Act I: scenes 4-7

Ok, this may be a stretch, but hopefully its not. In the beginning of scene 4 Duncan is talking to Malcolm about the death of the Thane of Cawdor. The thane admitted to committing treason and just begged for forgiveness. Duncan then says "to find the mind's construction in the face: he was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust." I feel that Duncan was betrayed by this Thane of Cawdor, then he appoints Macbeth the new Thane of Cawdor. I find this may go along with the theme of doubles because his view on the Thanes of Cawdor is the same both times, and both times he's betrayed by them. And after Duncan says its weird how he could never tell by Mcdonwald's face that he was being betrayed by him, Macbeth walks in and he praises Macbeth by saying "o worthiest cousin!" So I feel that Duncan is falling into the same betrayal from before. Now I'm not sure if this would fall under the theme of doubles, but I think that it does and I find this very interesting that he was betrayed by different Thanes of Cawdor twice. Maybe he should have ended the title "Thane of Cawdor" to end the backstabbing, but he didn't, so he will die.

Act I: Scenes 1-3

One of the most important themes I saw in this section was in Scene I. You start off with three witches in a desert place with thunder and lightning. This is the theme of darkness and strangeness. There will be a lot more of this theme later in the play. I feel that this scene strongly foreshadows how most of the play will be. The setting is dark with the storm going on and the three witches definitely fit under the category of strange. The end of the scene ends with them chanting "fair is foul and foul is fair: hover through fog and filthy air." This chant is also dark and strange. It also foreshadows future events in the play.

The other big theme I saw in this section is at the beginning of Act III when the witches are talking again. Witch 1 is angry that some lady wouldn't give her some chestnuts, so she cursed his husband by taking away sleep from him. This is the first time they talked about sleep. By talking away sleep, she takes away that which makes him feel replenished and new. A lot of times in this play there is a need to sleep for kind of a cleansing process and she took that away from the sailor. So out of all the things that she could to she took away sleep, which shows that sleep is an important theme in the play.

movie book comparison

Well, to start off there is a difference in settings in the novel and the movie are different, besides that nothing really changed. It went from london to Chicago, but besides that the settings and plot remained the same. Seeing a visual representation of the characters was fun, I think that the casting for the movie was great, all the characters fit the characters in the book very well. The best being Jack Black as Barry. The books plot stayed the same and the movie helped me better understand the emotions that both Rob and his ex-gf's felt. The film had Rob actually talk to the camera like he knew he was being filmed, sometimes i felt like I was watching a documentary. Sometimes though they would share it with other characters so you would still get his Top 5 of something without him always looking at the camera. Since the perspective of who was telling the story changed I didn't view Rob as sad of a person, but I still thought he is pretty pathetic. The director did well in showing his change throughout the novel, I could see more of a change in his personality and character through the movie, while in the book it was much more up to interpretation of the character, overall I liked the movie better.

Chapters 22-26

Well first of all, I didn’t read this section. I know you already know this but, I thought this would be a nice reminder. Even though I didn’t read this section I believe I can write a thoughtful response on the questions. I believe that most people are afraid of death, and dying; if not one of those, the death of people they love. So I feel that his fear is justified, but using it as an excuse for his ‘infidelity’ is not a good excuse. He can’t run forever from commitment. I believe that he is just scared to love then lose it rather than his ‘love’ dying. I think its more of a metaphorical statement, that if he loves someone and it dies he would be hurt. From his past relationships he always gets hurt from bad breakups. I think he fears loving someone then having them leave him. He would rather play it safe and not ever fall in love than fall in love and lose it. I don’t know what happened when Linda’s father died, so I can’t really respond to that question. I do think that he is using death as an ultimate excuse for his true fear of being vulnerable to another person.

Rob stuggles more...

In this unit Rob makes up the brilliant idea to go back and visit all of his ex-girlfriends. Rob goes to his top 5 break up list to visit them. He is searching for why they all broke up with him. Basically they all gave him a brief reason of why and then told him he was an "arsehole" and then told him to 'fuck off' and I still basically feel like he is the biggest failure ever. He feels like it was a good idea and finds that he is indeed an "arsehole" and is happy the he went to get verbally assaulted by his ex's, which for some, did 'him' wrong, like charlie, or allison. I feel like Rob did accomplish what he set out to do. He faced his personal problems that he's held on to for all these years and I feel like he was seeking closure for his past. His trips to do so may have accomplished that task. So in the end it wasn't a completely worthless venture.

