Thoughts on Hamlet (in progress)

Right now reflecting back on what I have read and the discussions that have been held in class Hamlet knows how to keep his cool. Other sites say Hamlet is crazy and his emotions are out of control but, Shakespeare gives examples throughout the story that Hamlet isn't "crazy" but he is actually emotionally stable and has a set plan and his "out of control" emotions are never shown to anyone. I find it typical Shakespeare and I should have seen it coming that practically everyone in the stories dies. Hamlet is a tragedy. So let's see who is going to die or kill themselves next in this play shall we?

To Be or Not To Be

Hamlet's soliloquy recital is found here. Group members are: Breanna, Rachel, and Amara.

Tools That Change The Way We Think

" "Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)


Answer this not-so-simple question: How does use of the Internet, media, and/or technology change the way you think?
Focus on your memory, your ability to concentrate, your sense of time and priorities, and the subjects/topics that interest you most. If you find "thinking about your thinking" difficult to assess, try the following strategies: compare yourself with older people who did most of their formal learning before smart phones and 2.0 existed; compare yourself with contemporaries who don't use those tools much today; read up on what education leaders and thinkers have to say about generational differences in thinking (and remember to cite your sources). "

Technology and more specifically the Internet has influenced my life and the way I think immensely. I go on the internet at least 10 times a day! Checking emails, blogs, news, fashion, social media, something random, homework, blogs again, emails again, applications, news again, weather, etc. The Internet and technology can be positive because of the different ideas and perspectives you are open to (with avoiding filter bubbles online) through research and connections made via online communities. A negative of technology is laziness, technology makes humans put in less effort than just a few generations ago. If my grandpa had to write a report on Abraham Lincoln he would have to go to the library, check out 3-4 books, and ask a teacher for more information, if I were to write a report on President Lincoln I would just search a few biographies online and a couple of other Lincoln related sites. Using the internet requires less effort for today but it also opens so much more possibility of what one can find because of how vast the internet is and how much it has grown. Having so much knowledge at the end of your fingertips or in a thin box can be dangerous, I don't know how but, "knowledge is power."

What I Think About When I Think About Act III

When I think about Act III of Hamlet, I think of the previous Act when Hamlet is discussing how he will know if Claudius killed his father by from the way he reacts to the play. Claudius does react in an extreme way to the reenactment of the ghost's death. I was taken aback when Hamlet saw Claudius kneeling and praying for forgiveness and that Hamlet didn't take the opportunity to do his deed that moment because Claudius was alone. Also I think about the scene where Polonius is being his typical nose-y self and spying on Hamlet and Queen Gertrude, Hamlet thinks Claudius is behind the curtains and kills Polonius. In my eyes, these are the most important moments in the story because they describe Hamlet's character of good planning, knowing his opportunities, and sometimes poor judgement.

Literature Analysis #3

For my literature analysis I wanted to compare and contrast "The Great Gatsby" book and movie. After recently  watching the movie all I talked about was how minor instances were missing and I knew I had to read the book again.

Last year in class reading "The Great Gatsby" and discussing the novel made aspects of the book and movie stand out. For instance, in the book reading it the first time in class we discussed how the billboard of the doctor symbolized society in the valley of ashes being watched. My second time visiting the book alone I noticed how Fitzgerald brings up and takes the time to describe something that seems as simple as a billboard which grabs your attention due to the simplicity of the object but the complexity of what the meaning may be. The eyes of doctor TJ Eckleburg are in the film a couple of times but if I were watching the movie, without having knowledge about the story, the billboard would seem pointless to have in a shot.

Dear Ophelia

Dear O, this seems like a classic young love situation. If your family disapproves of this "prince" then I suggest to stay away because your family wants what is best for you and usually has a sense about these things. If you have strong feelings for the prince then I would say to see where the situation goes and stick your toes in first before jumping into the water, as the saying goes. No one has the same reactions and emotions about everything so just follow your tuition and have faith in yourself, however, never put yourself into an uncomfortable situation. Good luck and best of wishes!
- Sarah

Fall Vocabulary #7

Thank you Rachel!!!!
-Rachel posted our vocabulary we worked on in class to her blog.




