Sara Castro's blog, See Shakespeare, offers background on Shakespeare's family life and how that transcends into his writing. She also analyzes how Shakespeare's familial writing in his plays carries through to today's society. This is my review of her blog:
- Posts
- Quantity
- I think there are plenty of posts, and especially since you've still got posts you're planning on making. It's definitely sufficient.
- Content
- Media - You do a good job interspersing your blogs with images. It'd be interesting to see some more videos linked in just to change it up, but it's not necessary.
- Analysis - I felt like this was probably where it may have more helpful to have had an evaluation next week instead of this week. I feel like you're just starting on your analysis for the most part. You spent so much time giving us back story on Shakespeare, which was interesting, but you rarely offered your own opinions. You started doing this in your post "Love, Lust and Companionate Marriage," but I felt like you could do it even sooner with the back story you've given us. There are many connections you could make, particularly with the thesis you've got going of Shakespeare's familial life serving as an example for us today through his plays and familial information in them.
- Format
- The format seemed fine to me. The (pre) hub post is helpfully constructed to know where you've been and where you're going.
- Research
- Thematic Focus
- The theme is obvious. Repeated in every post. I think it's clear.
- Thesis & Cohesion
- The hub post is good with tying everything together. I mentioned this in a comment on your blog but I'll mention it here too, my one suggestion would be to weave Shakespeare better through your thesis. The idea that Elizabethan familial values are the same as today kind of threw me off because I was on the track of Shakespeare paralleling his life in his plays. So instead of saying Elizabethan values have continued through today, I'd emphasize the timelessness of Shakespeare (which you already do in your posts, so just recognize that in a clear thesis) and use that to note how his family life and the way he applies it in his literature can transcend time and apply to familial situations today. It's not a big change, but I think it'll connect your thesis together more clearly and with a more centered topic. (I know, it's verbatim from my comment on your blog, just roll with it)
- Sources
- Sources are great. I was impressed with how well you incorporated sources into your posts. And you document it well too. Good good good.
- Personal & Social
- Author identity
- Definitely a personality coming through the posts. It's fun to read these posts because it's interesting and because you have a connection to the idea of family. It's fantastically touching, in a way. (:
- Documentation of Process
- I think this could be a little more fleshed out. You talk about seeing the PBS documentary of Shakespeare, but after this, I don't really see where your research has taken you. Probably because you haven't done many posts since finishing up your coverage of the documentary, but that's what I noticed.
- Interactions
- I was very impressed with how you linked with so many other bloggers in your blog. You're definitely connected in the network of other bloggers and it thickens your own posts with authority and similarity. Well done.
- Design
- The design is simple, which I like. I'd rather be too simple than too cluttered when it comes to the design of anything. You could maybe play with some sort of family theme now that you've got your focus centered in your blog posts. But that's just an idea to play with.
- Totally appropriate side widgets as well. I like the links to other blogs that are similar to your topics. You're tech savvy but not tastelessly intricate.You're accessible. Well done!
All in all, I really enjoyed going through Sara's posts. It was accessible for readers who are merely curious about Shakespeare as well as those wanting to do some more in depth research. It is easy to follow and consistently inclusive of her focus and thesis. Great work, Sara! Now, everybody else go read her blog!
