Andrew Wiggins and Dr. Brandie Siegfried, Department of English

In preparation for my ORCA grant, I wrote a critical analysis comparing and contrasting questions of morality in two of Shakespeare’s famous works, The Merchant of Venice and The Tempest, for a literature class covering the works of William Shakespeare. That initial introduction to the moral complexities and ambiguities of Shakespeare’s works sparked my interest in Shakespearean studies and prompted me to expand that paper for my Honors Thesis. In the process, and with Dr. Siegfried’s help, I decided to make the most of my research by presenting my paper at the International Conference of Language, Literature, and Linguistics in Singapore in July of 2012. The ORCA grant that I received allowed me to travel to Singapore and present my findings at a professional conference with seasoned professionals as well as other likeminded students.

Throughout the process of researching the plays for my Honors Thesis, I ended up with much more material than I could present at the conference. The strict page limit of the conference forced me to hone in my argument with an economy of words and ideas. In short, writing the paper for the conference provided me with an outline for what would become my Honors Thesis. Writing the paper for the conference also taught me the difference between writing research meant for publication and research meant for a public presentation. I had to organize my thoughts as clearly as possible so that while I read it out loud my audience would be able to follow along–which proved difficult since so many at the conference studied English as a second language.

My research ultimately concluded that Shakespeare’s treatment of Christ characters in these two plays both criticizes and exemplifies the divine leadership and authority that the monarchy had claimed, particularly during the rules of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth. What makes Shakespeare’s Christ characters–Portia and Antonio of The Merchant of Venice and Prospero of The Tempest–so great is their moral struggle in using their religious authority, which Shakespeare often shrouds in symbolism or metaphor. My presentation traced the moral and religious complications of these characters and analyzed them in the context of the English Reformation.

The ORCA grant not only gave me a chance to present these findings to other academics with a passion for literature and language, but allowed me to travel to a foreign and beautiful part of the world that I would not have been able to see otherwise. The presentation of my paper went well and provided me with significant feedback that I later implemented in my Honors Thesis, but I had just as much fun, if not more, traveling around Singapore and Thailand. I had never been to Asia and I was constantly reminded of the differences in my culture and theirs. I was able to eat pad thai on the streets, Indian food (real Indian food) from my hotel for breakfast every morning, and mango ice cream in the markets. While the presentation of the paper profited me most academically, the chance to travel to Asia benefitted me as an individual and a student of BYU.

I’m grateful for my ORCA grant and all that it provided me. As I prepare for my career in digital marketing, I know that the experience that I gained through my ORCA grant has better prepared me to think critically, present complex ideas in a professional setting, and challenge myself intellectually and emotionally.