'Tis in my memory lock'd

MEMORIZATION UPDATE:

When my summer vacation began last week, I had spent 40-some days re-upping my memory. I did this by randomly repeating one of my speeches every day in my head or out loud in the car or to my bird or my orchids or whenever I deemed it an occasion that wouldn't out me as A) schizophrenic or B) hopelessly eccentric.

So, having done that, I sat down and tested myself. I picked my little strips from the bag at random and repeated them if I could. If a chosen speech wasn't immediate on my tongue, I'd set it aside. Turns out, I  knew 25 of the speeches with no cheating (not bad!). The rest, I still needed some prompting, but for the most part, I had them down.

For the last week, I've taken my weaker speeches and decided to practice two of them a day. I should finish with this in the next few days, and then I'll test myself again. I'm doing all this because I've resolved to get all these suckers down before I move on to any new ones. I've also resolved that after I'm satisfied with myself on the former, I shall repeat one a day again, at least two times, for as long as I live. Already, there are 20-something speeches that are no longer much of a challenge, and have moved on into the realm of being simply pleasant to hear oneself recite.

One day, this will be the ultimate parlour trick. I will ask friends to call out a play and I'll effortlessly recite my piece. But in the everyday sense, this has already proven advantageous for my brain. I encounter things during the day that conjure up certain lines, adding depth and feeling to special moments or creating profound associations. I'll read or hear something in a book or movie and immediately recognize a reference to one of the plays, and because I know some of a character's words, I have a more emotional connection to their story.

Another predictable effect of this project has been that when reading or watching the plays, the language barrier is now practically nonexistent. I now have an innate feel for the rhythms and a familiarity with the terminology--something that normally trips people up when it comes to studying Shakespeare. Shakespearean performers have a distinct advantage over the rest of us because of this.

I believe that this humble project has undoubtedly fostered a dynamic understanding of the text. It's enough to make me suggest that teachers REQUIRE students in schools to memorize some Shakespeare, even if it is one speech from the play they are studying. And not an anemic speech, either; a beefy, substantial one that can give you a true feel for the lyricism and weight of the words.

My narrative film professor at UF made us unpack an entire film for our thesis. We had to focus in on tiny details in a scene with laser-precision. It was his method of getting us to see films at all angles and develop our ability to analyze features we never paid attention to before. This same technique should be applied to Shakespeare. This is why I adore Chop Bard so much. I gives modern readers exactly what we need to see all the sparkling facets Shakespeare polishes for our pleasure.

If you're a fan of Shakespeare, you owe it to yourself to carry some words around with you. It's so achievable, you'll kick yourself if you don't try it ;)