26 Feb. Tempest Final & Best Possible Futures
Housekeeping:
- 1. You all did such an awesome job on the remote worksheet that I feel like we should have remote classes more often! Bravo!
- 2. If there’s ever a discrepancy between the course site prompts and the Canvas prompt, follow the course cite.
Class Leads
- Give us a quick overview of the main highlights from the Google Doc discussion and then write your discussion questions on the board
| Class Section | Students |
|---|---|
| ENGL 1102.F3 | Omar, Catherine, & Darren |
| ENGL 1102.HP3 | Craig & Danielle |
| ENGL 112.D3 | Michael |
Problems in Shakespeare’s Tempest
Let’s chat about the following:
- 1. What are some examples in The Tempest of the ways in which spaces or geographical regions or nature is/are never really empty of life or even civilization? What are the implications of Shakespeare’s critique of the castaway’s or settler’s expectations of empty landscapes?
- 2. What are some examples in The Tempest of way in which it is difficult or impossible for the characters to start over or erase their pasts? What are the implications of Shakespeares critique of the ways that attempts to erase history effect the present?
- 3. What are some examples of “soft power” and its applications in The Tempest? How well does “soft power” influence characters’ behavior and/or enact or even undermine state power?
- 4. What are some examples of objects used on stage or in the characters’ imaginations that can represent the world of The Tempest as a whole?
New World Curiosities
Fold-out engraving from Ferrante Imperato’s Dell’Historia Naturale (Naples 1599), the earliest illustration of a natural history cabinet
Problems in Our Futures
Get into small groups, read over each others’ Blog Post 4: Advertise Your Future, respond to the following in conversation, and then be prepared to share your answers:
- 1. Whose future world would you most like to visit & why? I whose future world would you most like to live & why?
- 2. Given some of the critiques of rational society building that Shakespeare raises in his play, discuss how the futures you have invented are vulnerable in the same ways as Prospero’s or Caliban’s worlds are.
