Presenting

After straightening out my ideas with Mrs. Abrams, my presentation looks like it will be a success. I really want the students to participate in my venn diagram activity. It will bring together the overall ideas and differences of King Lear and the play we have already read and analyzed, Hamlet. The overall theme of family feud is evident, which I hope the class will pick up on right away. Before I show my five minute clip, I will introduce my project and how I came upon King Lear. It is very interesting the way modern day novels, such as, A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley parallels to a famous Shakespeare play. Hopefully the class enjoys my presentation and can answer my closing question: what are three new things you learned today?

Barn Blind

I never would have though after reading A Thousand Acres that Jane Smiley could write a novel like Barn Blind. It was a novel about a mother wanting her kids to succeed in every possible thing they did, including horse competitions. The intense story line is focused on the Mother, a horse trainer and instructor, that pushes her kids way over the edge. What I found very interesting, the way Smiley wrote this novel, is that she never had the mother even ask her children if they enjoyed horses. I know that if my mother made me doing something for that many years, such as gymnastics, I would have to love doing it. After competing in gymnastics for two years at the age of eight, I wanted to quit. I told my mother the feelings I was feeling; it was no longer fun, but stressful. I wanted to pick up horseback riding, and that is what I have been doing since the age of eight. Smiley created this novel in a way to make the mother the enemy. I thought it was interesting the way the family crumbled into pieces because of one character. In a way that was similar to A Thousand Acres; the way the father let his farm slip away to his two daughters.

A Thousand Acres

As I start to get more into Jane Smiley's novel, A Thousand Acres, I can see how similar the book is to Shakespear's play, King Lear. I give Smiley great credit for coming up with a story line that is parallel to King Lear, but also making it her own. She introduces the main characters of the novel by opening the book with a plan that will make them a lot of money during the harvesting season. I feel that the way Jane Smiley went about telling this story was very smart and creative. The narrator, Ginny, expresses her feelings along with the rest of the family about this certain operation that is planned. She is able to express her negative feelings about the topic, while still able to explain how everyone else is feeling. Also, I think it's genius the way Smiley was able to make Caroline parallel to Cordelia (the only honest daughter of King Lear who wouldn't agree to tell him how much she loves him) in a modern way. I look forward to starting the second book for my project this weekend, Barn Blind, which has more to do with show horses.

King Lear

During Act I of King Lear, the dividing of the King's kingdom did not go directly as he had planned. The greatest share of the kingdom would be given to the daughter that loved him the most. The two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan responded to his request by tell the King how much they love him. However, Cordelia, the youngest and most realistic daughter, refused to talk. When she does, she says she could not promise her love for him. She also said that if her two older sisters truly loved him, they wouldn't have been married. The King became outraged and claims to disown Cordelia. While the king of France still wants to marry Cordelia, the duke of Burgundy drops out due to the events that occurred. While the daughter that truly loves him is gone, the two older sisters scheme to become completely in power. When Cordelia is gone, the earl of Kent, a nobleman who has served Lear years, disguises himself to receive work back in the kingdom. He was also shunned after sticking up for Cordelia. He is hired with the name: Caius. After Goneril orders Lear to have Lear's servants sent away, he talks of staying with Regan. He believes she will be a true daughter and give him the respect that he deserves.

I believe that King Lear does not believe the true meaning of love. Love does not mean to take over your father's kingdom with greed. Cordelia did not agree with the way her father was dividing the kingdom. She was the only person that handled the situation honestly. One can predict that Regan will also disappoint the King, leaving the kingdom to ruin.