My character...

1. What is his or her name? - John Smith
2. What does he or she do for a living? Salesman for a big company
3. What is his or her height/weight/hair color and style/body type? 6'1" medium build brown hair and eyes.
4. What type of clothes does he or she usually wear? Nice suit and tie.
5. Best qualities? People person, good sense of humor
6. Worst qualities? controlling, a little egotistic
7. How does he or she come across? Easygoing? Short-tempered? Etc. easy going, yet kind of cocky
8. Weaknesses? can be self centered, not very honest
9. What or who does he or she hate? He hates being home a lot
10. What or who does he or she love? loves to travel and earning money

Rob....struggles

Rob is a funny character. I find how he thinks and his situations funny. I enjoy him being so pessimistic about everything. Even though his life isn't funny for him it hilarious. Honestly I cannot relate to Rob since I've had a girlfriend for the last 2 years. He has had many stories of bad break ups, which i don't have and he has been dumped more than once, which i haven't. His relationship with laura makes me laugh to due to the fact that he loves her and at the beginning it starts with him saying she doesn't really phase him. I'm enjoying his character and the book, i don't like reading, but the story is entertaining.

How to read response

Nick Hornby suggests that “how to read” is to pick a book that you will enjoy reading. He believes the problem with most people when it comes to reading, is that they read things they think they should read or other people say they should read rather than reading things that they’ll enjoy. Hornby even gives the example of when he was reading books then writing for a magazine column. There was a reoccurring problem when it came to how he was writing his column. Hornby had to rewrite or put “unnamable author” or “anonymous title” in many of his articles because he didn’t have good things to say about the books he was writing about. So the solution would quite simply be to find and read a book one would enjoy.

I agree with Hornby’s advice on picking a book you enjoy. I’ve read books in the past because I had to and I completely hated reading them. I’ve read books for my previous classes and I don’t remember what the books were called. I’ve like two books that I can remember, “Bud not Buddy” and “Life of Pi” and I liked those because they were funny mostly. I agree with Hornby about reading and finding books you know you’ll like, my only problem is I don’t know how to find one.

reading???

Reading books has never been very interesting to me. Ever since I was little I didn’t like to read. I’ve always been into visuals, movies, and video games, but I’ve never had the desire to crack open a book.
I enjoy seeing the story unfold, rather than imagining it. Books just take too much effort. First of all it takes forever to just read one book, then you have to imagine visuals from the descriptions you read. I would rather watch a movie and see all the descriptive material and its over in about 2 hours. I can get the same story by reading or watching a movie, and the movie is over much quicker, it makes me like reading even less.
Even though I don’t like reading at all there are books that I’d rather read than others, that is saying if I must read I do have preferences. I don’t like historical books or books that are factual. I have enjoyed the fiction novels I’ve read over the non fiction, and since I enjoy fictional television and videogames, I would prefer a fictional book.
I honestly wish that I would enjoy reading. It would make my life easier in school and reading is good for you, but I just don’t enjoy. I’ve tried to read for just enjoyment before but I never enjoy myself. I have read books and liked them but the process of reading them is dreadful to me. That is why I prefer movies. I like the stories but its just so much quicker to watch them. Maybe in the future I’ll like to read but for right now I strongly dislike reading.

Final Blog: pointing the gun...

By the end of the novel Joe is left in the hospital. He is told he cannot leave and be a traveling exhibit like he wanted to. He has nothing left. He will remain in the hospital until his death. Joe comes to the understanding that normal people like himself have to go and fight and be willing to die for their country. He believes that you can't say I would die for my country because you don't know what death is like, and since he is the closest to it he has a right to say that. Joe feels that the leaders who start the war sit back and sends other poeple to fight. The leaders aren't the ones who are fighting and dying, they sit back and watch. Joe does believe in fighting for the country anymore, and raising up arms against someone. But he feels that to stop the fighting we must fight the leaders causing wars and sending us to them. By the end of the book Joe is pointing his gun to ending violence by fighting those who begin and lead wars.

