Act V Scene IV

Malcom is telling his soldiers to camouflage themselves so that Macbeths army can't see how many of them there are. 

I don't think that it will effect Macbeths decision. 

Just a little more (research) on my Masterpiece

Now it is still unclear to me to what exactly I would like to do but this is some research onto how to achieve my goal.

Flow: the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity of energized focus, full movement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.

• focused motivation. There needs to be some sort of drive that one has to be in "the zone"

Hyperfocus: "bad flow." Hyperfocus is more of an addiction that a state of mind. People often become controlled by hyperfocus when flow is supposed to be the other way around.

Flow Theory says that there are three conditions that are usually met:
1. The activity at hand must have a clear set of goals.
2. Clear and immediate feedback.
3. Good balance between perceived challenges of the task at hand and their own perceived skills.

TPCASTT Poem Analysis of I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain by Emily Dickonsen

Title: I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain - she is losing her mind. Just through what a funeral represents which is the loss of something you love and the synonym for brain which is mind. 

Paraphrase: 

• "and mourners, to and fro, kept treading - treading - ..." - anxiety and pain keep coming into her thoughts.
• "and when they all were seated," - the anxiety and pain all came to a halt.
• "and then a plank in reason, broke, and I dropped down and down" - the foundations on which her sanity is built on collapsed under her and she fell into the darkness of insanity. 

Connotation: 

Attitude: The attitude of the character/author is very panicked and scared. She is afraid that she is in fact going to lose her mind and go crazy. My attitude towards the character is empathy and benevolence. I can understand, maybe to not entire this extent but to some degree, of what it feels like to have your mind and soul trying to leave you. 

Shift: I think the shift is somewhere between the last stanza and the one prior to that. When she says "Wrecked, solitary, here - ... and then a Plank in Reason broke."

It goes from her feeling all alone as if no one could come help her while she's hanging on the edge of her sanity, to the point where she could hold on anymore. 

Title Revisited: Instead of losing her mind i believe she has lost her mind. That's obvious to me now because you don't go obviously don't go to a funeral to mourn someone dying. 

Theme: Don't take what you have for granted.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi with my Bachan

     After watching the movie, Jiro Dreams of Sushi in class I told my parents about it at dinner and they decided they were going to watch it. So during/after dinner with my mom, dad, and Bachan (Grandmother) we decided to watch it. It was interesting to see her reaction about the movie. Especially since we just ordered sushi from this korean owned restaurant that doesn't take any care at all into their sushi. We ordered yellowtail from there and got some substitute fish that we knew wasn't because yellowtail is white and we got a pinker looking fish. So anyway while watching the movie Bachan commented on how Jiro does it the right way and how that's how its supposed to be done. Also when he commented how Jiro has been working for 75 years she said "that's right and he will continue too forever." I thought this was pretty interesting because she is a lot like Jiro. She is a very active 92 year old woman who still goes to luncheons, sings in a church choir kind of thing, and even goes to Obon, a big Japanese festival. I guess after all of this what I learned is that it doesn't matter what age or how skilled you are, as long as you are doing what you love nothing going to stop you from doing that.

Brave New World Essay

     In the novel "Brave New World," Aldous Huxley writes about the struggle of wanting to be different when society will punish one if they are. He shows us through through the plot line and characteristics of one of the main characters Bernard.With symbolism and irony Huxley describes Bernard's problem of outward conformity.

     Bernard is a psychiatrist which is fitting because he understands how people work and why a society is ultimately broken if there is no conflict of ideas which impedes progress. The irony of him being a psychiatrist is that a society that doesn't want to change shouldn't have someone who studies why that is actually against human nature. Due to his position in society he has a harder time dealing with the pressures of society because he has the knowledge of why it is corrupt.

     In the society the drug called "soma" is a representation of all the things is society today that distracts people from their problems and make them feel better. Bernard refuses to take this drug because he believes the happiness produced by it is artificial. Even though it ultimately makes people happy in the end he thinks that it isn't real happiness because it is given rather than earned. There is a struggle between what society deems is happy and what Bernard believes happiness truly is.

     Bernard is constantly fighting between his feelings to conform to a broken society and his feelings to be an individual and do things differently than what his peers believe to be correct. Huxley uses irony and symbolism to further establish the internal quarrel that Bernard is having. 

Masterpiece

I have done some research on "flow" and am getting closer to figuring out what I actually want to do for my masterpiece. I know I want to do something that is both mentally and physically challenging and involves complete focus to become immersed in the present.

Tobermory Explanation

Tone: I think the tone of the story is humorous. Saki even use obvious comic, ridiculous humor of a talking cat or the fact that he died by an elephant charging and killing him. He also uses more intricate jokes and set ups, for example he uses foreshadowing when Colvis is saying that he won't show up that night because he was "in the local newspaper office at the present moment, didacting the first installment of his reminisces." Also Saki uses sarcasm as humor when Clovis "having made this contribution to general cheerfulness." Which he is not really that cheerful. 

