Ethan Brown ’24 — I would like to start by giving thanks to those that made this internship possible. I first want to thank all those involved in the WLAIP program; the professors and alum helped us understand how important internships are in gaining the full Wabash experience. The professors held our feet to the fire to help us determine if an internship was right for us this summer and the alum of the program and our guest speakers helped to show how many options there are for internships. I would also like to thank Dr. Roy Kaplan at Career Services for guiding me through the search process and also for setting up the internship I did. Lastly, I’d like to thank Dr. Tom Dow, with whom I worked this summer, for allowing me to work with him.
During this Internship in Shakespeare, I viewed, read, and researched three plays by William Shakespeare. I would also meet weekly with Dr. Dow to discuss the play with him and to express my thoughts surrounding the play and the topics which I researched that surround the play. The work that I did in producing an annotated bibliography of research that surrounds the plays I read will help Dr. Dow review and revamp his syllabus for his Shakespeare course at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois. This was a virtual internship that allowed me to be at home.
Despite doing research and not getting a “traditional” in-person internship, this internship has taught me a lot. During the course of this internship, I learned how to research more effectively while using JSTOR. I also learned the best way to consume a Shakespeare play to get the most of the feel, the story, and a deep understanding of the play. I also learned how to write an annotated bibliography and why they are important when reworking a syllabus or writing a paper. Importantly too, I will be taking a Shakespeare course this fall, which I feel this internship
has prepared me for. I have gained and improved my skills in reading comprehension, research, communication, and close reading. And this was just from reading for understanding in the plays and in the research essays that surrounded their themes. Lastly, I learned how the interpretation of a play can change when you read it from a different perspective. I studied three plays, the Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, and The Tempest. Each of these plays can be viewed through different fields of thought, Shrew was viewed through a feminist understanding and then a view from the perspective of humanist education in the Elizabethan period. These are things that I believe are important to know going forward as a potential English major, but also as a student at Wabash.
