I'm Gonna Make a Blog You Can't Refuse.

For my response project to Merchant of Venice I joined a group of seven people to create a film. The film was about Antisemitism in the modern world. This was the film we created. I am overall happy with the project, but do think that it could have been better. Our group, being probably 2-3 people too many, had troubles getting everyone together to communicate about the project. We were still able to create a decent film. I would certainly do this type of project again, but only choose a more selected group. I still had a great time creating this film for my response project.

The Merchant of Venice contained numerous material that would be considered against common belief in today's world. This play has left the world thinking that Shakespeare may have been the greatest writer in the English language, but also still bound the society around him. The antagonizing of Jews was prevalent during that age and is also very present in the book. The main conflict is between a Jewish man and a Christian. Shylock, the name of the Jewish man, fits and portrays many of the stereotypes that we think of to be Jewish. This could be to the times, because Shakespeare thought Jews were like that, for the audience so that they know that he was Jewish, or a mixture of all of these ideas or more. This has led to a debate on whether or not the bard himself was anti-Semitic. Shylock's speech that tries to ask what is the difference between a Jew and a Christian and why they are seen differently when they are the same is used to help in the argument that Shakespeare is not.

At the end of the play, social order should be restored. One facet of this in the 16th century is men having dominance over women. Is this true in this play? Who has the upper-hand, and why? Provide textual evidence. For the first few acts it is sectioned off between the Green World which is Belmont where the social order is messed up or different from the normal social order present in Venice. This changes when the Green World invades the Normal World when Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as a law doctor and clerk and deceive the men into giving up their rings and with it their vows of love.  " BASSANIO Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him. Give him the ring and bring him, if thou canst, Unto Antonio’s house. Away, make haste. " At the end of the play, everything comes to an end and Portia and Nerissa tell their lovers of the deception and they give back their leadership to the men, thus social order is restored. This back to normality is assumed because it is

According to the 5-act play structure, the climax or turning point of the play should have happened in the third act. Did it happen? If so, what was it and what central conflict was addressed? If not, discuss the central conflict that has not yet been resolved. The central conflict of the play is the bond between Shylock and Antonio. This conflict has not been resolved yet, but the entire play has been leading up to its end. The sub-conflinct of Portia's spouse has been resolved and this resolution is part of the central conflicts resolution as Bassanio now has more than enough money to bail out Antonio. Shylock is still pursuing payment for the bond from Antonio and wants his pound of flesh as payment to be his heart. In the next coming acts this conflict will be resolved as Bassanio is rushing back to save his friend. This conflict has been interesting and has kept me involved and actively reading/listening to see what happens next. I am looking forward to the trial.