Shakespeare, Sorrows, Confusion

[~Beauty_from_Pain~]

I am really struggling in my Shakespeare class. So far I have turned in 2 papers and have gotten c's on both of them. I am very disappointed in myself.

I have worked hard on the papers and put a lot of time into them, but I can't seem to get them right. I went and talked to the teacher yesterday and what he said made sense....

But now I am struggling to get started on the 3rd paper. It's on a Midsummer Night's Dream and I want to write about the role of dreams in the play but am not sure how to proceed with this.

I am at my wits end with everything this semester. I want it to make sense. I want to improve my grades. I'm tired of this resulting in frustration, tears, pain.

Sigh.

 

[snake_eater1342]

I can see why you would be having trouble. I always had a problem with shakespeare he talked too colorful and poetic in his language, and it's sometimes hard to interpret what he means. I'll pray for you on this. But the best advise i can give you on this would be to study from an intellectual point of view. Try going to sparknotes.com and see what they have on the piece. First remember to pick your topic and to use information that is supported by text. If needed be give direct references to the passage of where you got it from, and remember to state why you are using it. Try sticking with MLA format of presentation for your data. Then trust me you'll see the difference in your grade.

 

[DrStupid_Ben]

I can see why you would be having trouble. I always had a problem with shakespeare he talked too colorful and poetic in his language, and it's sometimes hard to interpret what he means. I'll pray for you on this. But the best advise i can give you on this would be to study from an intellectual point of view. Try going to sparknotes.com and see what they have on the piece. First remember to pick your topic and to use information that is supported by text. If needed be give direct references to the passage of where you got it from, and remember to state why you are using it. Try sticking with MLA format of presentation for your data. Then trust me you'll see the difference in your grade.

Not sure that a referencing format by itself can improve your grades, and often lecturers want you to stick to their prefered format. But lots of reading of secondary texts is always good. You may just find the book that explains it in a way that speaks to you.
Do you do essay planing? Sometimes just writing some section headings can be helpful and give you some direction.
Maybe write a list of all the times in the play that dreams are featured, and which characters are involved, and what the characters are doing etc. Something may just pop out off the page of notes and you can run with it.

 

[AmandaRose]

Whose dreams are you focusing on? or are you just going to speak generally about dreams in the play? I'm an English Major with a focus in Brit. Lit. and I love Shakespeare so any questions that you have i will try to help anyway that I can.

I'm not sure if your teacher allows websites as sources, but there are many sites that focus on specific aspects of Shakespeare plays. I would suggest narrowing it down to specifically what you want to speak about them start to really research.