Senior Projects

Since this is late going up and we didn't have class on Thursday, I'll give you until the end of the week to respond. Having just put a lot of thought and effort into your Senior Projects and followed them through to completion, I am interested in what the highlight of the process was for you, and what do you think is the ultimate purpose of having high school seniors complete a major project before graduating?  See you in class.

The Sweet Sting of Love

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night or What You Will is a comical story full of love, foolery, and pain all at the same time. It ends with three weddings; a happy note for most characters. However, for some the end is not so joyous. Malvolio, a character who has been unlawfully deceived, swears his revenge at the end of the story. Why do you think Shakespeare made this comedy end so badly for this character? Twelfth Night demonstrates that love can cause pain and suffering. Malvolio's unhappy ending demonstrates this as well as Antonio's situation in the end. Orsino mopes around for most of the play longing for the woman he loves, causing him to realize in the end that he is a fool. How else does Shakespeare demonstrate through this play the idea that love can not only cause happiness, but also pain and suffering? Why else might Shakespeare have ended this play on a happy note for some and an unhappy note for others? What other themes can you find in Twelfth Night and where do they apply in the story?

"If Music be the Food of Love, Play on"

Reflecting on our latest English project, I wanted to use this blog to discuss the role music has in literature, our culture, and the world. In class, we put music to act 2 in Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night and What You Will to gain a deeper understanding of what was occurring in the scene. The music we chose was able to influence the emotions each person felt. The scene could be perceived differently depending on the genre that was chosen. The same goes for music with movies, plays, television shows, and even novels. Music surrounds our lives and I want to know why you think it is so influential in everyday lives. People link memories to certain songs and choose songs that are special to them. Is music a way to express what a person is feeling when they do not have the words? Why does music compliment literature so well? Why does Shakespeare reference music to love?

Credit Or No Credit

Different situations and events influence the stories that authors write. Our lives play the most influence on the way we act and what we do. Movies are often based on real events and stories. We often say that many of our stories are derived from Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare based his plays on the outside world just like other authors. Do you think that Shakespeare deserves the credit for these great stories considering they were derived from other stories and myths? What did Shakespeare do to gain the amount of fame he has today? What sets Shakespeare apart? Should any one person be responsible for so many of these great works such as Romeo & Juliet and The Tragedy of Julius Caesar?

Shakespeare

He is one of the most revered authors of all time. He has written many, many plays and poems. Other than the fact of his vocabulary, why do we keep his plays in Elizabethan English? Why are the plays not translated for easier reading? Wouldn't his words still be as impressive, or even more so, if they were easily understandable? I enjoy Shakespeare's works now, after having several years to get acquainted with this language. But as a senior in high school, I still struggle with the rhythm and beat of the words. His extensive vocabulary causes my brain to run circles around it’s self, and his puns and other subtle jokes still remain elusive to me. It is only with very careful reading that I gain even a fraction of his meaning. Of course with Shakespeare, you could analyze his plays forever and make new finds each time. So my real question is why is Shakespeare not translated so we can better understand his impressive plays and poems? Other than the preservation of the great works, what reason is there that his plays still remain on a difficult level with high school and college students?

Rebellion and Revolution

There will always be rebels in society, no matter how perfect it seems. There will always be a few individuals that want to create chaos or disobey the rules of society. Ofglen and her organization, for example. Or the Commander and his deliberate disobedience of the rules of Gilead by having Offred with him, creating a relationship with her, and by keeping forbidden objects. Ofglen and her organization want to overthrow Gilead, to create a good life for everyone. The Commander only does it for personal gain. Do you think the Commander does it for only his gain, or for the Handmaids that he sees as well? He does get them almost anything they want, and he gives them presents, usually things forbidden to them such as magazines and lotion, in Offred's case. Do you think that he would care if Offred was shipped to another house, or do you think he would do the same with the next Handmaid? Do you think that he genuinely cares for Offred? Ofglen's organization is very underground. Do you think that there are participants in all occupations in Gilead? Also, if you were a part of the society, and you were indoctrinated just as the rest of the country, would you rebel, or would you follow all of the rules?

Pressures of Life

Pressure. There is so much pressure people live under throughout their lives. Pressure of appearance, pressure of peers, pressure of family, pressure to succeed. How can one work under such compression? Does it push them to work harder? Or does it simply create a mind trick that makes it near impossible to accomplish the tasks at hand? In The Handmaid's Tale, the handmaids have a constant pressure to conceive. That is their one job and if they are unable to accomplish this, they have the threat of becoming Unwomen. Does the stress from the pressure make it more difficult for them to conceive? On the other hand, if they did not have the threat would the job get done that way either? Pressure comes from control. It is a natural human thing to have a need for control. We want to control everything from our appearance to the way people act around us. Gilead controls its women because they want them to behave exactly how they wish. Control forces a lot of pressure which in turn could cause either fear or rebellion. Either way, it is not a healthy society. Power is faced everyday and pressure makes it hard to move around and be flexible. What ways do you see the women of Gilead cracking under the pressure?