My Big Question...Revised

What drives people to abuse their authority when its given to them?

Literary Term: Purpose

Purpose: the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used; an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal.


There are many things we connect with purpose, such as our purpose in a project, in a dream, in every step we take, or our purpose in life...

Thinking Outside the Box

I found "Allegory of the Cave" and " No Exit" to be very similar. Both talked about how humans think in terms of life and what is to be real and expected.
Plato described humans as ignorant human beings, saying that whatever we saw must be real, even though they are merely shadows. Yet, Satre described humans as ignorant in the sense that they think they need physical objects to "torture" them. When in reality, people just torture themselves with their thoughts and other people around them. Both of their extended metaphors give enlightenment on hard complex ideas and make them easier to follow and understand.

Literature Analysis # 3: Catch 22

1. The plot is about how Yossarian ( the protangist) tries to be sent back home during War World Two. But can't because of many obstacles that are in his way. One being the catch of catch-22, which has many different meanings throughout the book. One meaning being how, if you are crazy, you can be discaharged, but Catch-22 states that once you say you're crazy, that means you're sane because you realize you are crazy. Basically going around in a circle. Yossarian's main goal during the book is too stay alive throughout the whole war and always fend for himself, which in turn makes the men think he's crazy.
2. I think the theme of Catch-22, is that, everything in life will always have a "catch-22" ( a circular reasoning)
In Yossarian's life, he not only had the written statement, but he also had his mental one too,  life is not worth living without a moral concern for the well-being of others, but a moral concern for the well-being of others endangers one’s life.
3. I think that author's tone is sarcastic, in the sense, that only person that really understands war, is the person everybody in the army thinks is crazy.
"His nature was invariably gentle and polite. He had lived for almost twenty years without trauma, tension, hate or neurosis, which was proof to Yossarian of just how crazy he really was."
"They were the most depressing group of people Yossarain had ever been with. They were always in high spirits."
" He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive."
4. Heller's irony, hyperboles, foreshadowing and symbolism helped me really get the theme.

•  "There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he would have to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to." Irony is very prevalent in this quote, which basically makes you realize that the book is set around this one quote.
• The book is really one big hyperbole, in the sense that the author writes each character with huge exaggeration so you can really see what Yossarrian has to deal with.

My Big Question...

    We may not realize it, but there are a lot of people that have fatal attractions to wild animals. Becoming fascinated with animals like venomous snakes, bengal tigers, mountain lions, bears, etc. They house them as pets and form "strong bonds" with these animals treating them as part of the family rather than dangerous animals. What drives people to think that they can control dangerous animals and treat them as one of their own?


(Absent)

Hamlet Essay

Hamlet Essay

      There are many things that can be interpreted by Hamlet the character and Hamlet the play. By evaluating these two main factors, we are able to evaluate the impact of performative utterance on Hamlet and our own sense of self. Through this play we see how the way Hamlet speaks constitutes action in itself, how it impacts the characters and the plot, compares with our own “self-overhearing”, and how the way we reflect on our own experience creates a sense of memory, expectation, and real-world results.

      According to its original conception, performative utterance is a sentence which does something in the world rather than describing something about it. For example, the statement "I now pronounce you man and wife," is not true or false but instead 'happy' or 'unhappy', depending on whether or not it is performed properly. In Hamlet the play, Hamlet the character makes a vow to the ghost. Throughout the play he is haunted by that vow he has made and it drives him to fulfill it. Driving him mad with revenge. When we make up our minds to do something, we either do it because we know its what we have to do, or we complain and beat ourselves up at the fact that we failed to carry out our vow in our own sense of self.

       In the play, the way Hamlet speaks constitutes action in itself. His long, drawn out, self- debating speeches give the readers a sense of what he is feeling. We are able to see his thought process and inner most desirable or undesirable feelings. The way Hamlet thinks is action in itself because he is making up his mind on what he wants to do whether he has done it yet or not.
The way he speaks impacts the plot because we know things that the other characters do not. We are able to be a part of Hamlet’s thought process, impacting the plot and other characters. The things Hamlet says to the other characters is very precise and has a purpose. He is knowledgeable in his decision of revenge and wants to carry it out effectively.
     
