Easter 1916

1. By the assertion that "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart," Keats is saying that by throwing oneself at a single goal and by disciplining yourself to only one focus, you can lose yourself in the process and sacrifice a far greater price than what the goal is worth, in this case, you heart, or soul. By striving for that one focal point, your heart will harden to others and to your own emotions and will become a "rock" in Keats eyes, or it will harden you and make you insensitive and bitter.

2. This poem is very similar to "The Second Coming" in that they are both abstract in nature and need the reader to decipher and interpret the meaning because it is vague. They both talk of negative circumstances and of violence, but the second coming is more broad because it is about an event that has not yet come to pass, and the Easter 1916 is about an event that has already happened and is now being reflected upon.

Frankenstien post

http://animoto.com/play/T0AnVxmH2KHthoB0rn7J9w

The above is the link to my video for the Frankenstein Unit. My video features depictions of ugly man made scenes with beautiful natural scenes. This shows the theme in the Gothic novel Frankenstein that man made creations are hideous compared with the natural. The beauty and superiority of nature is bolstered by the fact that the creature is man made, and simultaneously so hideous that he cannot bare even looking at himself. This theme is a strong under current throughout the book so I decided to base my animator video off of it.

The greatest Victim

After reflecting on chapters 3-8 in Frankenstein, I would have to say that Justine is the biggest victim of all. I can't imagine what it would have to be like having everyone you love thinking your practically a spawn of Satan,all while knowing your innocent. I can't imagine the terror of hearing the verdict after the trial and just randomly having evidence planted on you, (such as the necklace) with no way of explaining it. Although, I also felt bad for Frankenstein because he would have to live with the guilty of knowing he was the catalyst which triggered all of these terrible events. However, he didn't have to die and be condemned/ executed in front of an entire community like Justine did so she is still the bigger victim in my opinion.

Macbeth: end

Wow what a depressing Tale! Everyone die including many completely Innocent people. Also, I thought the "not born of a woman via C-section" was a little lame. For my every day connection, this tale reminded me of other Shakespeare tragedies such a Romeo and Juliet because innocent people die needlessly. Also, I noticed, as in other Shakespeare pieces, that there was an overload of ambiguity. Why does Lady Macbeth lose her nerve? Why do the Weird Sister's target Macbeth? What motives do they have in doing so? One thin i noticed about Shakespeare while reading this play was that he includes NO stage directions. this is actually very brilliant if you think about it because it allows the actors and producers to use artistic license to create something very unique and original with the same script. This is all part of the theme of ambiguity in all of his plays; it allows the producers AND the audience to interpret the way they want to, and allowing for more creativity.  

Leter to Macbeth

Dear Macbeth,

Forsooth! It is come to my attention that you plot to kill the good king Duncan in his sleep after getting him mighty plastered. I say that this is not in your best interest for many a worthy reason. First, you only plot this after hearing of the prophecy of the three Weird Sisters. Witches are not to be trusted, they only seek you downfall, do not follow the lead of such evil entities, but do as you inner conscience tells you to. Witches take their direction from that Great Demon who abides in Hell. Why take the words of such foul creatures to heart? Duncan has been a good king, never mean or unjust, never levying unfair duties on the towns people. He has even bestows a jewel on your wife and has treated you with great honor by placing the great title of Thane of Cawdor upon you. Do not repay such noble acts and gift with a knife to the torso. Tis not nice. King Duncan is your friend, and if one as close to im as you are plotting such a violent act, tis easy to presume that one like yourself would soon do the same to you. You are thought loyal to the king by in secret listen to magical females with beards who prod you to commit an act of unjust regicide. One you thinks to be loyal to you may also be hiding murderous thoughts for you in hiding. Forsooth! Do not act foolishly on the advice of she-males, act with your heart.

your humble servant,

Personal Body Guard of the King

Macbeth!

I'm super excited to start Macbeth! I went to see a live performance of it when I was in the second or third grade. It was extra cool because it was part of this outdoor Shakespeare festival and we brought our cat along to watch too. I remember the blood on Lady Macbeth hands' was super real-looking and everyone kept doing double takes at my family and I when they saw our cat with us on her little leash. I've never read the play though so this will be cool. I decided to look up a few Macbeth pictures for this post:

Post Pilgrim Presentations

Wow I've been loving these presentations! Lots of fun youtube videos that add, also I love the food, just saying. :)

I really connected to the summoner today, in present day I think the summoner would be a bounty hunter because they have to track down the "bad guys" or criminals for authorities. The summoner job also reminded me of court server who has to go out and serve court orders/ legal documents/ summons to court. Although, one big difference is that the present day ones are much less corrupt.

I was surprising to me that the knight was so high up in the pecking order. Usually soldiers are similar to  modern day plumbers: they are too stupid to get decent higher paying work so they are stock with the job that no one else wants. Although, after having that thought it also occurred to me that knights weren't just your typical mindless soldier, they had many other attributes not associated with common hired soldiers.

It strikes me as odd that the people in the gathering of pilgrims traveling together didn't kill each other. There were many couplings in the group that I'm guessing probably wouldn't have gotten along together very well. It was mentioned that the Yoemen and the knight were rivals for example. It strikes me as odd that everyone survived in a group for the entire pilgrimage.