Lying and MAAN

In the play, Much Ado About Nothing, the morality of lying is questioned. When is it ever right to lie? Well in MAAN, multiple characters do their fair share of lying. Although some have good intentions, some also have bad. For example, The Prince, Claudio, Hero, Balthazar, and Leonato all lie to Benedick and Beatrice, but they have good intentions. They wanted to bring Benedick and Beatrice together. Because they were trying to do something good, I think in this example, it is morally right.

On the other hand, characters like Don John and Borachio lie and have bad intentions. They try to mess with Claudio and Hero's marriage, by first telling Claudio that the prince stole Hero, and now they are attempting to "show" that Hero is unfaithful. They have bad intentions, therefore I think that it is morally wrong to lie in this occasion.

Although I don't believe that lying is always morally wrong, I do agree that lying can get you in much worse situations.

Jack

Dreams by Langston Hughes

Dreams
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Langston Hughes

In the poem Dreams by Langston Hughes, Hughes explores the idea that without dreams, life is without meaning. Hughes's poem expresses that one can't give up on dreams and without dreams life is a waste. Hughes first express the need for dream in the first 4 lines when he says:
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
These 4 lines show that he thinks that life without dreams is a waste, like a "broken-winged bird/ That cannot fly" (Hughes 3-4). Next Hughes compares a life without dreams to a cold barren field when he says, "For when dreams go/ Life is a barren field/ Frozen with snow" (Hughes 6-8). In this part of the poem, Hughes compares a loss of dreams to a barren field while expressing that without dreams, nothing can happen, because being like a barren field, nothing will ever grow.

I found this poem compelling because it can relate to all people. All people dream and all people have felt the pain of losing something you've dreamed of. Another thing that made it compelling was Hughes's use of good metaphors. I can visualize his metaphors, like the broken-winged bird, and make the comparison to dreams. In general, I like the feel and rhythm of his poems, and thats why I chose it.

Quarter 1 look back

Well quarter one was "entertaining"....... I was met with tons of homework and a much harder grader for LA. Things went ok over the first quarter. Getting a feel for high school was intresting. There is a ton of homework, but other then having to do a little more work, its about equal to middle school. My learning experience in first quarter English was not really learning new material as it was learning what to do. In the begining of the quarter I didn't konw what Froehlich was looking for. Of course, now I do, and am preforming better because of it. The class environment is pretty good. It is just a normal class minus a few "Trevor/John/David" moments.

There aren't many ways in which I the class can improve itself in quarter 2. Mostly my struggles in Q1 came from the middle-high school transfer. Now I know what Froehlich is looking for, and therefore I can preform better. I just need to accomplish what she is looking for, and then I can succeed. I just need to help myself.

Jack, fixing himself by Q3

An in-depth on my love and hate for Chris and his shanangins

I'm dedicating my final post to Chris.... while reading the book Chris intrigued me and frustrated me at the same time. And even at the end, my mind was in conflict between the perception that Chris was a cocky, crazy, nut-job, or if he was a free thinker who was prepared to take on anything.

I love Chris: Chris was a great character in the book Into The Wild. He was an interesting character who lived off his beliefs, and tried to create a new lifestyle for himself, which is undoubtedly brave. I liked it that he provoked thought whenever we talked about him. I love his positive attitude and how he loves what he's doing. He is living "to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found," (Krakauer 37), and I love it that he's doing what makes him happy. I like it how he is really smart and thinks amazingly deep thoughts. And the thing that I love that he is incredibly intriguing. He makes me believe that his ideas are possible.

I hate Chris: Chris was a young, cocky college kid who thought he could take on society. He was way too big for his britches and thought that he could survive in the Alaskan wilderness with what he could carry, and his smarts. He was a typical "idealistic, energetic young guy(s) who overestimated themselves (himself), underestimated the country, and ended up in trouble," (Krakauer 71). I didn't like Chris, not only because he was cocky, but because he died because of it.

In the end, my final feelings for Chris are still muddled between love and hate. Chris will always be an epic character in my mind, because of how interesting he was, but never will he become a favorite of mine, because I'm still caught.

I have two more posts to make, so lets just talk about what I liked and what I didn't

I enjoyed reading the book Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer. It was an intresting read about the life and death of Chris McCandless. Although it seems insignificant, it was more than just a cocky college kid who walked out into Alaskan wilderness. For those of you who have read my blog posts above, here is an overall review of the book.....