[also blog posts are late due to them being saved as drafts and not published...silly me for not checking and catching that mistake sooner]

Literary Fiction and Empathy

The connections this article made were very interesting in how reading a fiction book can improve social skills. I found this very intriguing because reading about different characters opens your eyes to how different personalities react to situations. "Walk a mile in my shoes" applies to this article because the fictional characters represent people you may encounter in life and reading about a character that shares similar qualities to the person helps you understand where that person is coming from and why they might act or say what they do. In Hamlet's first soliloquy this concept also applies because while reading I imagined myself  in his situation and understand why he is feeling depressed, frusterated, and suicidal. 

Green Eggs and Ham(let)

a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"?
- Off the top of my head this has no meaning to me. I know Hamlet is a tragedy written by Shakespeare, that's it.
b) What do you know about Shakespeare?
- I know that Shakespeare is an author who wrote in the late 1500s and early 1600s, he is a poet and playwrite. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is my favorite epic-tragic-poem.
c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"?
- I think students don't like Shakespeare because it takes brain power to read it but I personally don't despise reading Shakespeare.
d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?
- To make studying this play (Hamlet) an amazing experience we could do traditional school (not Open Source Learning) and OSL combination or have an expert video chat us and have them give their insight and a (I'm blanking on the word) circle.

What I Meant to Say Was-

Instead of: "Canterbury Tales gives readers insight into his purpose for writing through subject matter, tone, and characterization techniques." 
a better introduction paragraph would be: Chaucer's ground breaking poem satirized the upper class to relate and write towards all people. The subject matter, tone, and characterization techniques are literary elements that give the audience an insight into the purpose of the story. 

I feel like this thesis statement would work better because it sounds better than something a Jr. High student would write.

Please comment any tips or suggestions so that I can improve my thesis statements :)

So.. My point was-

Friday we had a mid-term and part of that mid-term was to write an essay. My thesis statement for the essay is:
"Canterbury Tales gives readers insight into his purpose for writing through subject matter, tone, and characterization techniques."
This is not an AP thesis for sure but with the time constraint I didn't want to focus so much on making the thesis "pretty".

If I Just Had More Time

On Friday we took a midterm in class and our directions were to write and define as many vocabulary words as we could remember and write an essay on Canterbury Tales. If I had more time on the test I could have defined more vocabulary words because I wanted to focus more on the essay.

Literature Analysis #2: Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella

1. The story starts off with a girl, Lexi Smart, and her friends waiting outside after a party in London. Lexi's boyfriend forgot to come pick them up and there are no taxis in sight. Lexi decides to walk down the street while it's pouring rain to hail a taxi and when she sees one she runs down cement steps, slips, and hits her head. That was in 2004. When Lexi wakes up it's 2007 and she is in the hospital. The doctor diagnosed her with amnesia because she does not remember the last three years of her life. Everything has changed, she's married, she is boss of her department, she lost weight, fixed her teeth, died her hair, and lost her friends. Lexi thinks her life in 2007 is perfect but under all the gloss it is more complicated then she knows. Lexi from 2004 doesn't know why she decided to change her look or what drove her to become a top business woman. Her husband, Eric, and her new best friend, Rosalie, don't leave her many answers, but her "lover" and Eric's best friend, Jon, knows basically every detail and wants Lexi to love him again.

2. The theme of the story is there is more than meets the eye. At first glance Lexi thinks her life is perfect but as she experiences it more there are just as many flaws as her life in 2004.

