originally published 7/1/2021
English Professor Scott Newstok sets forth Shakespeare as a guide for the craft of thought in his book How to Think Like Shakespeare. Citing Shakespeare’s “sponge-like quality of mind,” Newstok points to habits and practices that helped refine Shakespeare’s native brilliance. One habit is keeping a commonplace book to collect quotations. He also highlights the pedagogical practice of imitation, a ubiquitous technique in the past. Newstok believes that while we accept unreservedly the importance of imitation in physical practices, moderns are more critical of the use of imitation in scholarly pursuits. But, while imitation can certainly be stunted into parrot-like practice, it also can help develop a rich idiosyncratic style. With all that said, Newstok is not offering a procedural account of how to think like Shakespeare; he is articulating patterns and “habit-inducing practices” that contain the possibility of intellectual growth.
24 minutes
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