Thinking Outside the Box

 "No Exit" by Jean Paul Sartre and "The Allegory of the Cave" are both pieces of writing that explain how the people are limited to knowledge about the world. Both of the writings portray their main idea in a different yet similar way. "No Exit" only shows the main idea by dialogue while "The Allegory of the Cave" shows it by actions and dialogue among the characters.

In Sartre's play, knowledge is limited in the way that people view hell as. Nobody really knows what hell is like and most people just stick to the idea that it is just like Dante's inferno with flames all over the place. In the play, hell is described completely different from what it is said to look like. Sartre describes hell as a room full of people who cannot get along whatsoever, can't sleep, lights are always on, and there are no exits. The play also demonstrates that people are limited to the outside world because of the people around them. For example, Garcin wants to leave once the door is opened but Inez then begins calling him a coward. At that moment, Garcin has been influenced by Inez even though it is ironic that he is a coward for stepping out. Garcin had the opportunity to learn about what was out there but he refused too.

On the other hand, "The Allegory of the Cave" by Plato deals with prisoners who are stuck in a cave, shadows, and shackles. The limitation of one knowledge is reflected by the shadows, the cave and the shackles. The prisoners in the cave only see shadows and they have seen them for so long that now they think that that is what reality looks like. The cave is supposed to be the prison where people have locked themselves in to keep themselves from knowing what's going on in the outside world. The shackles are what hold the people back from going out to see what is going on in the outside world. Just like the characters in "No Exit", the characters are limited to knowledge because of the influences amongst the people. For example, the man who was able to go out and see reality was killed because all of them were stuck to the thought that reality are just shadows because of the influences they are surrounded by.

Limitations to the outside world are only created because people don't bother to take a chance and explore what is out there. People once they know something but knowledge can be expanded, only decide to stick with what they already have knowledge of. Sartre's "No Exit" and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" are to pieces of writing that clearly demonstrate how people limit his/hers own knowledge.

Fable

Fable: A short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral.

 Examples: (Aesop's Fables)

•  "The Lion and the Mouse", the moral of this story is to not judge anyone or anything by the looks.

• "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", the moral of the story is that nobody believes a liar even when they are telling the truth.

Literature Analysis #3

"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

•  Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker is about a young girl named Celie growing up with various obstacles in her life which she eventually overcame. She grew up with an abusive stepfather who would rape her multiple times and as a result, she got pregnant twice. The first time she gave birth, her father killed it and then the next time she gave birth, her father stole it. At that moment, her mom passed away as well. Later she is forced to marry a man who they called Mr.______ (Albert) by the stepfather because he didn't want Nettie, his youngest daughter, to marry him. He was another one of those abusive men who while with her cheated on her and did everything he could to make her life miserable. He would even hide letters from Nettie after she disappeared from home and Celie ended up thinking she was dead. One day, Mr.______'s lover Shug was very ill and ended up staying at Celie's and Mr.______'s house until she got better. While being there, Celie and Shug got very close to each other and ended up being great friends. She found out how Mr.______ would constantly beat her so Shug eventually decided to help Celie out. Because of Shug, Celie is able to finally obtain all of Nettie's letters which  after reading, she finds out Nettie is alive and safe. Nettie had left with some missionary people, Samuel and Corrine, to Africa. While being there, Nettie finds out that Samuel's and Corrine's kids Adam and Olivia, are really Celie's kids who Alphonso, the stepfather had said he had gotten rid of. Corrine ends up dying and the kids are given back to Cellie. Alphonso dies as well. At first Celie does not want to forgive Mr.______ but later she decides to and they begin to enjoy each others company. Celie also ends up being a successful woman owning a business.

• Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

 The theme of this novel would be "black women's rights" because of how the protagonist, Celie, is treated in the story. She is greatly abused by the men and does not do anything to save herself until the end when she finally stands up for herself.

• Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

Alice Walker's tones while writing the novel were depressive, hopeful, serious, and confessional. Throughout the whole novel, in all the letters she writes, she is hoping that her life gets better somehow. She is never throwing out jokes or ever sounds happy until the end. She admits that her life sucks and does not enjoy any minute of it. 