      Our ”self-overhearing” is essentially our decision making process. We all have our own ways of making decisions and carrying them out. In Hamlet, Hamlet has a lot of intricate and tough decisions to make. He is battling with the decision of death, and holding in a massive grudge of revenge against Claudius. We are able to see how he overcomes his struggles throughout the novel, and through his thought processes. The way he speaks to Claudius is very intricate and witty, and he is careful not to give his plans of his revenge away.
In the end, we all have our own ways of reflecting our own self-overhearing. Creating a sense of memory, expectation, and real world results in our own lives. We all face our own challenges in different ways. Performative utterance is something we do not create intentionally, it is just a part of what we do, and the decisions we make. Yet, what you do with those decisions and thoughts, is ultimately up to you.

Hamlet vs. Beowulf

   The use of language plays a huge role in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, because the language ties in directly with the thoughts of the characters. Not only do we as the audience get to see how they spoke to one another, but we were also given the chance to see how they spoke to themselves.  Through Harold Bloom's concept of "self overhearing", we were given insight to Hamlet's innermost thoughts and struggles. When Hamlet promised himself that he would get revenge for his father's death, he not only created an expectation but he created a fact in the world. Hamlet has a lot of power in his words and thoughts.
   Sometimes it appears that his thoughts get in the way for Hamlet. He over analyzes everything and becomes so indecisive that he ends up making irrational decisions that come back to hurt him. An example of this is when Hamlet doesn't kill Claudius when he has the chance because he is praying. He goes back and forth wondering if it is a worthy revenge and if he will go to heaven. He ends up not doing anything at that moment, which later leads Hamlet to kill Polonius by accident on a whim. Another example of how language has a huge affect on Hamlet is when he faked his madness. The language Shakespeare used showed Hamlet's diverse character and how he could use his words to manipulate people for his own benefit.
   Hamlet's use of language makes him very different from epic heros such as Beowulf. The writing style in Beowulf was almost predictable to me, whereas in Hamlet the uses of irony and plot twists keeps us guessing until the end. Hamlet was somewhat of a mystery and harder to figure out. He seemed to change his mind a lot and different layers of his thought process were revealed as the play progressed. When I first read Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, I viewed him as someone who couldn't make up their mind. Someone who was debating suicide and whether living with the struggles he had was better or worse than facing what was after death. -"To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death; And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?"
Later, I realized that Hamlet had already planned the play to test Claudius's reaction. He might have been thinking about suicide but he wasn't really considering it. This showed me Hamlet's level of intelligence and how cautious and wise he was with his decisions.
   Hamlet's life was mainly driven by his conscience and morals. He relied on his faith as a guide for many things. When he was sent to England and saw those men in war dying, Hamlet reconsidered his motivation. He was killing Claudius for a noble cause in his mind. He needed to get revenge and Claudius deserved death. Hamlet was willing to die if he achieved what he felt like he owed to his father. This was different from Beowulf because his motivation was honor and fame. Beowulf was inspired by the challenge of killing Grendel, where Hamlet was never really given an option, it was more of a requirement.
   In a way Hamlet and Beowulf are similar. They both represent qualities of bravery, independence, and loyalty but in different ways. By the language used we can see that Hamlet over thinks a lot of his actions. Beowulf acts a lot faster. He knows what he needs to do and he doesn't hesitate. People could argue that Beowulf was an honest man but Hamlet wasn't. I can understand this perspective because Hamlet did decieve a lot of people and make them believe he was crazy. Beowulf was very simple and clear in his speaking. It was obvious to everyone that he wanted fame and recognition for his accomplishments, but he did a lot of great deeds. Beowulf was easy to figure out because when he spoke it didn't require too much analyzing. It was pretty obvious where he stood, which made Hamlet more complicated to read but also more interesting in my opinion.

Self Discipline and Determination

In this 12th grade AP English course I have learned a lot about self discipline and self determination. We are now gearing up to leave high school and venture out into the unknown world of college life. We are going to have to make new friends, adjust to new environments, and learn how to keep ourselfs on track through self discipline and self determination.
This course gives us the opportunity to exercise these two traits. We are not expected to always turn in a piece of paper in class, but to challenge ourselves to go the extra mile and create a blog and post our assignments there. We are expected to think in depth about things and invite others to join in the conversation. We are creating a learning network of all the classes and even people outside of our class, and even school.
By not having to bring in a piece of paper, we get a little more space and time in turning in our assignments. Or so some think. Many of us have learned the hard way, that just because we dont have to bring our homework into class, doesnt mean we can do it whenever. We have learned to be responsible in our work and have grown a great deal since August. Thank you Dr. Preston, we are ALMOST ready to leave the nest!