Adam from IQMatrix sent me this link to his web site where you can purchase some rather interesting Shakespeare study guides featuring colorful, cartoony "mind maps" that attempt to show the important aspects of each play visually on a single page. The idea of mindmapping Shakespeare is certainly not new, and it is indeed quite a challenge to not end up with a spaghetti-monster mush of lines more confusing than the original text.  I like IQMatrix’s use of cartoony clip art to draw your eye to some easy concepts (like "love" or "spies on"), instead of feeling like you have to start in the middle and work your way out (which defeats the whole purpose of mind maps by making you think you have to work linearly through a very non-linear diagram). It’s certainly an educational resource, and I don’t expect that the analysis is all that advanced.  But for folks who like their information visual, it might be just the thing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3542702/Shakespeare-left-London-and-stopped-writing-because-he-went-blind.html Playwright Rick Thomas suggests in his new play, For All Time, that Shakespeare may have left London and retired from playwrighting because he was going blind. How does he come to this conclusion?  Personal experience, apparently – his own vision is failing, and he’s got much better writing conditions than Shakespeare did.   Or maybe he just spent too much time shaking his spear? 🙂

Really bring Shakespeare’s sonnets to life.

(It’s a comic, btw :))

Remember a few weeks ago when I told the story of being at a hotel breakfast buffet and my 6yr old daughter presenting me with the picture she drew – of the opening scene from The Tempest?  I promised to get it scanned in, and here it is (the best I can do).  It’s too big to fit in my scanner so the edges are cropped a bit.  In the lower right corner you’ll see Miranda telling the sailors on the boat to "Come" to the island, where they will be safe. In the middle is their ship being tossed by the waves, and the faces sticking out the portal windows saying "Ok!"  I’m not sure if the red dots are more faces or if those are flames, but it’d be pretty cool if they were the latter, I’m not sure I ever told her that the ship was on fire. Also on the island with Miranda is her father Prospero.  It’s mostly cropped, but right up against the edge there you’ll see one of Prospero’s Books, which is hidden in a tree. Off to the left, unfortunately also cropped, is red Caliban, and up in the sky is Ariel.

ShakespeareTeacher asks the question that is near and dear to my heart: What play would you choose to teach? Does it matter the age group? What are the pros and cons of Dream versus Romeo and Juliet? How about The Tempest, my own personal favorite?

Discussion on his blog, no sense in stealing his thunder :).