 *"I tell him I can fix myself up for him. I duck into my room and come out wearing horsehair, feathers, and a pair of our new mammy high heel shoes. He beat me for dressing trampy but he do it to me anyway." (hopeful)
*"He go down to Harpo's to watch her sing. And just to look at her. Then way late they come home. They giggle and they talk and they rassle until the morning. Then they go to bed until it time for her to get ready to go back to work." (depressed, husband is cheating on her in front of her)
*Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me. (hopeful)
*"He beat me when you not here." (confessing how Mr. _____ beats her)

• Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.

The author's structure was one main technique that the author used to help strengthen the reader's understanding of the novel. Alice wrote the book like diary entries and letters especially to God and the fact that they were letters written to God showed her faith and how she was hopeful that He would make a change in her life. Diction was also another technique Alice used even though it was slang--it seemed easier to understand because the words weren't too big as in you had to look up most of them in the dictionary. Another literary technique used would be syntax. With the use of syntax for example at the beginning, we know why Celie is the women she has turned out to be and why she acts the way she does.  A literary element she uses a lot throughout the novel would be symbolism. The color purple is one example of where she uses symbolism. It helps understand the novel better because when Shrug begins to explain the color purple, that's when Celie starts to give up on God and then Shrug explains why she shouldn't. Setting would be another literary element that helps us understand the plot of the novel since it takes place in the rural south during the twentieth century.

 *"Sofia gone six months, Harpo act like a different man. Used to be a homebody, now all the time in the road." (diction)
*Well, us talk and talk about God, but I’m still adrift. Trying to chase that old white man out of my head. I been so busy thinking bout him I never truly notice nothing God make. Not a blade of corn (how it do that?) not the color purple (where it come from?)..." (symbolism)
*"He never had a kine word to say to me. Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn't..." (syntax)
  

The Big Question

Given current trends, how will technology continue to develop and influence global citizens over the next thirty years?

Hamlet Essay Redo

Performative utterance is when something is said and because it is said, it is turned into a fact. For example, when the boss tells his employee "You're fired!" it is now made into a fact. The idea of performative utterance is one that makes a great impact in some literature and one example would be Hamlet by William Shakespeare. In Hamlet, performative utterance plays a big role because it is the one main thing that gives us insight on how the character is going to act and it makes the play even more interesting. "Self-overhearing" is another component that creates an impact on the plot and also in my experiences while reciting "to be or not to be".

In the beginning of the play, Hamlet has a conversation with the ghost and at the end of their conversation, he promises the ghost that he will take revenge for the his father's death. At that point, once Hamlet had said he promises to do something, performative utterance is done. With that statement that Hamlet made, it created all the action in the play and it was what kept many people wanting to know what was going to happen next. Even though Hamlet did not do much, the fact that he made that promise was what made what he said real.

Throughout the play, Hamlet, recites many soliloquies which end up being "self-overhearing". This component is what makes up the plot in the play Hamlet because without it, nothing would really be happening or the people would not know why it's actually happening. An example would be when Hamlet is reciting "To be or not to be" without that soliloquy, the people would not know why he is doing whatever he is doing, everyone would be confused unless it were just stated there but at the same time, that would not be as interesting. Also "self overhearing" is what Hamlet did to make the other characters think that he was a crazy man, and with that, the whole plot was made even more interesting.

"Self overhearing" for me while memorizing "To be or not to be" went from negative to positive thoughts. At the beginning, I saw the soliloquy and saw how long it was, and at that moment I began to think that I was definitely not going to be able to learn it. Later once I had learned more than half of it, that's when my "self-overhearing" became positive since I was actually getting something done.


Performative utterance and "self-overhearing" are two main components that can make writing interesting and actually make up what it's going to be about. Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a play that was made up by both of those components and both of those components made a great impact on it. It was what created the plot of the play and it affected the characters.

 

Essay #2 Hamlet

Epic heroes are usually described as brave, admirable, and glorious. The character Hamlet from Hamlet by William Shakespeare is an example of an epic hero but a completely different one from the usual. He is not the kind of character that perfectly has those qualities, he actually has the opposing ones.The quality that makes him unique though and different from Beowulf would be that he is based on language while Beowulf just says and does.