Joe's desires

Joe's desire to put himself on exhibit is understandable for his predicament. Joe has no limbs and he cannot speak, hear, or see. Joe wants to function in a normal life. He knows that he cannot do anything to support himself, besides just being watched. If he was an exhibit then he would have a reason to be alive and have human contact than just the regular nurse visit. Even though Joe would be seen as a freak and kind of like an animal at the zoo, he desires to have some life other than sit in bed.

Putting myself in his situation is a difficult thing to do. I can't possibly imagine not being able to see, talk, or hear, so how can I decide what I would want in his situation? Honestly I would probably not want to live anymore. This is mostly because I believe that there is more after death in my religion. If I couldn't function in life, then I believe I could be happy in Heaven.

Joe's emotions

Joe is finally getting to the point of communicating with a nurse. He finally gets the nurse to understand his morse code and then a morse code reader comes in to decipher what Joe is trying to say. Joe desperately wants out of the hospital, so he wants to become a traveling freak show. He can't do anything else but show people what has happened to him. Even though his situation is very demeaning and showing his 'freakish' quality is, he wants to be out of the hospital. The army will no allow this because they do not want the outside world to see what can happen from war and they are scared of the fear Joe's condition would cause. Therefore Joe will remain stuck in the hospital.

Joe's injuries

Joe was on the front lines in WWI. He lost all of his limbs and damaged his face to the point where he can't hear or speak. Joe's injuries leave him to live a life with no 'outside' contact. He is alone with his memories. Joe's injuries greatly effect the story. He must learn how to be alone, and then figure if he is alive of not. Even though Joe is in a hospital, he is completely alone. He lives in a world alone with no companionship. One of are essential needs as humans is to be able to have communication with people. The level of Joe's injuries is very important to the development of the novel.

Gilbert's 'last American man'

Gilbert seems to be enamored with Eustace. She is always talking about the fantastic, wonderful things he's done and can do. Gilbert believes an 'American' man has to fit a certain guideline. The true 'American' man must be strong, handsome, rugged, a frontiersman, completely self sufficient, and 'manly' in persona. For Gilbert, Eustace embodies all of these things. At first thought I would think he is crazy, a hermit, a friendless woodsman who has isolated himself from society more because he felt forced, but Eustace is not like this. Eustace wanted to go out and be a fronteirsman. He feels like he has to prove himself. Eustace travels across the country, and isn't satisfied with himself... How can someone do such a great thing and want to keep going? This is the type of man Gilbert idealizes as an 'American' man. When America first started out we weren't a highly educated country. We had the western frontier to conquer. Having knowledge of english and math won't help as much as a knowledge of trees and animals. So in the early state of America there was more of a reason to be a frontiersman and venture out and prove themselves, that's the only way there was to prove oneself. Nowadays most people who do things like Eustace they don't do it for survival, but for fun. People who try to live lifestyles like his are posers, just acting like they are true frontiers man. Eustance is not a poser. He didn't grow up rich and go to college and at 22 decide to go the woods. To Gilbert, he's always been truly an 'American' man. He leaves home early and ventures out to prove himself. So to Gilbert, he's not a poser, he does it not for pleasure, but he feels its the way he's supposed to live. Gilbert sees him as not a hermit or a crazy person, and he embodies all of the qualities of a true 'American' man. On top of all that she is practically in love with him. She glorifies him to the best of her ability as a writer. Gilbert believes he is the last, 'American' man,and there is no one else like him.

Childhood fairytale

When I was little, my favorite fairy tale was Robin Hood. I think the idea of chivalry was very appealing to me. As a male he was, strong, handsome, skillful, and had good morals. Overall I think that Robin Hood had a positive message. If you can, protect those who are treated unjustly. The one bad thing I remember believing is that rich people are bad, and it was ok to take from them, as long as it was for the greater good. I realize now that isn't right and it wasn't the message trying to be portrayed, but as a child I couldn't decipher this for myself. I believed to be a hero like Robin Hood I had to be strong, and smart, not to mention in every adaptation of Robin Hood he is handsome. Even in a cartoon version where they're all animals, Robin Hood's a fox, and the term "fox" has been used to describe an attractive person. I feel that Robin Hood did influence me as a child in a positive way. Even though I misconstrued some of the message, I had the right idea and it was for the better.

