Top Five Posts of 2018
It’s time once again to look back at the last year of blogging and pick out the top posts.
I warn you in advance that four of the five are about Individual 1. Say what you will about this administration, but it does inspire some of my most motivated writing.
The fifth post is an announcement about changes to the website that I’ve been planning for a very long time and that I was finally able to complete this year.
Here are the top five Shakespeare Teacher posts from 2018:
5. Space Force! (August 10)
When Republicans want to do something they think is important, like corporate tax cuts or building a wall, nobody asks them how they are going to pay for it. If something’s a high priority, you find a way. But when Democrats want to protect the environment or provide for universal healthcare, suddenly the nation has empty pockets. This essay shows how the president’s unexpected call for a Space Force might help us all find some common ground.
4. Shakespeare Anagram: Sir Thomas More (June 30)
I wasn’t going to be happy with the policies of a Republican administration regardless. But I feel like the scapegoating of Latinos and Muslims that is occurring at the highest levels of this government goes far beyond left and right, and actually represents a betrayal of American values, both liberal and conservative. The essay that precedes the anagram focuses on Latino immigration, and uses a powerful speech from Shakespeare to highlight the main idea.
3. Macbeth’s Twitter Feed (April 23)
In honor of Shakespeare’s birthday, I mocked up images of a fake Twitter feed. It was purportedly from the historical Macbeth, but it was written in the style of You Know Who. It turned out to be a surprisingly good match. Macbeth’s paranoia and arrogance matched the same qualities in the grandstander-in-chief. In some cases, I was able to simply modify real presidential tweets; in others, I just used actual quotes from the play. The two temperaments blended together seamlessly.
2. Anthem 2018 (July 4)
Heading into Independence Day, a lot of my Facebook friends were openly wondering if they could still be patriotic when our leadership was taking us so far astray. I had planned to write a July 4th post celebrating the best of America. While drafting the essay, I wrote the line “We have conquered worse than this when we were not as strong.” And that’s when I realized that the post wasn’t an essay; it was a poem. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
1. Shakespeare Teacher 2.0 (August 31)
This was the year that Shakespeare Teacher went from being an entertainment blog to being a resource-rich website. This happened when I added a new page to support Shakespeare reading groups with role divisions. I also added a new page to display my Plantagenet family trees. What’s in store for the future? Now that I have a home page and an organizational structure in place, I might add some new features. I also may continue to update existing features. Stay tuned!