Progress on Our Final

• We haven't exactly decided on a name for our project yet. We are thinking either "Senior Memorobilia" or "2.0 Yearbook"
• We started interviewing our classmates this week and have made a lot of progress.
• We still need to film some extra clips of things other than the students/teachers, edit our video, etc.
• Our work will benefit others because it'll be something that the class of 2012 can refer to when we are older to describe all of our experiences here at Righetti High School. It's not some old picture that we can lose, or a yearbook we will never look at again. It is a video with our faces, voices, and humor all added into one making our memories come back alive.

MacBeth Test Corrections

Part 1
1. MacBeth won the respect of King Duncan by
(A) slaying the traitor MacDonwald
2. King Duncan rewarded MacBeth by dubbing him
(B) thane of cawdor
3. In addressing Banquo, the witches called him which of these?
(A) I and II --> "Lesser than MacBeth, and greater." "Not so happy as MacBeth, yet much happier."
4. When MacBeth said, "Two truths told/ as happy prologues." he was referring to
(C) the predictions made to Banquo and to himself.
5. "Nothing in his life/became him like the leaving it" is a reference to
(A) the traitorous thane of cawdor
6. Duncan's statement, "I have begun to plant thee and will labour/ to make thee full of growing" is an example of
(B) a metaphor
7. Lady MacBeth characterizes her husband as being
(B) "too full of the milk of human kindness."
8. When MacBeth agonizes over the possible killing of the king, which of these does he say?
(B) II and III --> "Duncan's virtues will 'plead like angels'" "I am his kinsman and his subject"
9. MacBeth's statement to his wife, "Bring forth men-children only" signifies that he
(C) has accepted the challenge to slay the king.
10. As part of the plan to kill the king, Lady MacBeth would
(A) get the chamberlains drunk
11. Trace MacBeth's transformation from a good man to an evil man

12. What motivates MacBeth to take the evil path that he chooses?

13. What influence do the witches have on MacBeth?

14. Contrast MacBeth's response to the witches' predictions with Banquo's.

15. Describe the relationship between MacBeth and Lady MacBeth. Trace how it changes over the course of the play.

Part 2
1. "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/ To feeling as to sight?" is a reference to the
(B) dagger
2. Lady MacBeth confessed that she would have killed King Duncan herself except for the fact that
(B) he looked like her father
3. Shakespeare introduced the Porter in order to
(B) remind the audience of the witches' prophecies
4. Malcolm and Donalbain flee after the murder
(A) because they fear the daggers in men's smiles
5. MacBeth arranges for Banqou's death by telling the hired killers that
(C) he will eradicate all records of their previous crimes
6. MacBeth startles his dinner guests by
(A) conversing with the Ghost of Banquo
7. The witches threw into the cauldron
(A) I and II --> "eye of bat and tongue of frog" "wool of bat and tongue of dog"
8. the three apparations which appeared to MacBeth were
(C) I, II, and III --> an armed head, a child with a crown, and a bloody child
9. In Act IV, Malcolm is at first lukewarm toward MacDuff because he
(B) suspects a trick
10. Birnam Woof comes to Dunsinane when
(B) the camoflauged soldiers make their advance
11. What is the significance of the line "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (I, i, 10)?

12. How does MacBeth function as a morality play?

13. How does Shakespeare use the technique of dramatic irony in MacBeth?

14. How does Lady MacBeth overcome her husbands resistance to the idea of killing King Duncan?

15. Contrast MacDuff's response to the news of his wife's and children's deathes with MacBeth's response to being told Lady MacBeth is dead.

Macbeth Notes

Macbeth: cynical

*NOT FOR FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT

Background: 

Shakespeare's most intense play
Written in 1605-1606
Globe Theater, Blackfriars Theater

*Shakespeares fav: Holinshed's Chronicles of the History of England & Scotland

*Scotorum Historiae- 1527 by Hector Buece

*Discovery of Witchcraft- Reginald Scot

*Deamonologie- 1599 - King James 1. 

Important notes
Macbeth is an openly political play
Shakespeare changed history in Macbeth to add suspense
Understanding the background and history helps us understand the characters
"Macbeth was a man of penetrating genius, a high spirit, unbounded ambition. 
Intelligent and ambitious.