Wright's plan sets in motion

At the end of part 1 Wright decides to move north to Chicago to escape the black persecution of Memphis. Memphis is more north than he was in the beginning, but it wasn't north enough. Chicago would be a place where Wright could expand his abilities and grow and become a writer like he wants to. Even though Wright is going against the 'system' and leaving a financially stable job, he must pursue his dream so it's not a meaningless pointless life. For some this may be a dumb decision, but this was a great positive decision for Wright. Even the white men he works with doesn't want him to go, not because they'll miss him or think it's best for him to stay, but because the feel that he may succeed more than a white man if he leaves and the want him to stay below them at his current position. Wright knows he can't do that, he must pursue that which will make his life meaningful. Wright's decision to move was a very positive decision.

Response to paralysis

Wright's mother has two separate strokes which makes her paralyzed. Wright realizes that with his mother's disability, she could no longer be there for him. He is sad that she isn't going to be there for him anymore and he has a hard time coming to terms with it. Even though she doesn't seem like the world's best mom, she was his mother and he loved her very much. Realizing he is by himself he called his granny to take control of the situation. After the second stroke Wright begins to realize he has to take responsiblity for himself. He wouldn't even let the neighbors give him food, because he didn't want it would make him feel incapable of providing for himself. This is something his mother taught him in the beginning of the book, when she wouldn't let him take the nickel from his father for food. This shows that he learned from his mother and he has to become a man and provide for himself.

Wright's 'cultural heritage'

Wright talks about his cultural heritage was to dislike Jews. In our society people like to have people to blame for their problems and it's easier to take out anger on different people. I believe that blacks felt that they were discriminated by whites and the couldn't fight back, but with Jews they can make fun of them and it's ok. Wright was taught by his surroundings that it's ok to dislike Jews and make fun of them. He didn't believe this due to his own beliefs and experiences.

The idea of 'cultural heritage' is present in all people. We grow up not knowing what is right or wrong for ourselves, but what our parents and surroundings teach us. Wright's experiences are due to white peoples 'cultural heritage.' During this time in America, Whites were brought up to believe that blacks aren't equal. Wright was doing the same thing to the Jews as Whites have done to him his whole life.

Wright's Hunger

In chapter one Wright tells many memories he's had. Wright seems like he was a wierd kid from the things he did. He burned a house down, hung a cat, and got drunk when he was still little. He also tells of the hunger he began to feel during his childhood. Wrights father leaves the family, and then Wright starts to get this feeling of hunger. He is hungry for actual food at first. Without his father they don't have enough money to eat healthily so he becomes hungry. He doesn't realize he is also "hungry" for his father until his mother tells him why his father left the family. Wright is making a connection with hunger and loneliness. Hunger is our feeling of wanting food. Wright wants his father and I believe is lonely without him. I think wright uses hunger because it is an unpleasant and sometimes painful feeling, which helps describe the feeling he had for his father.

Do we really need school?

I agree that school is not necessary to a certain extent. I feel that for an some people they can succeed without schooling. Not many people would be motivated enough to further their learning themselves. I know I'm not a person who is very motivated, so outside of school i wouldn't want to do more learning. I think for some things we need school. For those of us who are unmotivated, and to give us an overview of many subjects so we can find out what we will want to pursue in the future. In todays society there's so many things that can distract us from wanting to learn. We have tv, movies, videogames, malls, theaters, etc. all of these things would be a distraction from school. School gives us a mandatory time of day where we can learn and expand our minds. Without school, the work of our ancestors that makes english, math, science, the world in general easier to understand, would be for naught. We may not need school and its boredom and menial work, but we do need the best way to get an education, and when it comes to our society I don't believe letting people discover for themselves is safe way to ensure we grow as a society.

Nonacademic schooling....

I do value the nonacademic education I am receiving. I learn many things at school academic and nonacademic. We may not need to go to school, but i'm glad we're forced to. I feel that school does hold some people back from their potential. In the readings we've read there have been examples of people who were successful without school like George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Ben Franklin, etc... but those are only a few people out of the thousands that didn't have an education. They probably weren't as intelligent as those men. Franklin was a scientist, Washington was a general, Lincoln was a senator. They all were in situations to learn and become more intellingent. Many people don't have the luck to be in those situations to learn so many things like those men. They are huge exeptions for a generation. I highly value the fact i have people to teach me in school everyday. I've learned what those have done before me and get an understanding of why it's important. I know and i think everyone knows that i'm not the most motivated person. Without school I don't know what i'd do. My nonacademic education gives me a chance to further myself, we can still excel if we want to put more effort into it outside of school.