What I liked: It was very well written, very well reaserched, and very well thought out. Krakauer did a brilliant job of setting the scene by always introing us with brilliant passages that lead us into the chapter while updating us to where Chris is. He also shows how well he reaserched it, finding and pieceing together tiny bits of information , like how he traced "NEMO 1934 carved into a stone slab" (Krakauer 94), to Everatt Ruess, who he related to Chris through a comparison of their deaths. Krakauer also thought out the book very well. He would cleverly find information, and lead the reader to make conclusions rather than just shoving them down our throats.

What I didn't like: I was often bugged by the character Chris. He bugged me because he seemed very cocky sometimes, and very noble at others. I was very bugged by the knowledge that he was extremely unprepared. All the food he had was "a ten pound bag of long-grained rice--and two sandwhiches and a bag of corn chips," (Krakauer 162), he didn't have good clothing or shelter, and finally HE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE HE WAS GOING!! This irratated me alot. Why would he be so neglegent? The only other thing that bothered me was that Krakauer seemed to become de-railed from the main focus. He'd go off on tangents for chapters about other people who suffered similar fates. Although it was intrested, I was much more excited to hear how Chris died.

I encourage everyone to read this book. It is intresting, and makes the reader think. I like it and you will too.





Jack approves this message

How Into the Wild relates with other literature this quarter...

The book Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, is strongly tied to other pieces of literature that we've read this quarter. Two main themes jet out as direct parallels. Rebellion from authority is one theme that ties Krakauer's work to others we've studied. In Into The Wild, Chris rebels against his parents and general society. “he intended to invent an utterly new life for himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience,” (Krakauer 23). He rebels, because his beliefs are of having only what you need, rather than the modern day "gluttony". This is a lot like Black Boy and The 400 Blows, because they both also have strong themes of rebellion. In Black Boy, Roger rebels against the authorities in his life. In The 400 Blows, Antione rebels against his parents because he feels that they are too strict on him. Rebellion is a parallel for these literary pieces.

Another theme that connects Into The Wild to other literature we have studied is the theme of discovering who you are. In Into The Wild, Chris finds himself while journeying. He finds everything he loves in life and discovers who he is. He finds that out in the wild he is “living to the fullest extent in which the real meaning is found,” (Krakauer 37). This is similar to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In ELIC, our main character, Oskar, goes on his own journey: a journey to find the purpose of the key. Through this journey, Oskar grows exponentially and learns much about himself. Discovering yourself is another parallel between our literature this quarter and Into The Wild.

Chris battles everything

In the book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the main character Chris runs into plenty of conflicts on the way to his eventual death in Alaska, but through these struggles, he is exilerated. Struggles start right from the begining when his car breaks. But, "Instead of feeling distraught over this turn of events, moreover, McCandless was exhilarated." (Krakauer 29). Chris loved to free himself from his possesions and live off the land and whatever he could carry. Chris then faced many struggles on his way to Alaska. Hitchhiking was hard, and proved to be a challenge getting from place to place. Then in Alaska, survivng was a major problem. Chris faced these challenges head on and in the end it wasn't enough. A lack of food and shelter lead to the death of Chris McCandless, but still he was happy to have done it. Even on his death bed he was writing about how great this adventure had been.

Throughout this journey, Chris learned many things about himself. He learned that he could take care of himself. He learned that he was smart enough to battle nature and survive. Chris also learned about the beauty and power of nature. He learned of nature's healing powers. "The beauty of this country is becoming part of me. I feel more detached from life and somehow gentler." (Krakauer 90) He also learned of the nature's destructive powers. He learned first hand, the leathal side of nature.

Chris, o Chris, what kind of nut-job are you?

In the book, Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, we travel back to September of 1992 and are greeted by the strange finding off a young man dead in an abandon bus in the middle of Alaska. Chris McCandless, aka Alex Supertramp was this man. Strangely enough, Chris was Virginian from a well off family. What was he doing in the middle of Alaska? Krakauer tries to answer just that. Through Chris's journal, postcards, and photos, Krakauer tries to piece together the mystery of Chris's death and Chris's motive.

First you have to learn about Chris. Chris was a college student in Atlanta with, born from a rich family in Virginia, with a fondness for nature, lots of brains, and was part of "the school that you should own nothing except what you can carry on your back at a dead run" (Krakauer 32). Weather Chris was cocky or just adventurous is unknown, but he definitely thought he could handle the Alaskan wilderness. So Chris went, carrying only what he needed throughout the country, and eventually ending up dead near the Stamped Trail.

