Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Big Question
We have reached a generation striving to be different, unique. Yet similar trends in style remain, look at a highschool and you can instantly see the trend. Walk into a mall (well not our mall) and you can find dozens of stores selling the same types of clothing, knowing what we want. I saw this quote that said "Be different... Just like everyone else". If we are all trying to be different how is it we end up looking the same?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Hamlet Essay
Hamlet is a person who uses self overhearing as a way to determine what his actions will be, Beowulf on the other hand is a person who states his actions and follows them through but doesn't necessarily think them through. The reasons behind these differences aren't just the writers' different styles but also the time period that affected them. Beowulf was a story that originally was passed down orally. Telling an epic about a hero who kills many amd receives fame and reward for it is a much more interesting story orally than explaining to people how a character thinks for half the tale. However, written it is left to the reader to interpret Hamlet's thoughts and actions and is much easier to understand.
In Hamlet we see his intricate thought process many times. The most famous of his soliloquies "To Be or Not to Be" is him, thinking he is alone and pondering whether he should live to kill his uncle and revenge his father or end it all. He says "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all." in his reflection and he realizes that because of the unknown because we think so much of what death is like, what we couldn't possibly know,that we become afraid of death and it is our over thinking that does it. This separates from Beowulf because he wouldn't even consider killing himself. He has too much pride, he wouldn't see killing Claudius as a stressful situation that must be thought over but more a challenge. Of course as an epic hero he would never back down from a challenge and thus Hamlet would have been very different had he had the same sense as Beowulf.
Beowulf is portrayed as a tough hero but not so much as a thinker. He is depicted as a hero who does heroic things not for himself but for others, even though this turns out not to be true. He always says he will do something and does just that.For example, when he says "I have heard, Too, that the monster's scorn of men Is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none. Nor will I." Though a brave action and an attempt to gain respect from the beast it is a foolish idea that, had he thought it through, he might have reconsidered.What is said is much more important to Beowulf because he has an audience, Hamlet generally talks to himself and thinks them through that way, Beowulf bases his actions on the reactions of the people. "And this dragon's treasure, his gold And everything hidden in that tower, will be mine Or war will sweep me to a bitter death!" Beowulf made a statement of greed, selfishness and ignorance. Had he been the reflective type instead of the speak then act type he may have realized this and saved himself from dying for an unworthy cause. His goal was not, as it had been, to save the people but rather to gain riches and so it seems his greed was his demise.
In Hamlet we see his intricate thought process many times. The most famous of his soliloquies "To Be or Not to Be" is him, thinking he is alone and pondering whether he should live to kill his uncle and revenge his father or end it all. He says "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all." in his reflection and he realizes that because of the unknown because we think so much of what death is like, what we couldn't possibly know,that we become afraid of death and it is our over thinking that does it. This separates from Beowulf because he wouldn't even consider killing himself. He has too much pride, he wouldn't see killing Claudius as a stressful situation that must be thought over but more a challenge. Of course as an epic hero he would never back down from a challenge and thus Hamlet would have been very different had he had the same sense as Beowulf.
Beowulf is portrayed as a tough hero but not so much as a thinker. He is depicted as a hero who does heroic things not for himself but for others, even though this turns out not to be true. He always says he will do something and does just that.For example, when he says "I have heard, Too, that the monster's scorn of men Is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none. Nor will I." Though a brave action and an attempt to gain respect from the beast it is a foolish idea that, had he thought it through, he might have reconsidered.What is said is much more important to Beowulf because he has an audience, Hamlet generally talks to himself and thinks them through that way, Beowulf bases his actions on the reactions of the people. "And this dragon's treasure, his gold And everything hidden in that tower, will be mine Or war will sweep me to a bitter death!" Beowulf made a statement of greed, selfishness and ignorance. Had he been the reflective type instead of the speak then act type he may have realized this and saved himself from dying for an unworthy cause. His goal was not, as it had been, to save the people but rather to gain riches and so it seems his greed was his demise.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
(Don't) Be Hamlet
Hamlet's dilemma is that he is on the line whether or not to kill himself over this issue that has come up with his uncle. He recently had to deal with his father dying and his uncle marrying his mother and now the ghost of his father is telling him his uncle killed him. Hamlet wants to obey his father but at the same time he wants to get rid of all the stress that this brings. He reflects on why people would suffer this life and concludes that they are afraid of the unknown. "But that the dread of something after death. The undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns."
