Shakespeare's World

Sometime during your tour of Planet College you will encounter the works of William Shakespeare. Mr. Shakespeare was a writer who lived in England and wrote at the end of the fifteenth century. He died in 1607 but his works have lived on to plague and perplex average students ever since. The curious part about his plays is, with some adjustments, that is how people actually talked at that time. Since 500 years later no one talks like that William Shakespeare is effectively a foreign language. But there is a means to actually decode what the actors are saying. So, keep reading.

In my experience there are several of William Shakespeare’s plays that you are likely to come across during your career trying to pass some English or Drama course. The most referenced Shakespeare plays are, in no particular order:

Hamlet

Romeo And Juliet

King Lear

Midsummer’s Night’s Dream

The Tempest

As You Like It

Macbeth (known as The Scottish Play in the Drama Department)

Much Ado About Nothing

Because for many students on Planet College attempting to understand Shakespeare can be tedious here is help. This is a simple method to assist you in understanding William Shakespeare’s work and enjoy yourself at the same time. When you find yourself in a course, which requires you to read and understand a play by William Shakespeare, follow this simple guideline.

Have a Shakespeare festival at your place.

First get the correct play script which may be in your textbook. If not get a copy of the script from the campus library or bookstore.

Get a copy of this play on DVD. Once again the library may be a useful resource.

Get some mead and invite some wenches over for the Shakespeare Festival.

Play the DVD and while it is playing follow along with the actual script.

As you watch the scenes of the play on the DVD turn the script pages and follow along as much as possible. You can use the stop/start or the replay to review scenes which are unclear.

Planet College Useful Tip: If there is a wedding at the end of the play it is a comedy. I f someone dies at the end it is a tragedy. If you die it was Macbeth and the curse of the Scottish Play has struck again.

After the play is over finish the mead and make sure the wenches are back to their house before curfew.

Lost In College

School populated by students who have been sophomores for three or more terms. If you are currently attending Lost In College C Altered State.

Altered State

Nobody’s first choice as a university but many students end up here. If you find yourself a nearly full-time student at Altered State stop by the Student Health Center and talk it over with one of the staff. Couldn’t hurt.

Late Registration

You’ve been there. Pull this snap shot out of your memory. It is the first week of classes. You found a class you need and it fits into your schedule. So, you go to the first session hoping to add. You’re sitting in a desk if you got there early enough or standing along the wall with thirty other people who are also hoping to add. The instructor enters and passes around an add sheet. You sign it, complete your registration, and now you’re in the class.

Fast forward, several weeks. It is the mid-term exam. Look around the room. There’s nobody standing along the walls and at least a few of the desks are empty. Now. Fast forward again. Think about the final exam. If you were there, what? Maybe, twenty other students taking the final. You and those nineteen other students have a fairly good chance of graduating. That is if you were there. If you weren’t then read Planet College regularly. These posts contain the essential steps toward you ultimate graduation with a degree from college.

This term after your register, late or otherwise, actually go to the classes in which you have enrolled. Everyone, every time. Make completing this term your priority above all else. This time make sure late registration means something.

The Suckiest Job On The Planet

“It’s the suckiest job on the planet Mr. Morris.” Heather was an Ed Major from upstate. During her first two years at our school she had lived on campus in the residence halls. Because she would be at school for at least two more years she decided to become an RA, a Residence Assistant in the campus residence halls. The promise of free rent and meals was appealing so she applied and was accepted for the position. Shortly before the semester began Heather attended training for her position. She was now about half way through her first semester in her job. She was sitting in my office looking particularly bedraggled. She complained that she could rarely sleep, her building was noisy and rowdy and her efforts to maintain some kind of order were laughed off. Heather was particularly discouraged that the Housing Office, the administration of the Residence Halls, gave her no support when she attempted to restore order in her hall. She said it was too late in the term to back out now and she was stuck for the rest of the year. If she had known it was going to be like this, she told me, she would never have applied for the position. So be cautious. Not all jobs on campus are for everyone. Being an RA takes a particular temperament. Expect roommate squabbles, late night knocking, primitive hygiene practices, heartbreaking tales of love affairs gone wrong and not entirely legal substance use. Especially if you are managing a building full of people who have never been a way from home for any appreciable amount of time before. Elsewhere these people may be referred to as irresponsible, uncaring and inhumane. On a college campus they are known as freshmen.

