Stanislovski had his “method”, Saban has his “process.” I also have my “layering plan” that I use to learn things. It is based on the idea that as a child you learn things by repetition, “layering in” information day by day. Do you remember thinking that you had already discussed ancient Egypt or how to use a comma in grade school and again in high school and even in college? Layering! As a preschool teacher I was very aware that I was putting down the first layer of a child’s education and I took it very seriously. I now feel a responsibility to help those who need help and inform those of you who are curious about my college experience with the following instructions on how to learn a Shakespearean sonnet in one week- a feat I have just accomplished.
Day 1- Get the assignment. Look through the sonnets until you find the one that “speaks” to you. ( I read 26 before the 27th spoke to me.) Type out the sonnet (layer one) and make several copies. Read through the sonnet several times making note of what it means to you (second layer) and then put copies of it in your purse, on your desk, by your bed, in the kitchen and in your car. Keep one nice in your binder for class. (The rest will not remain pristine.) Drink a glass of wine to celebrate that you are such a good student and jumped right on your homework immediately. Get a good night’s sleep.
Day 2- After a long day at school, come home to fix dinner and while you wait for it to cook use the copy of the sonnet in the kitchen and begin to say the first 4 lines over and over, finding key words and any references that will help it to stick in your brain. (Next layer.) Say it until you feel comfortable about those four lines. Have a glass of wine to celebrate and serve dinner. Before bed try to recite just those four lines and realize you do not remember one word of it. Have another glass of wine and go to bed discouraged.
Day 3- Repeat process from Day 2. Have two glasses of wine with dinner so that if you still don’t remember those measly four lines you won’t feel so bad about yourself. Before bed try to say those four lines and realize you actually remember a little of it. Go to bed feeling good until you wake up in the middle of the night grasping for those words. This is when the copy you have by your bed comes in handy. Rather than giving yourself a headache trying to remember the one word you can not, look at the copy and go back to sleep while repeating the lost word over and over (layers, layers!)
Day 4- Add the next four lines in the same manner as the first four but now that time is running short, work on it as you drive to class and then home again. This is when you use the copy in your car. Order pizza for dinner so you can continue to work on the eight lines you should know by now. Say these eight lines over and over as you try to go to sleep and at 2a.m. give up on sleep and say them until the sun comes up and it is time to go back to school.
Day 5- Layer in the last 6 lines, now working feverishly to get it all in your head. Continue to recite it over and over and over and over as you drive to school, walk to classes, drive home, skip dinner, take a bath and try to sleep. Begin to question why you took this class, why you are in this major and what the hell is wrong with you for coming back to school to begin with!
Day 6- Say it out loud to someone you trust and realize that you do indeed know it! Have a glass of wine to celebrate! Go out to dinner and take a break long enough to watch one TV show. Let everything you have learned breathe for a little while and relax. Get ready for bed and try to recite it one more time. Realize you no longer remember any of it. Take the copy by your bed and rip it to shreds in frustration. Get the copy on your desk and bring it to your bedside. Decide to put it under your pillow, hoping that osmosis really exists and might help you. Include the ability to learn Shakespeare in your evening prayers.
Day 7- Spend all day obsessing about the sonnet and saying it over and over and over. Realize that yes, indeed you do know it. Say it out loud. Say it to someone you trust. say it to the empty room imagining the class of talented peers and your professor looking at you. Stumble and again, forget the whole thing because of stage fright and nerves. Cry. Drink more wine. Destroy all of the copies you have around the house and consider dropping out of school, three months before graduation. Go to bed. Say the sonnet in your sleep all night.
Day 8- Say the sonnet 20 times on the way to school, knowing you were not cut out for Shakespeare, or for acting in general for that matter. Swallow all pride and go to class. Pretend you are OK (maybe you CAN act!) waiting for class to begin. Sneak a look at the syllabus and realize you don’t have to present the sonnet today, after all. It’s due next class. Breathe again and enjoy class immensely. Recite sonnet all of the way home, perfectly every time. Once home drink wine to celebrate.
Day 9- Recite the sonnet at random times as a game. Can you say it before someone sees you talking to yourself? Can you say it while the radio is blaring out sports talk? Can you say it in a British dialect? Can say it while drinking wine? You are finally ready!
Day 10- Don’t volunteer to say your sonnet and hope for another few days to obsess and worry, lose sleep and drink- I mean you DO want the full college experience- DON’T YOU?