Theme: In my opinion the theme of the story is to be careful what you wish for because it might just come true. Appin tried so hard to teach something intelligence and it did become intelligent and enough so that it decided it was done with him.

Lit Terms List #1

1. Allegory (n): an extended metaphor, a visible symbol representing an abstract idea

2. Alliteration (n): use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse

3. Allusion (n): passing reference of indirect mention

4. Ambiguity (n): unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning

5. Anachronism (n): an artifact or person that belongs to another time

6. Analogy (n): drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity

7. Analysis (n): an investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the whole

8. Anaphora (n): using a pronoun or similar word instead of repeating a word used earlier, repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

9. Anecdote (n): short account of incident

10. Antagonist (n): the villain of the story, protagonists foil

11. Antithesis (n): the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance

12. Aphorism (n): a short pithy instructive saying

13. Apologia (n): a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly

14. Apostrophe (n): used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word

15. Argument (n): a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal, a dispute where there is strong disagreement

16. Assumption (n): a hypothesis that is taken for granted, audacious behavior that one as no right to

17. Audience (n): a gathering of spectators or listeners at performance the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment

18. Characterization (n): the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features, dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture.

19. Chiasmus (n): inversion in the second of the two parallel phrases

Hamlet Essay

The Method Behind The Madness

At the time when Polonius says “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t,” it is the first time that Polonius thinks that Hamlet might not be just crazy. He is also talking to Hamlet at the time but doesn’t say this to him. Polonius still believes Hamlet to be mad but now at this time he is also considering the possibility that he might also be plotting. This is also when the audience if not have figured it out already figures it out now the same thing that Polonius does, which is that Hamlet may be mad but he might just be presenting himself as such.

            This helps me understand more clearly that Hamlet is a very bright person who is not only more cunning than Polonius but can be argued to be the smartest one in the play. The quote helps the reader understand the gravity of the situation a little bit more because he is mad, at least a little. It would be weird if a teenage boy whos father just died and mom remarried his uncle who is trying to get rid of him because he sees him as a threat didn’t make him a little crazy. On top of all that he gets visited by his fathers ghost telling him to avenge his death. This just further proves how great of a character Hamlet is to use all of this to further motivate him to get done what he has to instead of sitting down and giving up.

Literature Analysis

Literature Analysis: The Crucible

1. Summary:

The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, an extremely puritan town. There are a group of girls dancing in the woods with a slave. They are caught by Reverend  Parris and his daughter Betty, one of the girls dancing, faints. The town starts to rumor about witchcraft so they try and contact Reverend Hale, an expert on the subject. After the girls leader Abigail was interrogated and admits she did nothing she advises the rest of the girls to do the same. John Proctor whom Abigail once had an affair with approached her and told her to stop what she was doing. Betty finally wakes up and everyone in the household is flustered. Reverend Hale interrogates the slave Tituba. She admits to talking to the devil. Soon Abigail steps in and also says that she has seen the devil and shortly after that so does Betty. Then Betty starts to list people that are witches causing complete chaos. Proctor brings his servant Mary to court to testify against the girls and say they are lying. She does so but the girls say that they were just under a spell that Mary cast on them. Then Proctor is accused of being a liar so Mary turns on Proctor and says that he is a witch. In the end everyone on trial is hung by being accused of witchcraft.

2. Theme

The theme is that Religion or just the unknown can blind people which in turn causes fear. That fear turns into violence and soon everyone is scared and doing whatever they can to save themselves.

3. Tone

The author’s tone is very serious due to the fact that it is a very biblical topic based on puritan beliefs.

“I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more.”

4. Literary Devices

Irony – How Abigail said she was pure although she has done more wrong than anyone else in the play.

Symbolism – The poppet represented a voodoo doll.

Simile – “His eyes were like coals”

Personification – “Heaven and Hell grapple on our backs.

Allusion – “I have gone this three months like The Lord into the wilderness.”

Characterization

1. Direct/Indirect

Indirect (Abigail) – “I’d best be off. I have my Ruth to watch…. Good morning, Mister Proctor. (Mercy sidles out. Since Proctor’s entrance, Abigail has stood absorbing his presence, wide-eyed.)”

By the end of the play I did not like Abigail at all. Through indirect characterization she seemed like a manipulative person who only cares about herself.

2. When John Proctor is talking he is more serious and logical. When one of the Reverends or the Judge is talking they seem ignorant and abuse their power somewhat.

3. The protagonist John Proctor is static. His ideas and actions do not change throughout the play.

4. I feel like I met Abigail. If I had ever had to have a conversation with her it would be very unpleasant for me because she is a very conniving, manipulative person. She is the actual witch in the play.

"Summons" vs. "Where the Sidewalk Ends"

The poem “Summons” by Robert Francis describes a man trapped inside a darkness and wants someone to take him to the light. He desires to escape the darkness that he was persuaded to go into but needs another to help him. This like the poem “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein are both poems about someone trying to be somewhere in life where they are not.

