He's got a ton of crazy stories, too. I don't know if the youth will be able to relate to him because he has a beard and he's obviously much older than them, but we'll see what he has to say anyway. 
• The Ontiveros family:  my family (in case you couldn't guess). I have brothers and sisters who all, like me, grew up in a town with about twelve Mormons total in the school. We've all had to listen to people asking us ridiculous questions about being Mormon. I'll talk to all of them and see what they have to say.

I don't know how many people can be involved in my video because I don't want it to be too long, but I think everyone I contact will have something to offer that will help my video go in the direction it needs to. 

Updates to come later!

Prototype Video! Topic: Answering People's Ridiculous/Crazy Questions about Our Faith

Now that I have a semi-permanent idea about what my project will be, I'll share it. I want to make a video that shows people what Mormons have to deal with when people criticize the church, and then tell them how to handle these issues using digital media. I want to direct it toward the Young Men and Young Women of the church because I know from experience that they often don't know what to do in these situations. I want to make a video that teaches them positive ways of dealing with negative situations.

I don't know if this is enough of a connection to Shakespeare, but I'm trying to work it in. The basic format of each section of my video will be as follows: (1) a quote from Shakespeare that illustrates the issue I'm discussing; (2) a personal story about a person's experience with that issue; (3) my commentary on that issue; and (4) the solution or resources (with a focus on using digital media) people can use to handle the issue. I'm thinking about including three different issues to focus on. The issue I chose for my prototype video is "the crazy questions people ask us about ourselves, our practices, and out beliefs."

Just so everyone knows, this is a VERY ROUGH idea of what my video is going to look like. I'm going to film it with a higher quality camera and get better lighting, obviously. And it won't just be me talking straight at the camera the whole time, because that would be really boring to just stare at my face for several minutes. I hope to put in other people talking about their own experiences (I have a couple people already who have offered to be on camera!). I'm also going to put in pictures and video clips and maybe just have my voice over it and put in some other cool stuff. And I definitely won't hold up the Shakespeare quotes written on the back of my old homework because that's super ghetto. I'll have transitions and animations and stuff that will make that look better. Basically, this video shows the structure and format of the video so that people will know what the content will be.

Love's Labour's Lost, Acts 2 and 3

      I love Costard.
      He's that guy whose quirkiness and stupidity are so endearing that everyone (well, at least all readers) love him. He takes everything that the lords say so literally that it adds a lot of humor to the play. The language itself is what makes the play a comedy, not necessarily the subject material or the plot.
      The Lords are really pretentious and arrogant, and so they tend to speak with flowery language that uses a lot of metaphors and figurative language. They seem to see themselves as men of the mind, and so they try to talk the way they think educated people should speak. They are so snobbish and high-and-mighty that it only makes it that much funnier when Costard takes their flowery language at face value. It is really hard to take these men seriously when you know that every word they say probably has a double meaning, and if you choose to interpret what they say literally, it will have a completely ridiculous, unintended meaning. Thus Costard, though the fool, brings these men down to his foolish level by bringing to light the ridiculousness of their flowery, metaphorical language.
      Here is an example of Costard's confusion of two words--l'envoy and salve--that Adriano and Moth believe to be synonymous, but in fact have two very different meanings to Costard:
     
      ADRIANO DE ARMADO

Some enigma, some riddle: come, thy l'envoy; begin.

      COSTARD

No enigma, no riddle, no l'envoy; no salve in the
mail, sir: O, sir, plantain, a plain plantain! no
l'envoy, no l'envoy; no salve, sir, but a plantain!
DON

      ADRIANO DE ARMADO

By virtue, thou enforcest laughter; thy silly
thought my spleen; the heaving of my lungs provokes
me to ridiculous smiling. O, pardon me, my stars!
Doth the inconsiderate take salve for l'envoy, and
the word l'envoy for a salve?

      MOTH

Do the wise think them other? is not l'envoy a salve?
DON

      ADRIANO DE ARMADO

No, page: it is an epilogue or discourse, to make plain
Some obscure precedence that hath tofore been sain.

Moth has no clue that a l'envoy is not a salve, but Costard actually has a very good, diverse vocabulary in the sense that he knows what words mean and in which contexts these words can be properly used. However, this also backfires when he confuses a word to mean the same as another word, such as half-farthing and remuneration.
      The language in this play is very funny, and translated into a modern form of speech, I'm sure it would have a great appeal to modern readers.

The Ultimate Video Blog Post Experience

A preview of what's to come...

This is the script I wrote for myself:

       Religion has been a source of conflict since the world began. As soon as a religious group is labeled “outside of the norm,” the members often become targets of oppression from those who hate them for their beliefs.