The Best Thing About College

The best thing about college is the friends you make. Take care of them and you will keep them for life. Friends are priceless, sturdy, fragile, durable, impatient, occasionally annoying and irreplaceable. They are not the Local Loan Company, Ace Messenger Service, or Lonely Hearts Counselors but they may at times function as all of the above and more. The best thing about college is the friends you make. Take care of them and you will keep them for life.

On Planet College There Are No Easy Courses

Easy is not a valid concept when dealing with college classes. There are no “easy “ classes. What may be “easy” for one student may be quite confounding for another. Rather than “easy” use the term ‘degree of difficulty.” I once needed at least one more unit to qualify for financial aid for the term. Another student told me about a one unit course, Fencing, which he said had been "easy." I signed up. In addition to all the basic Fencing moves the professor required us to learn Fencing's history and extensive terminology. I did as much work for that class as I would have for any three unit class. I barely passed with a C. Far from easy it was one of the most demanding classes that year. When planning your schedule it is wise to mix classes some more difficult, some less so. Just be wary of "Easy".

We Sincerely Regret To Inform You

That Your Graduation Has Been Canceled. Ever heard of it? It happens more than you think. While I was a counselor I can’t tell you the number or times I came in to my office to find a frantic student waiting with an “emergency”. I really can’t tell you how often that emergency was, “I just got this notice, my graduation has been canceled. “ After a while I got used to it. This is how this often happens. Students, especially, it seems, transfer students, often assume that all requirements are eventually graduation requirements. In other words if they were admitted to the school or admitted to a program then all of those units automatically counted toward their graduation. They often don’t. I regularly accompanied a frantic student down to the graduate evaluation office. There we would go over exactly why some of the courses they had transferred to our school may have counted for admission but did not count for graduation. So, heed this: Do not expect that every course you’ve ever taken anywhere, even at your current school, will count toward your eventual graduation. It never quite seems to work that way. Solution? Sometime early in the term in which you intend to graduate take yourself to the graduation evaluation office. Spend some time with a worker, usually they are called evaluators, going over your transcripts including your schedule this term. Make sure you have a reasonable chance of graduating and eliminate nasty surprises later.

Planet College Advisory: Get A Good Lab Partner

Most every student on Planet College eventually has to take a course with a lab. When you have to take a course with class is a lab or it has a lab a few tips might be useful. First and foremost get a good lab partner. Ask someone from the course whom you know to be reliable to be your lab partner. Get their cell phone number, IM, e-mail address etc. Your lab partner should be reasonably alert and capable. They should never miss a lab. They should arrive a few minutes early to get out the equipment and help you set up for that day’s work. They should participate fully in the lab. Most lab teams divide up the tasks required. For example, one partner measures and the other records. Decide early in the term who will be responsible for what. Also decide to complete the week’s lab and turn in your completed results by the end of the week in which it is due. This must be an ironclad agreement between you and your partner. Always finish the lab the week it is due. This is the surest way to avoid ‘getting behind.” Getting behind leads to hasty, sloppy make-up work and puts you that much closer to an unacceptable grade. . How do you get a good lab partner? Simple. You get a good lab partner by being a good lab partner.