3. The tone of the story is confused and stubborn.
"What else can I do? Defuse a bomb? Assassinate someone with one blow of my hand?" p. 106
"'Are you Gianna?' I say cautiously. 'Oh my Lord in Heaven.' She crosses herself and kisses her fingers. 'Eric warned me. You're not right in the head, poor girl.'" p. 120
"Okay, I need my memory back. I've had it with amnesia. I've had it with people telling me they know more about my life than I do. It's my memory. It belongs to me." p. 204

4. Foreshadowing- "I just wish" p. 177
Alliteration- "'I'm not the kind of person who wears beige suits! I'm not the kind of person who wears her hair in a bun everyday. I'm not the kind of person who pays a thousand quid for wine. I'm not the kind of person who. . . who sells out her friends. . .'" p. 281
Cliche- "'I nearly had a heart attack,'" p. 55
Epiphany- "'Mum, I've got amnesia.'" p. 45
"Okay. Things are starting to make sense." p.. 327
Hyperbole- "Here I am, zooming along the Themes Embankment, with my handsome husband, in his open-top Mercedes. I say zooming. Actually we're going at about twenty miles an hour." p.
Imagery- "Metal grilles are descending everywhere, over the windows, the paintings, the waterfall. All the rich guests are clinging to each other in the middle of the space like hostages, apart from one portly man who's trapped next to the waterfall." p. 260
Personification- "From huge yellow monsters reaching up to the sky, down to young flowers," p. 337
Rhetorical Question- "How can you just stand there?" p. 275
Symbol- "'The Cobra,' I say wincing. I still can't believe I got nicknamed after a snake." p. 330

Characterization
1. Kinsella used direct characterization by describing the characters through Lexi's thoughts and how she saw them. "This man is seriously, achingly good-looking. Like, Armani model good-looking. He has medium-brown curly hair, cropped short. He has blue eyes, broad shoulders, and an expensive-looking suit. He has a square jaw, impeccably shaved." p. 61 Kinsella used indirect characterization to describe supporting characters. "'Now, let's go and say hello to Simon and the others. You remember Simon Johnson, the MD?'" p. 135
Kinsella uses both approaches to get a visual of the character and to get the esssence of that character.

2. The authors syntax and diction doesn't change when describing different characters. The syntax and diction remain the same throughout since the story is told through one perspective. "Bastard. He didn't even bother waiting until he was out of earshot." p. 146 "'He's Hitler. If he could round up every loaf of bread and put it in a camp, he would.'" p. 200

3. The protagonist (Lexi) is a dynamic character, she changes throughout the story from a free spirit to confined and then becoming free again. Lexi is a round character and has different opinions and is in her late twenties so she has developed different traits but her character is tricky and some of her ideas change because of her amnesia.

4. After reading this book I feel like I have met a real person. The troubles she faces happen to real people and her story is intriguing. I love reading stories that are told in first person because I am interested by the characters thoughts and ideas which made Lexi more real to me. "'Now, don't worry.' Rosalie's hand is on my arm. 'Eric and I have a plan. Everyone's going to stand up and introduce themselves to you at dinner.' Her brow wrinkles. 'Sweetie, you look freaked.'
'No!' I manage a smile. 'Not freaked!'
This is a lie. I'm totally freaked. As i find my place at the long glass dining table, nodding and smiling as people greet me, I feel like I'm in some weird dream. These people are allegedly my friends. They all know me. And I've never seen them before."

Tale of a Canterbury Tale

The Wife of Bath's Tale-

This section is talking about how men look for specific things in women and are so picky and want a perfect girl. Then women want men to do all these tasks that women believe show a man loves her. Women question what a man really thinks because he tells the truth when he is drunk and men think women are controlling. The last few lines surprised me and I think she said she's a prostitute.

Indirect Characteization: "I would no longer in the bed abide 

If I but felt his arm across my side, 
Till he had paid his ransom unto me; 
Then would I let him do his nicety. 
And therefore to all men this tale I tell,"

It was not specifically said that she is a prostitute but from the text that is wha I interpreted. 

Purpose: The purpose for Chaucer including this in the tale is to get the perspective on this character and how she feels about people. 

I believe Chaucer was trying to unveil to everyone what people think they want (in a relationship) but don't publicly share it because it is not proper.