Thinker Or Doer?

Over the course of the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, we notice that one of the main characters, Hamlet is often very apprehensive and pensive. He often refers to the anger he feels inside about Gertrude and Claudius especially. Hamlet always verbalizes his desire to murder Claudius, yet he never acts on his plans. All through Act III and Act IV, Hamlet has had significant opportunities to execute Claudius' murder, but instead solidifies his standing as a thinker, not a doer.

I think that I am a thinker, but not in a negative way. I feel that I have a very wise moral compass, so I may have big and bold ideas, but I may be slightly hesitant and cautious as to how to make these ideas happen. There are some people that find it very easy to come up with an idea and make a final product from that idea with barely any thought, but I don't exactly operate that way. If I wish to make something happen, I take lots of time to methodically plan each aspect and make sure it will be perfect. Sometimes, it ends up not being the perfect idea I had hoped for, so I may abort the idea all together. I've noticed a lot of times that people who are "doers" will have a grand plan that contains many errors. As I am a perfectionist, I would definitely consider myself a thinker.

Explication of Ethics by Linda Pastan

     The poem Ethics by Linda Pastan features one narrator telling the story of her ethics class and a specific question that was asked which seemed to challenge the narrator's moral compass. There is a stream-of-consciousness-like aspect to this poem as we are hearing the narrator's continual thoughts. There is a narrative structure as the woman telling the story is almost giving a flashback as a young child in the beginning of the poem, and later returns to the present as an elderly lady. Each year in this ethics class, she would go back and forth with her answers half-heartedly as she claims, and as a reader, I noticed the change in maturity with her answers throughout the years.
     There is beautiful imagery beginning in line 19, describing the Rembrandt poem that the narrator has the opportunity to see many years later, "The colors within this frame are darker than autumn, darker even than winter--the browns of earth, though earth's most radiant elements burn through the canvas". The way the poet compares the colors of the painting to different seasons of the year was very interesting to me and created an element of conceit.
     As an old woman viewing a Rembrandt painting, she contemplates the question she had once debated with many years prior as a child. She realizes that as a child, if there happened to be a fire in a museum, she would have probably been incapable of saving either the old woman or the painting anyways. There is an element of irony and somewhat comedy in this revelation. This raises a common moral issue of value. What is more valuable? A possession or a life? 

My Take On "To be or not to be"

To online shop or to not online shop--that is the question.

Will it be more beneficial to my bank account to save my money or better for my reputation to have an astounding closet?

A credit card--spending--my own credit card would be just a dream as long as I had the money to fund it.

There is the catch right there-- I must have my own money before I navigate the dozens of websites and fill my virtual closet with my wants and needs. 

This makes me worry--I must consider finding a job despite the fact that it might make this addiction much more severe. 

Regardless, who would rather have an empty closet of dull outfits, or live without the excitement you get from receiving a package on the front steps of your house, or let your dream dress become sold out, when you can simply ask your parents for the 16 digit code on that shiny piece of plastic? 

Who would choose to live a life of t-shirts and sweatpants when you can wear cashmere sweaters, blouses, and jeans from various clothing sites?

The fear of overdrawing your credit card can be debilitating, and our longing eyes can be a dangerous mixture with the thousands of apparel thumbnails. 

Oh no! My parents are coming. I better minimize the J.Crew website and open up my Word document!

(This is a satire of some sorts, Mr. Hogan)

My Opinions On Parental Surveillance (inspired by Hamlet)

     In the beginning of Act II, Polonius hires his servant to spy on his son Laertes. Polonius requests that Reynaldo inquire about Laertes' private life and behavior. I think that Polonius seems very manipulative and I wonder what Laertes did or even what happened to Polonius to make him so overprotective and overbearing. 

     Personally, I think that parents spying on their children shows an extreme lack of trust. If they truly had faith in the way their child was raised I don't think there would be any reason to look into text messages, emails, Facebook accounts, etc. I've experienced my parents reading my text messages before and I think that it was a complete invasion of privacy. However, I think it is one thing to openly spy, but for Polonius to hire someone to befriend Laertes to get inside knowledge on what is happening while Polonius is not physically there is extremely scheming. 

     On line 25 to line 30, Polonius and Reynaldo clarify what exactly he is supposed to be looking for while on surveillance. Polonius says, "Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, Quarreling, drabbing-- you may go so far" (II.i.28-29). Here, I can slightly understand where Polonius is coming from because he only wants to hold Laertes to the highest of standards and wants to confirm that he is acting esteemed. 

