Interview with Rusty Thorne - talking about their Shakespeare essay
Rusty is currently in the midst of their third year studying a BA in English and Drama. Their favourite areas of study are queer theory and gender studies - in particular, the exploration of these concepts within theatre and literature. For them, writing and performing are both a creative outlet and a coping mechanism: a satisfying medium of self-expression. Outside of their degree, their interests include dancing and sleeping.
Rusty’s top tips:
Use a referencing app or website, it saves so much time!
Make sure to time manage, especially when you have several essays due at a time.
Make sure you redraft your work to ensure the best outcome.
ISOBEL: I'm joined with Rusty, who is an English and drama student. In this interview, we're going to be discussing their essay on the relationship between flattery and love in King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew. So, do you just want to start by talking about what this one's about and what interested you in the topic?
RUSTY: Yeah, so the essay question was something to do with the relationship between flattery and love in two of the plays that we studied in the module. So, the first one that I chose was Taming Of the Shrew. Because flattery isn't necessarily used in the conventional sense, it's not complementing someone to get something out of them, it was Petruchio trying to deliberately confuse Katharina and a disorient, and that sort of like one of the earliest stages of how he wanted to tame. It sort of progressively devolves into him treating her worse and worse, and It's very problematic. But yeah, there's a lot of linguistic manipulation and ways that he tries to take ownership of her through the language and praising her, but not at the same time. And so, I found that really interesting. And then we had to do at least two plays. So, the other one that sort of naturally fell under that category was King Lear because of Goneril and Regan, and the way they flatter and lie.
ISOBEL: Thank you. How do you go about planning and researching when writing something like this?
RUSTY: So, I did a sort of column thing with points for both sides. I didn't go to the reading first this time, which I kind of regret. I just sort of got all the points down that I wanted to say from either side and group them together as best I could, and then try to find links between the two which was easier said than done. They were quite different. And then once I've done that, I sort of found more specific quotes, some articles and then started drafting it the same way that I usually do, which is starting with the content and then introduction and conclusion last!
ISOBEL: Were there any articles or authors that you found particularly useful when writing this essay?
RUSTY: It sounds quite weird, but honestly the dictionary. I think with a question like this where it's all just the outline of a theme, it's useful to define your terms and it just makes it much clearer what you're trying to argue. It also just shows that you have a better understanding of the question. I do this quite often with a lot of my essays that have that kind of wording in the question, always go to the Oxford English Dictionary and make sure that you use the specific bits of that.
ISOBEL: What challenges do you think that you faced when you were writing this essay again?
RUSTY: Time management! I remember having three or four essays that were due around the same time as this one. And that was really stressful. I think this was the first one in that chunk (of essays). So, I was trying to get it done as quickly as possible so I could move on to the next ones. I didn't use an extension for this one, but I did for a few that were around it just so I could space it out a little bit more, planning my time so that I could get everything done, and hopefully to a relatively high quality. I also find Shakespeare quite difficult. And yeah, it just took a lot of drafting and redrafting until I. Just send me happy with it.
ISOBEL: What do you feel that you've gained from writing the essay? And was there something that you learned that you'd never known before?
RUSTY: Yeah! So, I really struggled with this essay after a while because I started writing because I was like, “yes, flattery, I knew this theme, I know this theme so well” and I didn't plan it that carefully. I did a little bit, but it was a bit haphazard. And then I got halfway through, and I was like, I have no idea what I’m doing next. What is happening? I did a lot of redrafting and a lot of taking things out of order to redraft because I also have ADHD, which did not help, which meant I just couldn't focus on certain bits. And then I had to jigsaw it all back together. I've learned the importance of knowing your argument before you are halfway through the essay, which is always some handy knowledge. I think this was also the first time that I a referencing app/website. That was my first time using one of those, which was so handy. I don't think I would have finished it in time if I hadn't used one of those.
ISOBEL: No, I definitely recommend a referencing website for sure. I thought that flattery was a really interesting device. Do you think that when you're writing things so specific that you would use generally for when writing about other plot devices?
RUSTY: Yeah, kind of. That's the kind of English question that we're the most used to answering. You get started on that stuff from GCSE's and it keeps coming back. But I think it's always useful to try and go a little bit beyond it, trying to bring any sort of context into it. So, a theory that might be interesting, is through the gender issues and psychology issues rather than just the fact that it is something that Petruchio is saying to Katharina and that's what we do as English students, we look deeper. Yeah, it kind of does depend on the plot device and especially when it's also a theme, it's doing two things at the same time. There's always going to be articles that outline a good direction to go down if you get stuck.
ISOBEL: Yeah! Thank you. Looking back at your second year, what would your key advice be for students in English, and Drama, I suppose, as it was a core module for that certain degree.
RUSTY: Yeah, be smart with your time management. The way that most degrees work, but especially Joint Honours ones, is that they are really chill for a while and then suddenly you have four assignments at the same time, and it can get really overwhelming, really suddenly. Make your life easier. Keep track of the sources that you've had to read, for all your seminars. Rather than just like, “oh, I'll remember that in two month’s time when I have to write the essay”. No, you won't. You will not remember it at all! I keep notes of them in my referencing app because it lets you add notes, so if I have to read something, I'll add it in there and then I'll add a little summary, so I know if it's useful when I'm going back through everything I've done. Which I didn't do for this essay because I was new to the system. But I have done since and it saves so much time and so much stress. Don't slack because things seem easy because you'll thank yourself later on if you've done a bit more work.
ISOBEL: Thank you. Thanks for coming on again and talking to me about your essay, I really enjoyed it!
RUSTY: Thanks!