My part of the ernest essay

my group is doing #5. I'm doing the part about Jack+Gwendolyn. So, there we go. josh is doing Algernon +cecily, and Laura is doing Rev. chaussable and prism. comment! i was thinking we would work on the conclusion/intro/thesis stuff tommorow, and then that night do our individual paragraphs, then on wendsday, we peer edit them. in case you didn't know, Laura, josh and i are both going to be gone over the weekend so we don't have that time to get it done. Comment! and i will comment on yours!

Victorian Research/Importance of Being Earnest

Doing the research on the Victorian era prior to reading The Importance of Being Earnest has helped my understanding of the plot and characters immensely. One way it has enhanced my understanding is with females' role in society. One example of this is where Gwendolyn says "Ernest, we may never be married. From the expression on my mother's face I fear we never shall." (p53) This shows how younger women were bossed around by their moms or their husbands. In fact, all of a wife's possessions go to the husband when they are married.

Another way doing research on the Victorian era has helped me is by understanding why they talk about the things they do, and what they find important. Jack was saying "Well, yes, I must admit I smoke." and Lady Bracknell responded "I am glad to hear it." (p47) What the people back then considered important is way different than it is now, with things such as moral values, etc. Some things considered important for marriage were smoking, ancestry, and wealth, not as much whether you really loved the person or not. My knowledge of the Victorian era coming into reading the play has made everything from clothing to marriage easier to understand.

new years resolution

I've never really done new years resolutions, but as I thought about it, I realized I am not a self-prompter, or I don't really start things by myself. I rarely practice my instrument without being told, sometimes I would much rather do something else. Also, just other little bad habits like putting off homework and stuff all come from not having self-initiative.

It's ironic that I chose this to be my new years resolution because self initiative is a thing that you need to keep up resolutions. So, I guess to keep something like this up, you just need to say to yourself "I will be different" and then just work as hard as you can to change yourself. It can also be hard because it takes time for people (especially your parents) to notice how you are different. This is because your grades won't go up instantly just because you decided to be different. So I need to just live through any discouragement that comes because of that and just keep working harder.

Animal Farm Theme Video

Here it is!

Mockingbird Motif

At first I thought that motif was just another one of those terms we would have to know for the occasional vocab test. I didn't think it would actually be used a ton in novels, but I was very surprised. In To Kill a Mockingbird it is used to describe characters, such as Boo Radley or Tom Robinson. It also helps show themes such as racism.

A mockingbird is an innocent bird that just sings songs. When Jem and Scout get their guns, Atticus and Ms. Maudie tell them that it a sin to kill the birds, because they are just happy and cheerful. This is used as a motif and helps show the theme of racism. In the Tom Robinson case, Tom is clearly proven not guilty, so he is like an innocent mockingbird. All 9 jury members voted Tom to be guilty, giving him the death penalty, so that is like killing a mockingbird. The jury members were racist against blacks, so that is why they voted him to be guilty. Several other themes that the mockingbird motif is present in is justice vs. injustice, prejudice, and compassion. The motif of killing a mockingbird is used in compassion with Boo Radly when Heck Tate says that Mr. Ewell fell on his knife, not that Boo stabbed him. This is compassionate because he sees the mockingbird in Boo and wants to let him do whatever he wants.

Character Symbolism~ Judge Taylor

The symbol I chose for Judge Taylor is a gavel, because judges use gavels to restore order in the courtroom, and to close a court session.

life lessons

My dad really inspires me in many ways, and he has many sayings that motivate me, but one that I hear a lot is "Alex, go play your bassoon!" This probably sounds pretty dumb, but if he wasn't there to keep telling me to practice I wouldn't be any good, because I'm often too lazy to practice on my own.

This is pretty important for me because it doesn't only apply to me playing my bassoon, but also is sort of saying that if I don't work at anything or put any effort into anything, I'll never succeed at life. So I kind of think of "go play your bassoon" any time I don't feel studying or something.