       One such religion that has received a great deal of negative attention is Judaism. Christians considered Jews lesser beings because of their religion, so Jews were forced to the margins of society. Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice delves deep into this issue, using the Christian character Antonio and the Jewish Shylock to show how each group felt toward the other.

       When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or the Mormon Church), was established, members of the new church endured persecution in many of the same ways that Jews did, and they too were forced away from society. And all this was due to many people’s dislike or distrust of this new religion.

       In the past, both Jews and Mormons had little opportunity to defend themselves against this cruelty. But Mormons today have finally found a way to combat this intolerance. Digital media has given Mormons the opportunity to express their feelings and opinions about the prejudice they face.  Digital media also allows those who are not members to find out exactly who Mormons are, what they believe, and what they stand for. Some of these digital tools of combat include lds.org, mormon.org, online Mormon publications such as Deseret News, “I am a Mormon” videos, and official church statements that anyone can access online.

       Digital technology gives Mormons, and other oppressed peoples, a chance to fight the idea that they are inferior because of their beliefs. Maybe these new tools are just what we need to make the world a better place.

Hope you liked that! Took me about four takes to get it. I didn't know acting could be so stressful. 

Repurposing My Paper

      First off, thank you to Alicia and Kaleigh for your feedback on my paper! I really appreciate your help, You've given me a few ideas for the direction my paper will go.

      Kaleigh suggested that I expand my content to discuss the marginalization of other struggling or minority groups along with the two groups I've already discussed. I really like this idea because then my paper and my research could apply to any person or group who feels like they are being treated unfairly.

      She also suggested that I create some sort of discussion board for these people, to give them a voice so that they can be heard and discuss their problems with people who are going through similar problems. I like the idea of being able to help people, and this seems like a way to do that. The only problem is that I have no clue how to create a discussion board like that, and if I did, how to inform people of its existence and get them to comment on it.

      I think this would be a worthwhile project, but I just don't know how to go about doing it. Any ideas that anyone has would be helpful! :)

      Another idea that Alicia had was to keep the focus on Mormons in the present day. She said that now that I have established that a problem exists, I should discuss how people should and are dealing with the issue. She mentioned the "I am a Mormon" videos, the church's statements to the press about it's doctrine (most notably the Randy Bott and racism blowup), just getting the correct information out these (mormon.org and lds.org). The church has many ways of defending and standing up for itself, and so I could definitely talk about those.

      I'm a little unclear as to whether we are supposed to add to our actual research paper or if we are supposed to put the research that we've done, old and new, into some entirely new format. Anyway, I was thinking that I could make my own "I am a Mormon" video and talk about my research. I could talk about the oppression in Shakespeare, in Mormon history, of Muslims today, of women, of blacks, etc. I could go on to say that all of these groups have fought this hatred and talk about their methods. Then I can bring it back to Mormons today and how we all must stand up for our religion with our testimonies, etc., and bring an awareness of the problem to the public.

      This is just a rough idea, but it is something that I could post on the internet, something done in a digital medium. It is also something that many people are doing, but mine would have a slightly different take. I think it could be interesting. Updates to come.

Love's Labour's Lost: Not Yet, At Least

          In Love’s Labour’s Lost, the male characters are pitted against the female characters in a “civil war of wits,” as the princess says.

          The king and his men claim take their oath very seriously; the king won’t even let the princess into his court so as to not break his vow. However, the men fall hopelessly in love with the princess’s company anyway. Since by oath they are forced not to be in a relationship with these women, they begin looking for any loopholes to the oath or any rationalizations they can think of to get as close to these women as they can without actually courting them. The king dismisses the oath as a simple “formality,” yet by his actions (refusing to let the princess’s company into his home) we can see that he only cares that everyone thinks he is abiding by his vow.  Any public contact he has with these women must be absolutely professional; however, I am curious to see how he will act when he is alone with the princess! Will he and the lords keep their vows outside of the public eye?

          The men are very serious about this battle of wits, determined to use their reason to circumvent the oath they made. The women, on the other hand, treat the whole deal as a joke. They are delighted when they hear that the men have made such a foolish vow, and they decide to play them. It is a game to them—will they be able to make them break their oath? The princess believes that they will “prove perjured”: the ladies’ continued presence will cause the king and his lords to give into their desires and break their vows. Obviously they think it will be an easy win, so they don’t take the battle very seriously, laughing at their game and playing with the men much as a cat plays with a mouse before it eats it.

Mallory's Paper

      You have the groundwork laid out--you inform your audience that Shakespeare is taught all around the world and that all different cultures can bring in a new perspective on these texts. From your paper, we learn that many people believe that all interpretations of Shakespeare's texts have been made, and so many educators only teach these reused ideas, not willing (or not able?) to think outside the box.

