Many of William Shakespeare’s greatest works easily could have been lost forever in the beginning of the sixteenth century. It is only due to the First Folio, a collection of Shakespeare’s plays that has allowed for Shakespeare’s stories to live centuries after his death. Generations of people have been able to study his works and memorize his lines because of this one very important historical document. The First Folio easily could be argued the most influential book related to English literature. Gallaudet University has recently had this book on display to honor William Shakespeare’s works and life as one of the world’s greatest playwrights to ever live.
During the month of October Gallaudet University hosted an exhibit of William Shakespeare’s …show more content…
This was accomplished through a capstone class for students in their senior year, though some juniors were in the class as well. The class began with building the students’ knowledge about Shakespeare’s life, his works, and the history of the First Folio. We read many articles about how the Folio was created. This information was important to understand fully, in case we were asked during a tour, or if we wanted to describe it to our audience. Unlike today, printing was a slow process that required the printers to set the individual type (letters, numbers, punctuation, etc.) backwards and by hand (Mays, 2015). The folio required multiple printers, and since they were responsible for the spelling that explains why no two Folios are the same (Mays, 2015). Since there were different views on how to spell specific words, one printer spelled something one way, but then his colleague would spell it differently for the next copy. The aspects of the printing process can get very detailed, and though these facts are rarely discussed in depth during a tour, it is still important to be ready to answer in case an audience member ask. As our teacher Dr. Jill Bradbury pointed out, docents share only a small percentage of what they actually research and know about the topics being covered (personal communication, October, 2016). So, though you can decide to avoid certain topics as you give a tour, a docent can never control the questions asked by an audience member, and that is why emphasis was put on the details early in our
During the month of October Gallaudet University hosted an exhibit of William Shakespeare’s …show more content…
This was accomplished through a capstone class for students in their senior year, though some juniors were in the class as well. The class began with building the students’ knowledge about Shakespeare’s life, his works, and the history of the First Folio. We read many articles about how the Folio was created. This information was important to understand fully, in case we were asked during a tour, or if we wanted to describe it to our audience. Unlike today, printing was a slow process that required the printers to set the individual type (letters, numbers, punctuation, etc.) backwards and by hand (Mays, 2015). The folio required multiple printers, and since they were responsible for the spelling that explains why no two Folios are the same (Mays, 2015). Since there were different views on how to spell specific words, one printer spelled something one way, but then his colleague would spell it differently for the next copy. The aspects of the printing process can get very detailed, and though these facts are rarely discussed in depth during a tour, it is still important to be ready to answer in case an audience member ask. As our teacher Dr. Jill Bradbury pointed out, docents share only a small percentage of what they actually research and know about the topics being covered (personal communication, October, 2016). So, though you can decide to avoid certain topics as you give a tour, a docent can never control the questions asked by an audience member, and that is why emphasis was put on the details early in our