Stereotypes..psh..not really

I think there are very few stereotypes presented in this play. The only thing that presents itself to me is the stereotypes of classes of people (upper class and the lower class) and the "separate spheres" of men and women's activities. To start it off, I found stereotypes in the nobles of the play. For example, in act 1 scene 1, Leonato asked how many men had been killed and the messenger replies not many and none of name. That's a stereotype that the nobles don't really care about the lower class and what happens to them. Next, Shakespeare stereotypes the lower class as being insolent. Although Dogberry may just be comic relief, I think he is stereotypical of the lower classes. Finally, I also think Shakespeare down plays women's rights. The men go off to war, but the women are left at Leonato's house. The women must be chaste, but that doesn't necessarily parallel with the men. This goes back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's theory of separate spheres. Maybe this might be the way it goes during the time, but still it is a little stereotypical.

Although I can identify stereotypes, I disagree with the question. I think these stereotypes are in there because they were common place at the time. The same things happen today, like the movie, "The Kingdom", which takes place conveniently takes place in Iraq. That creates a stereotype that most people in Iraq are killers, when only a small number of Muslim extremists do that type of stuff. Therefore because I believe his stereotypes are just based off the time frame, I don't think he was trying to teach anyone a lesson.

Jack

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.