            “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is instead someone wanting to get out of somewhere is someone wanting to go somewhere. “Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black and the dark street winds and bends.” Silverstein is saying that when people grow up they start to lose their sense of innocence and pure-heartedness and that we need to start going back to that. Both authors use symbolism to show a greater power helping the narrator escape from the darkness they are in. “Tell me the northern lights are on and make me look.” The northern lights are a symbol of worldly awe that is often related to the heavens. The narrator wants God to show him the light so he can escape the darkness. “For the children, they mark, and for the children, they know.” Children are thought up to be miracles of life and so Silverstein is saying that this miracle can help people leave the place of dull dreariness and instead go somewhere where full of joy where “the grass grows soft and bright.”

Silverstein is providing us an instance of how people need to find themselves and escape from the darkness they are in. Francis is giving a broader sense of how we are all trying to escape but sometimes we need a little help along the way. The help in “Where the sidewalk ends being a child showing us the innocence again. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a metaphor to the allegory that is “Summons”

Literature Analysis

Literature Analysis: Lord of the Flies

1. Plot Summary:

The story begins with a plane crashing onto an island. It seems that the only people to survive the crash are two children. The first introduces himself as Ralph and the second one, Piggy. Piggy quickly finds a way to find the other boys by using a conch shell as a signal. More of them come. When they are trying to elect a leader both Ralph and Jack, leader of a choir are both candidates. Ralph wins and Jack is upset about it. A little boy states that he saw a monster on the island which he called “beastie.” The group splits up while Jacks group being the hunters and everyone else to try and start a fire or build huts. Jack and Ralph argue about who is actually doing the real work and they become hostile towards each other. Things become routine on the island in a few short days. Jack being bent on killing a pig paints his face and goes on the hunt with several other kids. Ralph and Piggy see a ship but they see the fire is out so they run up but can’t relight it in time. Ralph is angry with Jack because he was supposed to be guarding the fire. The hunters return chanting a song because they had killed a pig. A dead pilot flies down to the island having the parachute caught in the tree and two of the boys see it at night and think it’s the monster. While looking for the monster the boys start to track a boar as well. Ralph throws a spear and it just misses the pig. The boys still in the mindset of the hunt reenact it using a boy, Robert, as the pig. They almost beat him to death until they come to their senses. The group splits into two, one being Ralphs group and the other being Jacks. While Ralphs group tries to start a fire, Jacks group kills a pig and put its head on a stake. As they look at the pigs head they are frightened and run away. Simon deciding to get a moment to himself wonders off and stumbles upon the pigs head. The pig talks to Simon saying that there is no escape from him. Simon faints. As he wakes up he goes and sees that the monster was just a man and goes back to the rest of the group to explain. When he gets there however the boys are in a savage chanting frenzy and decide he is the monster. They quickly kill Simon and his body falls into the ocean. Ralphs group grows thinner. In the middle of the night Jacks group comes down and forcefully steal Piggy’s glasses and with it the ability to make fire. Ralph and Jack fight and in the midst of everything one of Jacks members pushes down a huge boulder and Jack dodges it but Piggy does not. Soon the entire tribe is attacking Ralph so he runs off. Ralph stumbles upon the sows head and takes it and smashes it to the ground and decides to use its spear to kill Jack. Ralph hides and in the morning the boys set out to kill him setting the whole island ablaze. Ralph runs to the beach and falls down but as he looks up he sees a naval officer and so do the other boys. They quickly come to their senses and begin to cry.

2. Theme:

The theme of the novel is Good vs. Evil or Civility vs. Savagery. One by one the boys turn from civil minded children into savage killers due to the loss of hope and survival instinct.

3. Tone:

The tone of the story is despair and desolation.

 “The ground beneath them was a bank covered with sparse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings. Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar.”

4. Literary Techniques:

Symbolism – Piggy’s glasses as hope.

Foreshadowing – When the boys reenact the hunt for the first time was foreshadowing of them murdering Simon.

Allegory – Many things in this book can relate to the inner fight of evil and how “The Lord of the Flies” is really the devil trying to consume you.

Foils – Jack and Piggy. Jack only thinking of savagery and basic primal instincts while Piggy tries to be civil and create order.

Characterization

1. Indirect/Direct

Indirect (Jack) – He snatched the knife out of his sheath and slammed it into the tree trunk.

Direct (Jack) – “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister head boy and I can sing a C sharp.

2. When talking about Piggy or Simon, Golding’s tone is a lot lighter in mood. But when he is talking about Jack or the sows head the tone is dark and grave.

3. The protagonist (Ralph) is fairly static in the sense that he fought very hard to keep things in order from start to finish and he tried to not resort to violence to do so.

4. I feel like I read a character, that being The Devil as the sows head and the island as hell.