Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read both this cover letter and my adaptation. Through this cover letter I want to walk you through the struggles and successes of my process of creating an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as give a brief overview of my essay creation process as well as, hopefully, leave you with something to consider as you move on from this project.
First off is the process itself. Here I admit I struggled at first. Conveying the true meaning and theme of an adaptation through music was an entirely new experience through me, and one that at first completely stumped me. If fact my first instinct was to choose the normal director role as I believe that is one I would have had no problems with. However, in the end that lack of familiarity is exactly why I chose the role, because in order to grow and improve we can’t just stay where we are, we have to push the boundaries of our comfort zone. Of course that now meant I had to somehow figure out how to convey my themes of both love and freedom through only music. The first few days of work I spent thinking a lot about exactly how I wanted to convey my themes, and in the end I decided to stick with an area I was well accustomed to and also felt perfectly embodied both themes: Classic Rock. The rock music of the 1970s and 80s is in many ways exactly what I needed for my adaptation. The desire to break free from existing trends and sing about passion and love that many bands of the era had meant their music was the perfect outlet for my themes. From there it was off to the races. Over the next few days, as I went about my normal day, I’d listen to as many songs from this era as I could, and when one hit me I’d add it to my playlist. The reason I did it this way was I wanted songs that stuck out even to someone going through the phases of everyday life, and that held enough emotion and power to them that their message was clear even to someone only half listening. The result? Well by the end of the project I had created and edited a playlist of 10 songs that I personally feel perfectly conveyed both central themes and brought true emotion to my adaptation. This part of the process was great fun for me and I really enjoyed trying something new. It was a great challenge to construct this playlist and overall I’m very proud of the result.
The second major component of this project of course was the essay. If you had asked me a few months ago “what are your thoughts on Shakespeare as both a playwright and social commentator?” I would have been entirely lost for how to answer, and probably would have just shrugged. That's because until recently Shakespeare plays were beyond my skills as a reader. I had read them before of course, but it was always sparknotes that had the true understanding of the plays, not me. It wasn’t until this last unit that I truly found my way when it came to reading these centuries old texts that somehow remain relevant even today. And it has truly been an incredible experience. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a great text to start this process with, as it was not only enjoyable, having an entertaining story and genuinely comedic moments, but also held a much deeper message and commentary of the pursuit of love and the struggle against social barriers. It was these messages that my essay focused on. When writing my essay I had peer reviews with 3 seperate people, 1 in my class, 1 in a separate bard class, and then with my brother, who is currently in AP Literature. I did this to make sure I had plenty of perspectives on my paper. The feedback I received was that my essay needed more flow and to be a little less formal. I did my best to add in both of these things and then moved on to my conclusion, which at first was very short and lacked any real wrap up to my paper. I think overall the peer reviews I did really helped me write my paper and helped me ensure it was of good quality and clearly conveyed my message.
Finally I would like to directly address you, my reader. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play with embedded messages of freedom, love, and rejection of social molds, and it is a story that remains relevant even today, to the point where classrooms half the world over from where it was written still study its words. As an adaptor it was my job to keep this depth and purpose while giving the story my own unique twist and personal touch. It is to you that I ask the question: Did I succeed? It is my great hope that when you listen to my playlist that you are given a sense of the desire for freedom and love that the characters of the story feel, and I hope that even when you walk away that my message sticks with you. Thank you for taking the time to read over this little cover letter and thank you for taking the time to dive into my adaptation.
Best Regards,
Matthew Burkett
Thank you for taking the time to read both this cover letter and my adaptation. Through this cover letter I want to walk you through the struggles and successes of my process of creating an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as give a brief overview of my essay creation process as well as, hopefully, leave you with something to consider as you move on from this project.
First off is the process itself. Here I admit I struggled at first. Conveying the true meaning and theme of an adaptation through music was an entirely new experience through me, and one that at first completely stumped me. If fact my first instinct was to choose the normal director role as I believe that is one I would have had no problems with. However, in the end that lack of familiarity is exactly why I chose the role, because in order to grow and improve we can’t just stay where we are, we have to push the boundaries of our comfort zone. Of course that now meant I had to somehow figure out how to convey my themes of both love and freedom through only music. The first few days of work I spent thinking a lot about exactly how I wanted to convey my themes, and in the end I decided to stick with an area I was well accustomed to and also felt perfectly embodied both themes: Classic Rock. The rock music of the 1970s and 80s is in many ways exactly what I needed for my adaptation. The desire to break free from existing trends and sing about passion and love that many bands of the era had meant their music was the perfect outlet for my themes. From there it was off to the races. Over the next few days, as I went about my normal day, I’d listen to as many songs from this era as I could, and when one hit me I’d add it to my playlist. The reason I did it this way was I wanted songs that stuck out even to someone going through the phases of everyday life, and that held enough emotion and power to them that their message was clear even to someone only half listening. The result? Well by the end of the project I had created and edited a playlist of 10 songs that I personally feel perfectly conveyed both central themes and brought true emotion to my adaptation. This part of the process was great fun for me and I really enjoyed trying something new. It was a great challenge to construct this playlist and overall I’m very proud of the result.
The second major component of this project of course was the essay. If you had asked me a few months ago “what are your thoughts on Shakespeare as both a playwright and social commentator?” I would have been entirely lost for how to answer, and probably would have just shrugged. That's because until recently Shakespeare plays were beyond my skills as a reader. I had read them before of course, but it was always sparknotes that had the true understanding of the plays, not me. It wasn’t until this last unit that I truly found my way when it came to reading these centuries old texts that somehow remain relevant even today. And it has truly been an incredible experience. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a great text to start this process with, as it was not only enjoyable, having an entertaining story and genuinely comedic moments, but also held a much deeper message and commentary of the pursuit of love and the struggle against social barriers. It was these messages that my essay focused on. When writing my essay I had peer reviews with 3 seperate people, 1 in my class, 1 in a separate bard class, and then with my brother, who is currently in AP Literature. I did this to make sure I had plenty of perspectives on my paper. The feedback I received was that my essay needed more flow and to be a little less formal. I did my best to add in both of these things and then moved on to my conclusion, which at first was very short and lacked any real wrap up to my paper. I think overall the peer reviews I did really helped me write my paper and helped me ensure it was of good quality and clearly conveyed my message.
Finally I would like to directly address you, my reader. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play with embedded messages of freedom, love, and rejection of social molds, and it is a story that remains relevant even today, to the point where classrooms half the world over from where it was written still study its words. As an adaptor it was my job to keep this depth and purpose while giving the story my own unique twist and personal touch. It is to you that I ask the question: Did I succeed? It is my great hope that when you listen to my playlist that you are given a sense of the desire for freedom and love that the characters of the story feel, and I hope that even when you walk away that my message sticks with you. Thank you for taking the time to read over this little cover letter and thank you for taking the time to dive into my adaptation.
Best Regards,
Matthew Burkett