Lit Elements in a Tale of Two Cities

diction, apostrophe (Lorry was speaking to the ghost, an abstract concept and being)

antithesis- "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (page 13)

Setting- uses England and France to address the theme. Also, the time period (Pre French Revolution)

theme- rebirth. Revolutions change a country. (example: "Recalled to Life")

symbolism

syntax- death and fate creating a metaphor

anaphora- repeating first phrase in the beginning of the book.

tone-creepy, gloomy, and dark (example: talking about death and destruction)

genre- historical fiction

dialect- "aint" and "holla" and "do ya"

metaphor- wine cask

Dickens- A Tale of Two Cities

Dickens is known for having self descriptive book titles. You can usually assume what the main character or situation is by simply reading the title. When it comes to A Tale of Two Cities you can guess that it will have something to do with two cities. The stories are about London, England and Paris, France. Dickens decided to write a comparative study between the two of these cities that involve the French Revolution. He wanted to figure out how England contrasted from France. Thus, the tale of two cities.

A Poem Worth Loving

Homework, Oh Homework! -Jack Prelutsky

Homework! Oh, Homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you away in the sink,
if only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're giving me fits.
I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework,
my teacher assigns.
Homework! Oh, homework!
you're last on my list,
I simple can't see
why you even exist,
if you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!


I've grown up loving this poem. When I was in second grade my parents bought me a book of Jack Prelutsky poems and this one has been my favorite poem of all time ever since.

AP Practice Exam/ Q.1

Authors have a way with words that can make a reader fall in love with a serial killer, or hate a saint. Writers use an array of literary techniques to make readers admire amoral characters such as Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D Salinger. Insight into the character's mind through silliloquies or personal thoughts, making the character relatable, and a good theme, can all make the reader sympathetic or admire the the depraved character.

Holden Caulfield participated in underage drinking, fornication, he fought, he lied, he flunked out of school, and he called people degrading names, yet he is one of the most beloved characters in American literature. But the author gives us insight into Holden's mind, the way he thinks, and the way he grew up, which offers Holden a chance to explain his actions and help the reader understand why he does the things he does. John Steinbeck said, "In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other." When a reader can understand the character it becomes hard to dislike him, there's nothing but compassion and sympathy. The author produces this level of emotion in the reader through characterization, J.D Salinger has Holden be completely honest with the audience about his thoughts and feelings.

Because he is so blunt about his feelings Holden Caulfield is loved around the world by anyone who has experienced their teenage years, his rebellion and his angst are all relatable which allows readers to sympathize even further with him. Throughout the story Holden seems to be excluded from and victimized everyone surrounding him. As he says he feels trapped on “the other side” of life, and he tries to find his way in a world in which he feels he doesn’t belong.
But perhaps the fact that the story is only being told from Holden's point of view is the biggest reason he becomes admirable. Holden portrays his actions the way he wants them to be portrayed, and from his perspective his actions are acceptable, making the reader feel the same way. If Holden see's his actions as admirable, that's how they will come off to the reader.

The theme is another major role player in how an audience views a character. If the overall theme of the book is glorified or valued then the unethical character "doesn't seem so bad after all." If the character represents something good, then his actions and personality can also be seen as good. One of the themes of The Catcher in the Rye is the hardships of growing up. It's a theme anyone the world over can understand and relate to by being put into the shoes of someone experiencing it and seeing the world through their eyes it becomes easy for the audience to identify with and approve of the character.

Big Question Abstract

The struggle with famous Americans these days seems to be the lack of privacy. They aren't able to raise their own children or mature their family without constantly having to disguise who they actually are in simple places like the super market. Over time media coverage has become more and more in depth. Why is it that so many reporters a paparazzi are so desperate to take candid embarassing pictures and videos of our nation's celebrities?

Thinking Outside The Box

1. Think about the place you have chosen as your hell. Does it look ordinary and bourgeois, like Sartre's drawing room, or is it equipped with literal instruments of torture like Dante's Inferno? Can the mind be in hell in a beautiful place? Is there a way to find peace in a hellish physical environment? Enter Sartre's space more fully and imagine how it would feel to live there endlessly, night and day?
2.Could hell be described as too much of anything without a break? Are variety, moderation and balance instruments we use to keep us from boiling in any inferno of excess,' whether it be cheesecake or ravenous sex?
3.How does Sartre create a sense of place through dialogue? Can you imagine what it feels like to stay awake all the time with the lights on with no hope of leaving a specific place? How does GARCIN react to this hell? How could you twist your daily activities around so that everyday habits become hell? Is there a pattern of circumstances that reinforces the experience of hell?