Explication of the poem "Ballad Of Birmingham" by Dudley Randall

     This poem was written based on the bombing of a church in the city of Birmingham in 1963. The 60's were an extreme time of tribulation and triumph for the Civil Rights Movement. This poem is a conversation between a fearful mother and an ambitious child. I think this poem was intended to inform everyone about what everyday life was like in Birmingham, AL. The constant oppression and terror of living in one of the most segregated cities in the country during this time period, was certainly implied and represented in this poem. I am sure, from my knowledge of U.S. History, that the destruction of places where African Americans sought comfort was all too common. The mother openly expresses her fear in letting her young daughter roam the Freedom March, but allows her daughter to travel to the local church. Little did the mother know that the church would be the next target of the people who were pro-segregation. I believe the central focus of this poem is to expose the atrocities that happened extremely often during the Civil Rights Movement and to make the reader feel empathetic and to tear at the heartstrings. 

     In the fifth stanza, the extensive use of color-related diction creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind. For example, “night-dark hair” (17), “rose petal sweet” (18), “white gloves…shoes” (19-20), and “small brown hands” (19). Each line of this poem brings the reader along a story, and is not filled with ambiguous language, but instead takes advantage of descriptive and colloquial language. The mother in this poem repeatedly refers to her daughter as her “baby”, which I inferred as the mother still seeing her daughter as the light of her life, and childlike, even though we are unsure how old she is.

       In stanza number six, the quotation, “The mother smiled to know her child Was in the sacred place” (21-22). This showcases irony because the mother is relieved that her daughter is at church instead of at the Freedom March, but the church was a place of danger it turns out as well. 

First Opinions of Hamlet--Act I Scenes i-iii

       The first thing I noticed about King Claudius is that he acts quite condescending towards Prince Hamlet and the other characters in the scene ii. In the King’s monologue in scene ii, he mentions his late brother, but almost acts as if though he is benefitting from the death, “To our most valiant brother—so much for him” (I.ii.25). Queen Gertrude acts very passive and submissive towards King Claudius and agrees with all his rash statements in the first act. I begin to feel bad for Hamlet and remain that way through the excerpts we were assigned to read. The King and Queen Gertude almost begin to berate and condemn Hamlet for taking his time mourning the loss of his father saying, “’Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father. But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound” (I.ii.90-94). No one in these excerpts seem empathetic to Hamlet’s situation. First, he loses his beloved father. Next, he must deal with the extremely odd situation that is his uncle marrying his own mother.

       Then, King Claudius, his uncle, is trying to prevent Prince Hamlet from going back to school. I am assuming this is a place Hamlet enjoyed going, so he must have felt upset. His life was turned upside down by the tragic death of his father, triggering the sympathy in the reader. Hamlet contemplating suicide was not particularly surprising to me because I predicted this. However, in scene iii, Hamlet begins to confuse me because I am unsure of whether he will be a protagonist or more of a scheming character. I am curious about what will happen with Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship because it seems as though not many people approve of their love. 

Goals For Senior Year

McKenzie Connors

Mr. Hogan

AP English Language and Literature

29 August 2013

My Goals For Senior Year

    

     When you are in middle school, being a senior in high school seems like it is an

eternity away. I have had many dreams and goals for a long time and it is finally time to

actually turn them into reality. My number one goal this year is to be granted admission

to my top college. This process is tedious, but I hope to be successful! My grades are

also of the utmost importance right next to getting into college because most schools take

 a mid-year and final year report into consideration. I want to maintain a high grade point

 average. This will be a challenge because I am taking more AP classes than I ever have

before, including AP Statistics, and math is not usually my strong suit. One action I am

taking to achieve this goal is hiring a tutor for help after school and I am going to be

more proactive about staying after school with not just my math teacher, but all of them.

I am on the Varsity swim team here at Framingham High School, and with that comes

many goals. The qualifying time for backstroke in the State championship meet is around

1 minute and 6 seconds. Yet, my lifetime best time for the 100 backstroke is 1 minute

and 7 seconds. This year, I will train harder than ever in order to accomplish this goal.

      Joining the Debate Team is something that I have wanted to do since I have been a

student in the high school, but I never found the time and I have always been too nervous

 and fearful to get up in front of a large group of people and speak my personal opinions.

 Although the Debate Team meets during my demanding swim season, I want to make

time in my schedule to at least go to a few meetings.

     With all these goals for my senior year, I will definitely be exhausted! However, I

know it will be worth it when I am successful.