Hamlet has already set up plans for his uncle and is committed to killing him. Hamlet pretty much already made up his mind that he will not kill himself. He decides that he will choose to live and avenge his father rather than take the easy way out and die. He decides this because he is afraid of death and also loves and respects his father. His uncle married his mother only about a month after his father died, therefore swaying Hamlet to kill him.
On the other hand that is a big task killing someone isn't easy and Hamlet doesn't know of he can handle the stress of it all. However, people deal with stresses similar to his own and they live it out because they fear the unknown. Hamlet takes this into account as well that so many decide to suffer on through life. He has something he must do so he ultimately decides to live.
Hamlet has already set up plans for his uncle and is committed to killing him. Hamlet pretty much already made up his mind that he will not kill himself. He decides that he will choose to live and avenge his father rather than take the easy way out and die. He decides this because he is afraid of death and also loves and respects his father. His uncle married his mother only about a month after his father died, therefore swaying Hamlet to kill him.
On the other hand that is a big task killing someone isn't easy and Hamlet doesn't know of he can handle the stress of it all. However, people deal with stresses similar to his own and they live it out because they fear the unknown. Hamlet takes this into account as well that so many decide to suffer on through life. He has something he must do so he ultimately decides to live.
Literature Analysis Questions #1
The Sun Also Rises is a novel about a some people who are diverse and yet come together to create a story about love and the lengths it drives people to. It starts with a background story on Robert Cohn who was a boxer but became an intellectual and developed a relationship with a woman who only wanted his money and fame. His friend Jake, telling the background story, tries to convince him to go to France with him. Cohn eventually complies. When they go to France they run into Lady Brett, a former close friend of Jake's who almost had a relationship with him but he had an injury which prevented her from going out with him. While in France Brett, though engaged to someone else, flirts with other guys and causes her fiancé to become jealous. She falls in love with a bullfighter and Jake helps her to develop the relationship even though he liked her and she liked him.
The theme of the novel was that love makes a person do foolish things. For example Cohn stayed with his wife even though she was only with him for the money and fame. Also, Jake helped Brett, the love of his life, develop a relationship with someone she considered the love of her life. If they were thinking rationally Cohn would have broken the relationship and Jake would have had nothing to do with Lady Brett, however they were overcome with love and thus acted irrationally.
The tone is respectful and dignified. The people are literature savvy and show this in their dialogue and also the tone expresses this which makes the novel difficult to read.
"I can't stand to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it."
"Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters."
"He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton."
"You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another."
Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to convey the imminent break of Lady Brett's relationship with Mike. The story of how Lady Brett was involved with Jake but eventually broke up with him because of his injury signifies how she is obsessed with physical relationships. She found Romero to be more physically involved than Mike so it was only logical she would dump him. She never really seemed interested in him in the first place also.
Symbolism is used with bull-fighting. It is very physical and Lady Brett seems very interested in it as much as she is with physical activities. Jake is also interested like he is with physical activities that he can no longer do and which prevent him from seeing Lady Brett.
It is ironic that the one person who will make Lady Brett happy and stop flirting with so many guys and traveling from person to person is Jake who she cannot have a relationship with. Pathos is a literary device used to get the reader to feel sympathy towards Jake who was dumped for a selfish reason by the love of his life. Characterization was used to display the very different characters and how they think and respond to one another.
The theme of the novel was that love makes a person do foolish things. For example Cohn stayed with his wife even though she was only with him for the money and fame. Also, Jake helped Brett, the love of his life, develop a relationship with someone she considered the love of her life. If they were thinking rationally Cohn would have broken the relationship and Jake would have had nothing to do with Lady Brett, however they were overcome with love and thus acted irrationally.
The tone is respectful and dignified. The people are literature savvy and show this in their dialogue and also the tone expresses this which makes the novel difficult to read.
"I can't stand to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it."
"Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters."
"He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton."
"You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another."
Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to convey the imminent break of Lady Brett's relationship with Mike. The story of how Lady Brett was involved with Jake but eventually broke up with him because of his injury signifies how she is obsessed with physical relationships. She found Romero to be more physically involved than Mike so it was only logical she would dump him. She never really seemed interested in him in the first place also.
Symbolism is used with bull-fighting. It is very physical and Lady Brett seems very interested in it as much as she is with physical activities. Jake is also interested like he is with physical activities that he can no longer do and which prevent him from seeing Lady Brett.
It is ironic that the one person who will make Lady Brett happy and stop flirting with so many guys and traveling from person to person is Jake who she cannot have a relationship with. Pathos is a literary device used to get the reader to feel sympathy towards Jake who was dumped for a selfish reason by the love of his life. Characterization was used to display the very different characters and how they think and respond to one another.
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