In our eighteenth week in AP Lit class, we haven't been learning anything in the conventional sense, we haven't learned a new author, a new formula, or a new way to write papers so sometimes we think we haven't learned anything. In reality, we have really learned a lot. I learned about the connection between music and Shakespeare's plays. There are a lot of songs that draw inspiration from King Lear. Maybe they don't do this on purpose, but the themes overlap. For example, any song that talks about having issues with your father relates to Edmund and his hatred of his dad because he is a bastard and his non-bastard brother, Edgar, is treated much better than him. This seems to happen a lot in modern work because Shakespeare covered such a wide majority of topics that sometimes it can be hard to find something that he hasn't done yet.
The problem with this is that finding one that matches up perfectly is difficult. A lot match up, but they don't cover more than one or two aspects of it. You have to dissect it and find each element in it before you can find a match. You have to gain an understanding of the words in the song and the play. I find this to be challenging but it's a fun challenge. I gain from this because I learn how to understand things better and how to find a match for things. I am gaining an understanding on how to match themes with others and create a powerful example. It's not a conventional skill I will use in other classes, but it's a real life ability that someday I'll be glad I learned.