In the play Hamlet the author, Shakespeare, comes up with many soliloquies that Hamlet recites. Every time before a problem came up or he was about to do something to resolve it, Hamlet would think it over. For example "To be or not to be", since he had the problem of whether he should kill himself or not, he went through a whole thought process before deciding on what to do. Hamlet at the end though ends up not doing anything which makes him a coward. Several times Hamlet over thinks what he is going to do and at the end he fails to do it.Another example would be when he is about to kill King Claudius, again he starts thinking about it and ends up doing nothing. Beowulf on the other hand, he would say he would do something and never would he stop to think about what was going to happen to him. Beowulf was one one that was brave and courageous. Even though he knew he was in the risk of dying while fighting all those monsters, he still was willing to take the challenge. This character was not one that would let his problems get to him, he'd manage to get rid of them as soon as he could.

Hamlet was also not admirable whatsoever and it was mostly because of how depressed his thoughts would get him. Everything he would think would just bring pure negativity especially because he kept them to himself and would just act by them. For example all his thoughts about everything like his father and the revenge would make him just seem like a crazy person to all the others. He was definitely someone that was not to be admired in other peoples' eyes. He would always act in the way that people would just think pure negativity towards him. Beowulf though, everyone admired him. This character was a true hero to all his people because of all the actions he took. He also was the kind that did anything to make his people happy like at the ending when he let everyone have the treasure that he had. He wanted to make sure that every one of his people were taken care of.

The play, Hamlet, did not really have a glorious ending which means that Hamlet was not glorious. Hamlet did end up killing King Claudius but he was pretty much left with nothing. The protagonist did not have his love Ophelia because she was dead, his mother died, and even he died. Once he killed King Claudius all the characters put the pieces together but really they didn't think of him as that great hero that everyone praises, they pretty much just thought that they had been fooled the whole time. Beowulf though was glorious in almost all the fights with the monsters except for the last one. He was one that was able to experience glory and was viewed as a glorious leader unlike Hamlet.

Characters in literature can have so much in common but then again they can be the exact opposite. Hamlet from the play Hamlet by Shakespeare and Beowulf would be an example of two different characters. Being that Hamlet thinks over what he is going to do is what makes him different from Beowulf because of the fact that he does not think about what he's going to do but he just does it.

 


 

Major Concept I Have Learned in English...

Procrastination. This is not the best thing to do especially when you are memorizing something so complicated like "To be or not to be..." In most cases, procrastination will not lead you to get the grade you are aiming for but it can lead you to fail. Luckily I did not fail because Dr. Preston gave me one more chance but I was like an inch close to failing. I think procrastination can also lead you to stress--the whole time at the AVID trip I was enjoying it but at the same time stressing out on the memorization even though I had more than half of it memorized.An example though where procrastination lead me to failure would be me procrastinating on my math homework. I have not been doing my homework until the day before or the day of the test which of course is not the best option. I think I have learned my lesson since so much important things are coming up and senior year is almost over.

Roy Christopher (Highlights)

• Computers are supposed to be something that decrease time consumption but it has distractions as well and it's up to you to avoid them.
• "It's either program or be programmed" Roy said that we should not be victimized by technology but rather learn from it so that that way we will have already been prepared for what is next.
• He prefers to not have a smartphone so he could just get home and find what's new on his computer.
• With new stuff coming out, it's up to us if we want to keep ourselves up to date with it or not.
• Advent Horizons are good because you have the opportunity to excel in whatever your generation has started.
• Older generations have problems trusting the newer generations because of all the changes in the media and it'd be best if we trusted each other more. 
• Roy does not believe in multitasking. He says that the quality of his project is much better when he is focused on one project rather than on multiple ones. 
• In 10 years we will not be digital natives but we will be digital immigrants and it's really up to our generation to invent the next new thing.
• We have to be careful with what is put on mobile technology because that will be more important than it be possible to doing it.