Edited Big Question

How has media coverage changed over time and how does the lack of privacy and value reflect 21st century America?
Resources:

http://www.humanismtoday.org/vol12/larue.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/lawyers-charity-at-heart-of-penn-state-scandal-should-stay-solvent-so-victims-can-file-suits/2011/11/25/gIQACZJJwN_story.html

http://www.cgdev.org/doc/2009/Clinton%20Press%20Clips3.pdf

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201111220024?frontpage

http://www.progressiveliving.org/mass_media_and_politics.htm

Big Question

Why is it that Joe Paterno and the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State has escalated so much? Would it be a lot different if he hadn't been such a legend? Why is it that extremely well known people get so much more publicity on their cases when those types of cases are sadly, extremely common amongst people that aren't "famous"?

Hamlet Essay

             Performative utterance has a huge impact on Hamlet and the individual's sense of self. While reading the play; we gain a lot of knowledge about Hamlet the character and Hamlet the play. In DeBoer's work, "The Performative Utterance in William Shakespeare's Hamlet," he talks about how Austin divided the performative ability of language into three main forces.
             The three main forces that J.L. Austin talks about are: "the locutionary force, the abilityof language to delivera message, the force of mutual intelligibility; the illocutionary force, what is done in being said, such as denying a request, giving an order, etc.; and the perlocutionary force, what is achieved by being said, the consequences of one's utterance such as an order being followed (or refused.) Throughout deBoer's essay he compares those three forces to Hamlet and his different actions throughout the play.
             The way Hamlet speaks constitutes action in itself and it impacts the characters and the plot. When Hamlet speaks to others throughout the play, he doesn't explain his motives or feelings for anything whatsoever. We only find out what is in Hamlet's mind when he has those memorable soliloquies. By acting so unpredictable, crazy and mysterious, it intimidates the other characters because they have no idea what Hamlet is going to do next. Hamlet's extreme unpredictability affected the plot by causing so many people to act just as crazy as him-but by paranoia.(Like spying on him or wanting to duel.) All of that ended up in a blood bath.
             The way i reflect on Hamlet and my experience with the play and memorization of his "To be, or not to be..." soliloquy created a great sense of memory, expectation and real-world results. By Shakespeare's effective usage of universal themes and morals, the reader is able to walk away with a sense of self and a greater understanding of trust and its effectiveness.
             The consideration of performative utterances, deBoer's paper, Bloom/Austin's theoretical frameworks, and careful studies  on Hamlet has furthered my understanding on several aspects of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

What I've Learned

"I FEEL HAPPY OF MYSELF!" If there is anything in particular that I have really learned in this class so far is to just keep going. Just like this little boy in the video is talking about, "Everybody, I know you can believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you will know how to ride a bike. If you don't, you just keep practicing. You will get the hang of it, I know it. (Stutters) You can get better and better at it if you keep practicing!" You can relate that exact same inspirational message to our AP English course. No one ever said it was going to be easy, but with practice, it becomes more and more of a fluid action.

Roy Christopher Notes

• Roy didn't plan on getting involved in the computer culture, but now he owns four computers
• Worked for Frontwheeldrive.com for 10 years
• The more you know about how something works the better prepared you are. 
• Self-published his book because he couldn't find a publisher and interview books don't sell well
• Working on a new book called Medium Picture
• Hip Hop culture is the blueprint to 21 century culture
• He believes that the technology of today is inevitable to get into.
• "Trust the youth." Older generations have a difficult time trusting the younger generations, but they need to trust us because we will turn out just fine. 
• Self-published an interview book. 
• Older generations don't trust the youth with new technology
• Most people that use computers don't do programming 
• The internet can be both a time saver and a time waster
• "Program or be programed."