Chris’s motive is a big mystery. Some people believe that it was his cockiness, the way he thought he could survive the Alaskan wilderness without shelter, carrying only a ten-pound bag of rice for food. Others think it was because an adventurous spirit, taking on a challenge. But one thing is for sure, Chris was inspired by writers like Jack London and Leo Tolstoy to abandon his possessions, burn his money, go to Alaska, and live his life to the fullest. Ironically, Chris took his books to the grave, when he was found dead with “eight or nine paper back books” (12) in the back of the bus.

As the story moves on, Chris is becoming more interesting, so stay tuned for my next post

Jack

Why we write Memoirs....

Well... I have about 25 min to get this done, so lets get posting...

People write memoirs because people want to tell a story. They want other people to experience what they've experienced, and feel what they felt. They write memoirs to help further generations learn from their sucesses and their mistakes. They try to pass down traditions and culture. They try to help people preserve the past. I also think people write memoirs because everyone has a story to tell, and "stories don't mean anything, unless you've got someone to tell them to...".

Power is abundant when people write their own stories. Memoirs are powerful because this is what happen and what someone felt. The writer has the power to effect their readers with their descriptions, by giving the reader a mental picture and also sometimes giving them a physical response (I cringed when Ross read his......). Memoirs are also powerful, because memoirs bring more emotion to the reader, because they can put themselves in the protaginist's place. For example, when I read Jen's, I knew that quesy nervous feeling that she felt before she went on the rides. I could put myself in her place, because I had experience similar feelings.

In conclusion, memoirs are powerful. They are written by real people and are real experiences. They are written so that people can tell their story, and this story can be very powerful. By using good descriptions and emotions that create a bridge to the reader. And in turn, memoirs can be very powerful.

JHR

p.s.
Teddy, my goal for your post is to make it less happy, like your last one... let the batle begin

Hungry Hungry Richard!

I'm really tired, and just happened to be on the computer, so I guess its time to write this:

Hunger is a constant adversary against Richard. Not only does he physically hunger, but he also hungers for love, affection, and companionship.
Richard is missing someone that treats him nicely and loves him and cares for him in his life. Thats why Richard resorts to being a tough guy, and a troublemaker. Richard is lacking that in his life, because he grew up without a father, seems to move often enough to never get settled in one place, and he grew up with a despot as a mother. All this together hurts Richard and starves him emotionally.
Richard is also physically hungry. His family is too poor to afford food and he suffers from this. He often describes his immense hunger and his pain.

All in all, Richard often hungers in both physical and mental areas.

Is Richard "Bad"?

After browsing people's blogs for a couple minutes, I suppose I should start writing mine.... So, the question of the day is,
Is Richard a "bad" boy? And, when should behavior be blamed on the person and when should it be blamed on the environment?

In my opinion Richard is rarely a bad boy. What he does is usually out of ignorance, and although ignorance is no excuse for mistakes, he is only a child and can't be held accountable for most of the stuff he does. For example, when he burns down the house (at four), he wasn't trying to cause destruction, he was just curious to see what the curtains would look like on fire. Although that isn't a great excuse for burning down a house (yeah, try and have an excuse when you burn down the house...)he truly didn't realize the repercussions of his actions. Richard also does bad things, because his environment is bad. For example, getting drunk and repeating explicit words weren't Richard's fault, because at that age you usually obey and trust adults, and if the adults want you to drink, you drink. Plus, look at all that positive attention he was getting, something that was missing from home. His behavior was product of his environment.

There is, however, one instance that Richard is a "bad" boy and does do something that is of his own fault. Killing the cat was well thought out and intentioned. Although he did do it out of his anger towards his father, killing the cat wasn't circumstantial to his environment or his ignorance. Richard was fully aware of what he was doing and did it to defy his father. This was a bad act, and he was justly punished by his mother.

Overall, I think Richard isn't a bad boy, and most of his actions are spawned from his ignorance and his environment. Although Richard can behave badly as any kid can, for the most part, Richard is a good boy who struggles with the world around him.

Blog... check
Essay... meh

J.H.R.
(R.A.B. anyone?)

Welcome!

Welcome! You are in Jack R's Blog for EE10. I have Ms. F as my teacher in first hour. In this blog I will be writing about my outside reading throughout the year. I can't really think of what to write.... so, read my blog. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get to my 5-10 lines... wait, I guess i just did.