Preferred Texts

                                                          Freedom

As Dr. Sexson asked us to write a quick blurb about a text that has had a significant influence on our life. It took me a while to figure out which book has truly had the biggest impact. In one of my lectures last week our teacher brought up the poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and most of the students in the class were able to recite the first few lines; even the British exchange students. Then when the professor followed up by starting "The Declaration of Independence," "When in the Course of human events..." very few students were able to continue with one of the most influential pieces in our lives as Americans. What is it that has made Shakespeare more influential in our culture than the "Declaration of Independence?" Something that impacts our ability to even read Shakespeare while other cultures have banned his works just as Palin banned numerous books in AK during her governing (including Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night).

While I am sure Thomas Jefferson read Shakespeare and even Ovid, were they as influential as say Thomas Paine or Jonathan Edwards? What makes these texts written by Shakespeare the most influential in history? I have never truly addressed any of these questions, let alone read Shakespeare in-depth in a scholastic classroom where I have an opportunity to find answers. Whenever I have been assigned Shakespeare, I never read him as thoroughly as I should which is something I have already started to do. Especially having recently read a decent amount of Ovid's Metamorphoses, I have the Greek mythological stories somewhat fresh in my head although I am constantly sorting through Ovid in attempt to find the correct references Shakespeare makes. This ends up forcing me to take a few hours to sort through the long poems but in the end I come out understanding and enjoying the poem much more than I have in the past. Throughout the semester I hope to gain an understanding of not only how Shakespeare influenced the "Declaration of Independence" but also politics during his time.