Summer Reading

I had to think way back to the beginning of school to remember a good book for reading this summer. I thought of some books that other classmates had read for their summer assignment that they said they liked, and I got these:

The first book is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I want to read this book because Jacob Peterson said it was really good, and it sounded like a very interesting plot. The time line is not chronological, and it is told from different peoples' points of view, so the timeline develops with the plot. Most off the characters are in the air force, and the main character's name is Yossarian.

The next book I chose is Mutiny on the Bounty, by Charles Nordhoff and James Hall. It is an extremely long book, but I like longer books sometimes, because I take longer to read it. I have heard it has a very engaging plot, but can be a little bit slow at times. I am up for a challenge!

I cannot wait for summer! (to read the books, of course!)

Themes and Motifs: Fate

I decided to do fate as the theme for this blog post. I saw Clash of the Titans during spring break and the intro to the movie was talking about all the stars pre-determining fate and everything being set way before time even began. I personally do not believe any of it, but because it is a very standing out theme in the play and I understand it I decided to blog about it.

The Chinese animal symbol that I am based on my time of birth is a monkey. Weird. My zodiac symbol is Gemini. Also very weird. The planets I have personal control over are Mercury and the Sun. I possess creative potential and enhance my impression on others by wearing 'the finest attire'. My lucky colors are copper and gold. It just gets stranger and stranger. I don't care at all about any of this, and hardly any of it fits me! I like to think I am creative, but I am not a monkey (?) and I don't wear 'the finest attire', I don't plan on owning any planets, and my favorite color is blue. But how does this fit into Romeo and Juliet?

In the prologue it says "A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life" (1.0.6) and this says right from the beginning that they will have bad luck together and that they just aren't the right fit for each other. But a good quote from scene three would be where Romeo says "I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve/For sweet discourse in our times to come." (3.5.52-53) He is finally realizing that his fate has already been set for him to be banished from his true love. I think that just because I am creative and that is what my horoscope says doesn't mean all of them are true for everyone. In the same way, Romeo is hoping that what has supposedly been pre-determined he can switch back the stars to do what he wants them to do. Romeo also says to Friar Lawrence, "Ha, banishment. Be merciful, say 'Death'" (3.3.13) His star (if he is one) is simply being shot out of a cannon in the exact opposite direction that he wants to go. He would rather just end his life and get rid of the tormenting that he is going through.

That is all. Again, I don't believe anything of the star-stuff, but it is kind of funny to look at. I found out I am born on the same day as Andy Griffith!

Culture Shock: Romeo and Juliet

It was pretty dificult to find something to blog about, but I found a story about a police officer who arrested a man who was about to kill his wife. The man was driving too fast and had his high beams on, which is a typical sign of a drunk driver, so the cop followed him. He pulled him over and searched the car and there was a gun. The guy with the gun broke down and was really overwhelmed because he was going to use that gun to kill his wife.

This exemplifies a theme from R&J which is said by Friar Laurence, "Young men's love then lies, not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes." This shows how the man married his wife mostly for good looks and not for true love, so that fake love ended up turning against him to hate.

English Reflection Extra Credit Blog

This year in English has been a very good one so far. Some of my favorite activities are the group activities where we get to pick our own groups. The skits were very fun, but I felt like we didn't have enough time to prepare, and that we could have done a much better job if we had had a couple more days. But I understand that it was the week before spring break and we had to finish it quickly. I really like doing DGP all on one day, because it is always pretty easy to get 9-10 points. It has sort of become something that you just get used to doing, getting out DGP and working with a friend, finishing way ahead of time, and then talking. Another thing I have liked in this class is how the atmosphere is always calm and happy and everyone just sits on top of their desks and talks during the 10 minute break. I have also really enjoyed the frequent extended due dates, not because I don't finish the work, but because it makes me feel not as rushed and that I have that much more time to do a good job on it. I have never felt super-pressed about this class, and it has always been a class that I look forward to before lunch. It is one of my favorite classes, for sure.

Great Expectations Skit

Some ideas I have for the skit are as follows...

1. The part where Mrs. Havisham catches herself on fire and Pip uses his greatcoat to smother the fire and ends up burning his hands.

2. At the beginning where Pip first meets his convict and he tips Pip upside down and eats the bread in his pocket.

3. The scene (that is only described in the book) where Molly kills the person she was jealous of and gets the scratches on her wrists.

Which one is your favorite?

A Question about Biddy

Pip and Biddy are talking to each other in the very end of this week's reading...

"Biddy," said I, "I made a remark respecting my coming down here often, to see Joe, which you received with a marked silence..." "Are you quite sure, then, that you WILL come to see him often?" (ch 35, 306)

I don't understand at all why all of a sudden Biddy was extremely mean and condescending to Pip. I get that he says that he'll visit Joe often, and he doesn't, so Biddy doesn't believe him, but why is she just so mean? That is what I want to know, because the two used to be extremely close.

Great Expectations Photo

The picture that I chose for chapters 17-22 is a waterfall, and it symbolizes two things. One, it shows how Pip just lets his emotions pour out on Biddy, like water pouring over a cliff. He doesn't stop for anything, and lets Biddy know all his feelings, and in the same way the waterfall doesn't stop falling. (until it hits the water below). Another thing the waterfall symbolizes is Miss Havisham's life. She starts off really well, being an heiress with a ton of money and about to be married, but then she just falls and falls... eventually she just hit the water below and became stagnant, having the clocks stopped and nothing in the house changing.