Class presentations 2

I found the axe commercial in Iyesha’s project very entertaining. The commercial was very funny and it was memorable. I believe that the commercial was trying to show that if you used axe shower gel women will do want you want. I may be wrong but that’s the interpretation I get when a naked man falls into a dance studio full of attractive women, and they don’t scream or run away they just do exactly what he starts to do, which symbolizes the control over the women he had because he used axe shower gel. I don’t think many people would think about that commercial the same way I do, but I think it’s because of the humor in the commercial. The commercial was rightfully banned from television. Even though I enjoyed the ad, I believe it is inappropriate for television. I’m not surprised axe “went there” in the commercial because all of there commercial are over dramatizations of the effect axe has on women. In the commercials I’ve seen the men who use axe has women throwing themselves at him with reckless abandon. The thing I find most interesting is that I feel these axe commercials are sometimes funny, but also are degrading to women. The appeal of sex and control of women is used to sell cologne and shower gels. I feel that commercials like this for men or women shouldn’t be used as advertisements. Some people may say that they’re just commercials or they’re just funny, but there is an apparent theme to these commercials that with the help of a certain product on can be in control of the opposite sex, which I feel I demoralizing to both men and women.

Class presentations 1

One of the most interesting photos was the Victoria’s Secret photo in Mallary’s project. I found the before and after photos of Victoria’s Secret to be very interesting. I found the change in appearance of the store very drastic. The before picture made the store have a younger cute appeal. The entrance in the “before” picture was bright pink with appropriately dressed manikins. The entrance appealed to a younger less sexually active audience. The current entrance is black with manikins dressed in lingerie. The new entrance markets the sexual appeal of Victoria’s Secret. This is interesting to me because the rhetoric devices used for the entrances are complete opposites. I believe the reason for changing the entrance was to appeal to a broader audience. The people that shop at Victoria’s Secret are teenagers to adults. The cute approach would attract females, but not males. But the sexy approach appeals to both men and women. Men see these attractive women on the posters and the store entrance that screams sex, and they can’t help but to be drawn to it. Men want sex so they’re drawn to Victoria’s Secret to buy items that would suggest sex to their partners. Women also want to feel sexy and attractive. When they see these beautiful models in the store window wearing items from the store they think if they wore those clothes that they too would be attractive to men. Overall I believe it was a good marketing strategy for Victoria’s Secret. I do believe in the phrase “sex sells.”

Super ads...

The super bowl commercials were very funny. All the commercials I saw were focusing on pathos. All of the commercials were funny, and really didn't try to use ethos or logos for their product. The Bud Light commercial was a prime example of this. The setting was a prehistoric era where there were cavemen. One cavemen comes up to the others and says "i've invented the wheel to move the beer easier to the party." The other cavemen seemed excited. Then the scene cuts to them using the wheel horizantally as tray with the beer on top, not to mention the wheel is a couple feet in diameter and 6 inches thick made of stone. The camera gets a close up of one caveman saying "wheel suck!" Then at the party a cavemen smashes a bottle of beer with a huge rock. The bottle gets smashed and the beer is spilled everywhere then the caveman said "bottle opener suck!" I could not find anything but humor in that commercial. I feel that the super bowl is a time when the commercials are supposed to be at their most memorable so the use of humor is often, so tomorrow after the game everyone will be laughing and talking about the funny commercials. To me its a very effective use of pathos.

Dunkin donuts

I watched ESPN for 30 minutes and while watching it the commercial that impacted me the most was a Dunkin' Donuts commercial. The commercial begins with people walking through a town doing everyday things, i.e. mailman, painters, joggers, kids, policemen, etc. All of the people are singing in unison "doing things is what I like to do" then they all shout "YES." This commercial made no sense to me the first time because I didn't know what the commercial was for. At the end of the commercial the Dunkin' Donuts logo pops up and then a voice says "Dunkin' Donuts, helping people do everyday things moderately better than usual." The tool of rhetoric used in this commercial was pathos. The emotion the commercial was trying to provoke was happiness through comedy. The commercial was funny and the song was catchy. The happy feeling associated with the commercial connects itself to the feeling you'll get with Dunkin Donuts. Not only that but the commercial is modest saying "making you do things moderately better than usual," which adds to the humor. With the commercials humor you remember it longer making you think about dunkin donuts longer.