Planet College Caution: Do What The Instructor Says

I once took a course, which required a series of individual in-class presentations from each student. The course outline said the first presentation should be between five to seven minutes. At the beginning of the class in which they were due the instructor said that he would be understanding if the first presentations went over time, even as much as two minutes. The presentations began and occasionally some students went over time. One or two even went to nine minutes. The instructor understood explaining that this was common for the first presentations in this course. That is until one student began her presentation and went on and on and on and on. She went well past the nine minute maximum and as the class grew more restless the instructor warned her to wrap it up soon. When she didn’t he finally stopped her at seventeen minutes. Seventeen minutes. I don’t know what grade she got for the presentation or for the course but I do know this is a blatant example of not doing what the instructor says. The course outline, the handout and the instructor had each said no more than nine minutes maximum. Yet this student persisted. Planet College often calls for basic co-operation and following instructor’s guidelines. These are usually for your benefit as well as the rest of the class. So always, read the course outline and do what the instructor says.

Planet College Caution: Bad Power Point.

As a student and as an instructor I have sat through a lot of visual display presentations. Usually these are computer-based programs like PowerPoint®. Often these presentations were overly detailed with too many pages and too many bullet points per page. It is understandable that the presenters were anxious to get their ideas across. They seem to have lost sight of the fact that visual presentations need only present an outline, the presenter then fills in the outline. Here’s a tip based on my experience. If you choose to use such a program make it brief and to the point. Do not make more than 3-5 display pages and do not use more than three bullet points per page. Keep it simple, really simple.

Planet College Tip: Sign The Roll Sheet.

I have occasionally taken classes from a professor who said at the beginning of the term, “ I don’t really care if you’re here or not.” Ever had one of those? Don’t believe it. One of these same professors passed around a roll sheet at the beginning of the class and another roll sheet near the end of the class period. Get it? It made it easy for him to see not just who was there but who came in late and who left early. So tell me, did he care who was there? Some instructors make a point of telling the class that they don’t care about your attendance. This can make it seem like attendance is discretionary. Don’t be fooled. All instructors care about attendance. When the roll sheet is passed around, be there to sign it. Instructors often use the attendance record of a borderline student to help determine which grade they will ultimately give the student. So be there and sign the roll sheet, every time.

Planet College: Instructors

Your instructor may be a professor, an assistant or associate professor, an instructor, a guest lecturer, part-time instructor or even a TA, a teaching assistant. Whoever they are and whatever they are called, they are the person who is responsible for assigning your grade. Pay careful attention to what they say during class. Pay careful attention to what they deem is important for the course. Examine the syllabus, course outline and every handout the instructor hands out. You are at a university, in a college, in a department, in a program and in a class to get a passing grade. Your grade is assigned by your instructor. Do what the instructor says.

Major Decisions

If you find yourself in such a dilemma regarding choosing a major this is what you need to do. It is assumed that on your campus there is an office that processes students’ records who have applied to graduate. Locate the office on your campus that does so. (If you are on a satellite campus or other such facility the office you need may not be immediately accessible.) Somewhere there is an office with workers who process graduation. These workers are often referred to as evaluators. Find this office. Make an appointment to discuss your current status at the school which you are attending. When you make this appointment tell the worker you will need at least an hour with the evaluator. Bring paper to take notes and at least a general notion of the classes you have taken so far. If this is not your first college you may want to bring copies of any transcripts you may have. Once you meet the evaluator tell him you want a realistic assessment of how close you are to graduation. The evaluator will probably tell you that with out a major it will be difficult to assess your graduation possibilities realistically. At this point explain to the evaluator that you will be using this information to choose a major. While they probably won’t make any recommendations they may have a suggestion or two as to your best options.

Planet College Workers

On your campus: Financial Aid, Administration, Registration, Bursar’s Office, Department office, whatever, they all have workers. These workers are the people you deal with all the time on campus. Whenever dealing with a campus worker be respectful and considerate. They are there to help you graduate. Here is a PlanetCollege® tip: When dealing with a campus worker it is likely you want something from them. Or. They want something from you. Either way it is always wise to be courteous. So, talk to them like you would talk to your mom when you really want something and you don’t know what kind of a mood she is in. Couldn't hurt.