      Now that you've built the foundation, I like that you want your next step to be informing teachers how to get teachers out of this rut, using digital mediums. Like you said, teachers would certainly be out of their element if this is the way they have been taught to teach Shakespeare and how they have been practicing teaching it. If you could find some way to (1) persuade teachers that their methods might need to change, and (2) give them some ideas on how to actually make these changes effective.

      I think a good place for you to start is just to research how teachers are already implementing digital strategies so that students can learn about Shakespeare in new ways and from new perspectives. There are quite a few articles and blogs online that describe these different methods.

      Here's a link to an article about a teacher educating his students in a modern way. As one kid says, these new digital and other modern mediums allow students to interpret Shakespeare in a contemporary way. It's kind of cheesy, but it gets the message across.

http://www.edutopia.org/teaching-shakespeare-digital-media

      This article suggests that the old ways of thinking about Shakespeare tend to intimidate students, or else make them treat Shakespeare as just stuffy writing from a stuffy old man that they can't relate to. Short films, podcasts, blog posts, etc. get Shakespeare into their brains in ways that modern students are used to. Putting Shakespeare into new, digital forms also makes it more relevant, as today's world seems to be trending away from dusty old books toward fresh, visual formats we find on the internet.

      YouTube also appears to be a good place to find proof of the success of this new way of teaching. Many students have posted their projects online. Type "Shakespeare English projects" into a YouTube search and look at the variety of videos you find! Another interesting thing to search for is "Shakespeare student study programs." This brings up a lot of videos from people who are talking about rediscovering Shakespeare and why students should study it and so on and so on. "Teachers study Shakespeare" might be especially helpful to you because it talks about teachers themselves learning about how to help students appreciate it more.

      This is all I can think of right now. If I think of anything else to help you expand your process, I'll let you know!

After the Meeting

I think my paper is applicable to a wide audience. All of the hype about Mormons and Mormonism and "that crazy cult" going on in the media lately is proof of that. Everyone wants to hear all about us! It's great. The problem with my paper, I think, is that when I try to move the concept to apply to issues in the digital world, it moves away from Shakespeare completely. So my main problem is how to bring focus my paper on the digital age without straying away from the fact that this is, ultimately, a Shakespeare class.

I think my paper is also more informative that pragmatic. I've noticed that a lot of students in this class are doing a very good job of writing papers about ways of teaching Shakespeare and media adaptations of his plays. The ideas in their papers can be put to practical use. I honestly have no idea what to do with mine. I based my paper on the notion that people have lately wanted to hear all sides of the "Mormon story," and I was just writing my own version. People like to learn about the topic, but what can we actually DO to relate to it?

Professor Burton and I talked a little bit about the idea of "hacking"--the idea that if a certain group is not able to get what they need in a conventional way, they will resort to unconventional means to get the job done. We discussed the new practice of getting loans from other people, rather than from banks, in order to avoid having to pay buckets of money in interest. Mormons "hacked" the system in Kirtland by establishing a bank without a formal charter; the Jews in Merchant of Venice "hacked" in a way by finding a trade in which they could be successful in a way that Christians were forbidden by the rules of their religion to do. 

Obviously this idea of hacking exists and can exist in many ways and places, so I was thinking I could expand on something like that. However, I don't know exactly how to transition to that from where my paper is now. How do I keep this within the bounds of Shakespeare? Please let me know if you have any ideas. 

Tweethis Statement Results

      I put my Tweethis statement on Facebook and got responses from a couple of people who liked my idea. My Austrian friend Mike Wotke was not extremely helpful, but maybe the word "Venice" will attract at least some people to my paper... Anyway, here are the responses I got:

      I didn't really think this was enough social proof, so I did what Dr. Burton suggested and asked my entire FHE group about it on Monday. The guys for the most part were pretty unresponsive, probably because these particular ones have probably never read Shakespeare in their lives. However, one guy suggested that I look at persecution of Mormons throughout their history instead of just modern times. A lot of people agreed and told me to look at things like Haun's Mill, the Extermination order, the polygamy debate, and so on. I didn't end up using all of these events in Mormon history, but I think the ones I did include work pretty well in my paper.
      Thanks, family!

Final Paper

The link to my final paper:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QYw3WtGo_94mMBX2l1SEIA8_RfyS8CUGrWtqLwPkikY/edit

Basically what my paper is about is a comparison of the treatment of Jews historically and in The Merchant of Venice and the treatment of Mormons since the establishment of the church. Both groups have endured similar religious oppression. I compared aspects of Shakespeare's play to events in Mormon history, namely: their marginalization, the Kirtland Safety Society disaster, the Extermination order, and the issues surrounding Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.