Wednesday, 23 July 2003 - 11:21 AM CDT

The book is okay so far. I was hating it at first because I could not understand a thing that was going on. It's not so bad now. I understand what's going on a little better. I think that the humor from Grumio's stupidity is what's helping me out. He is really funny. It's not funny when someone doesn't know something that they should know in real life, but I think it was put in the play for humor as a technique by the author. That's another thing. I always seem to have trouble with finding techniques, other than the obvious ones, in a play. If anyone besides Ms. Spachman reads this and has any thoughts on techniques, let me know please. Oh, and can somebody please tell me why the charachter are posing to be one another. I understand why they're trying to pose as people like tutors, but not as each other.

Thanks and Peace,
Avery

Wednesday, 23 July 2003 - 11:27 AM CDT

Avey, I agree with you. Grumio is extrodinarilly (may be misspelled) funny. How intelligent of you to notice such a thing. :)
You are brilliant!

Shake-es-peare

Sunday, 27 July 2003 - 2:27 PM CDT

The book is pretty good so far. I was having a hard time understanding what was going on at first, but I understand a little more now. Kate is really jealous of Bianca. I'm suprised at how open she is with her jealousy. Usually when people are jealous, they hide it, but Kate is different. It seems like Kate was neglected as a child. It seems like her father always put Kate first when they were little. You have to think, no one is like Kate for no reason. Why would someone be so violent for no reason? The scene when Kate tied Bianca up showed how violent Kate really is. I didn't think that Kate was as bad as everyone was making it seem until this scene. I'm looking forward to seeing what is going to happen. I wonder is Petruchio really going to be able to change Kate's ways. I don't think so.

Sunday, 27 July 2003 - 4:05 PM CDT

As Avery said, the beginning of the play is extremely confusing. It is hard to keep up with the play because the characters are always changing who they are. So far, I like the part when Petruchio arrives at the wedding and acts like a fool. As the play goes on it becomes more and more interesting.
Avery, here are some of the techniques that Shakespeare is using in The Taming of the Shrew:
 Love
 Marriage
 Lower class for comedy (Shakespeare makes Petruchio?s servants clumsy and incompetent)

Monday, 28 July 2003 - 11:33 PM CDT

Lets see now. The book.. It's alright. I get most of it but it takes forever to read. Every other line i have to look at the bottom to see what the words actually mean. But it's pretty fun. Katherine actually reminds me of Gabrielle Union in the movie "Deliver us from Eva" and Petruchio as LL Cool J. Maybe the movie was based on this??? It does have a very familiar twist.

Tuesday, 29 July 2003 - 11:36 PM CDT

Quick question:

Is "love" a technique or is it something else? You're absolutely right that it's in this play, but I think we need to pin down what it is and how Shakespeare is using it. Any thoughts?

Thursday, 31 July 2003 - 9:05 AM CDT

In the beginning I did not like this book at all. It took me very long to read the first couple of pages. Like Michael, I had to keep going back to the bottom of the page to figure out what some words meant. Another thing that confuses me is the switched identities in the play.I also agree with Jessica, that Kate is this way because of her childhood. She is a very hate-filled person, especially towards Bianca. I have noticed deceit among many characters in this play.It's an interesting book to read but maybe I'm not into it because it's the summer.

Thursday, 31 July 2003 - 10:54 PM CDT

The Taming of the Shrew?s opening is very confusing. I don?t know who is who in the play. Half the names sound the same and they end the same so that?s really confusing. The one technique that I noticed is that Shakespeare has a lot of monologues in the play. I think that this is these characters so far have the most problems I have seen. I didn?t really understand what was going on in the first half of the book so I plan the book from the start. I know that Katherine has real extreme problems. She beats on her little sister and she seems afraid of marriage. This is shown on Act II. I when the part reads Kate: If that be jest then all the rest was so (Strikes Her).

Wednesday, 20 August 2003 - 8:52 PM CDT

I did not expect Kate to change like she did. Everything happened so fast. I was expecting things to be more complicated. I did not expect her to be acting like she was acting in ACT IV.5 at all. Petruchio was just treating her just because he could, and she just accepted it. Like when he called the sun the moon, so she did the same. I know that it is a book, but it really got under my skin. I guess because even though this is a book, there are people who behave this way. Even though Kate was a real B*&%$, wanted her to stand her ground against her father and Petruchio, and continue to be the way that she was. Kate is such a weak character. I say this all because she changed. I know that some of you would say that she had no choice, but I disagree. She could have run away or something instead of being a piece of the floor. Holla Back!

Monday, 25 August 2003 - 8:21 PM CDT

I agree with you on that Avery. Even though Kate was very rude and outspoken in the beginning of the play, i had to give her a little respect, at least, for speaking her mind and not being afraid to talk back to men, something that was rare in women back in those days. however, when she made a complete 180 in the end, i was surprised and not very happy with her change. she was just way to submissive to petruchio, and i would have liked it if she kept at least some of her backbone, i mean she was more like a servant rather than a wife.

Wednesday, 27 August 2003 - 9:47 PM CDT

I have to say that I hated Kate throughout the whole book. She's too extreme of a character. I mean, she either was way too shrewish and mean or way too submissive and taken advantage of in any given point of the play. She was never just 'in the middle'. Shakespeare gave her all bad qualities, in my opinion, both at the beginning and in the end.