Tools That Change the Way We Think

             Internet/media/technology use changes the way we think by restricting us to only certain opinions. With the filter bubbles and the algorithms used to predict the outcomes we "want" to see, our resources are limited. No person is going to specify their Google search precisely to what they are looking for each and every time. Granted, the filter bubbles are an extreme help to me in most cases; but I am a very open minded person and it would be nice if sometimes I could choose whether or not I am able to get the same results as everyone else. With the use of all of this extremely convienient technology it seems as though technology is yet again making laziness an art. Everything is getting easier and easier these days, and it makes me feel as though i'm not exactly the one doing the work anymore. Sometimes it feels way too easy. I like it, but a lot of times I question whether or not i'm learning as effectively as I would without the technology and having to find it on my own.

In Search Of

1. I learned exactly what a filter bubble was and how exactly it restricts the amount of things I have access to according to my interests. I also didn't know that the filter bubble took into account where I was located as well.
2. This just makes me wonder what I am not seeing. By knowing that everyone gets different results, it makes me wonder how different my results are compared to others.
3. This raises a question to me about how many of these sites that I am directed to actually have legitimate facts.
4. I think that I can make my searches more effective by making my searches just a little bit more specific based on what I am searching for.

Who Was Shakespeare?

             When I typed into Google, "Who was Shakespeare?" my results varied; whether it was articles on de Vere with accusations of Shakespeare being a fraud, or Wikipedia (and other websites) talking about William Shakespeare's writing styles and life stories.The sites acting as biographies said  that Shakespeare's birth date was unknown, but we do know that he was baptised Apri 26, 1564. He lived and died in Warwickshire, England. Shakespeare was married to a woman named Anne Hathaway with three children. He died in 1616. His early plays were mostly comedies and histories. Throughout time they turned into tragedies and later, tragicomedies. He was a respected poet and playwright in his day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. In all honesty, students really respect his work, but when we have to study a different work of Shakespeare each school  year, we begin to dread the work of someone with a very powerful message. We understand that he wrote several masterpieces; but as we continue to study each work, we do progress in our ability to perceive what he is saying... but, it is often said by our generation that this type of literature is irrelevant to our futures. I understand now that it might take me a few times reading a passage to understand Shakespeare's message but I do admit that I (among several others) still struggle with all of that old English that has completely different meanings for things than what we are used to.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook

             My initial impressions of Facebook were mostly positive. Facebook to me, seemed exciting because you can keep up with your friends' lives and pictures. Facebook made photo sharing and activities like that much easier and accessible. When I first started using Facebook, I was unaware of the risks associated with the website. After reading the article online, I became more aware of the privacy risks. I know that since I have read the article, I have changed the settings on my Facebook that are in control of your "current locations." (The function on Facebook that shows exactly where you are at when you upload a picture or write a post.) By doing so, you become vulnerable to the random strangers that could be viewing your profile. I  am now more informed and have the knowledge to protect my own privacy.

Notes On Hamlet

             Once Hamlet decided to get revenge on Claudius for killing is father, I became pretty interested in the plot of the story and sort of supported Hamlet's actions to do so. But as the scenes went on, Hamlet's emotions kind of went haywire and he became extremely unpredictable. Shakespeare is known for having tragic plays so it makes me wonder if there is going to be a massive death scene where basically everyone dies- that's my main prediction for the end of the story. I think Hamlet will go completely mad and that there will be a blood bath.

(Don't) Be Hamlet

Topic: Now that you have mastered the text of "To be, or not to be..." reflect on Hamlet's dilemma and help him make up his mind. Use the text of the play and your own logic to support your own opinion.


             In Hamlet's soliloquy he ponders the differences and consequences in suicide versus killing Claudius to get revenge. In my opinion, suicide should never be worth it. Every single person in the entire world has issues. And somehow, most of those people figure out how to overcome those issues. Whether it is related to relationships, mental problems, physical problems, social problems, etc... People need to actually have some self worth. Hamlet is only thinking of these two options because that is what he feels are his only options. Hamlet could have simply asked Claudius what his reason could have possibly been for killing his father, and quite possibly found it in his heart of stone to forgive him. As for Hamlet's option to kill himself- seriously, what is the point? If Hamlet were to kill himself, it would be the cowardly way out and he will have to go to Hell for something he could have easily tried to fix while still alive. Hamlet seems to be an extremely complicated man of many thoughts. If he were to want my advice on his entire situation, I'd tell him to ditch the girl who causes drama, call out the step-dad on his sins, fix his relationship with Claudius, and then get over it and move on.