Literature Analysis #2

Title: Buried Onions

Author: Gary Soto

Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

• Eddie, he's a nineteen year old Mexican boy that lives in a bad conditioned apartment in Fresno.He has lost his father, best friend, and recently his close cousin. Throughout the whole novel, Eddie was trying to find out who was the guy responsible for his  cousin Jesus' death. Eventually that lead him to be apart from everyone and having issues trusting everyone else. Once he found out who was the one to blame, he got into a fight with him trying to get revenge for what had happened. This young man though, during his lifetime after his cousin's death, he had tried to become a better person but living where he was with gangsters and all the crime brought him so many obstacles that led him getting nowhere. He started off at a city college studying to be a air conditioner repairer but ended up dropping out. He had no job so he would just go around to work at whatever place that would offer him a job but that did not work for him either. Eddie finally made the decision to join the navy and that is where he ended up staying at.

Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

• The theme, I would say would be "No matter how hard you try, you can never get rid of your past--it will always follow you everywhere." The theme is reflected upon this novel in the way that the main character, Eddie, tried so hard to become a much better person but his past always came back to him in various ways.

Describe the author's tone. Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s). 

• Gary Soto's tone in the novel to me would be like a hopeful but at the same time hopeless tone. Eddie, throughout the whole novel is just hopeful that life will turn out better for him, he doesn't want to be dealing with all the problems that he's had in the past but life for him is so hard that his past keeps coming back to him."For me there wasn't much to do except eat and sleep, watch out for drive-bys, and pace myself through life." This quote shows a little bit of a hopeful/hopeless tone in the way that he says it in the way that he hates living like that but really he can't do much about it. "No telling when someone was going to jam a knife in me. No telling when Angel would pull a gun from a paper bag and fire on me just as I crossed the street or bent down to tie my shoes." this quote again shows the hopeful tone in the way that he is like begging that none of this ever happens to him but shows hopelessness because he doesn't know if it will happen, when it will happen, or if it won't happen at all. Another quote that reflects the tone would be "I wanted to resemble a straight-ahead kind of dude, someone who had his act together." this quote shows full on hopefulness in the way that he wants to become a better person and actually says it.

Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.

• Gary Soto wrote his novel in a similar way as most authors. He used many literary devices to get through his whole plot. Soto's diction was perfect for anyone who would have wanted to read this novel--it was not difficult whatsoever. He was very descriptive while writing the book which made it easy for his audience to understand. The author used a lot of imagery in which we could have pictured exactly what was going on in our heads. Other literary devices Soto used were irony, symbolism, and a couple similes here and there.

1. “The sun was climbing over the trees of City College and soon the black asphalt would shimmer with vapors. I had a theory about those vapors, which were not released by the sun’s heat but by a huge onion buried under the city. This onion made us cry. Tears leapt from our eyelashes and stained our faces. Babies in strollers pinched up their faces and wailed for no reason. Perhaps as practice for the coming years. I thought about the giant onion, that remarkable bulb of sadness.”-Metaphor
2. "I had no more than a couch and two chairs, college books that I intended to resell, a bed and dresser, and family pictures angled so they almost looked at each other. I had a print of a ship riding the ocean, its sail full, going somewhere."- Imagery
3. "...with Angel's crucifix that he probably stole"-irony

 

Tools that Change the Way we Think

I have found that the extensive media/internet/technology is just the easy way out for most of us. Nowadays, like it says on the passage, Google or mostly any other site can just give you your answer in an instant and that's what most people go to when they are too lazy to think. Media/internet/technology has pretty much taken over our thinking and is now what we usually depend on. Sometimes I can say that I actually find it difficult to think for myself when I'm shut off from the internet. Now, I don't really challenge myself, I just let the internet do the work for me. Also, it's really difficult to actually learn about what you're supposed to if the internet/media/technology is giving you the answer... Yes you'll get the answer right but most likely it will not stick to your head. I guess this could be something that we can't avoid no matter how hard we try just because of the fact that it's everywhere now and it's mostly what we depend on.

Who was Shakespeare?

  William Shakespeare, he was the best English Language writer in the world. He has impacted the world with his areas in art, literature, culture, theater, and film. Really that is what we actually know a lot about him. His religious affiliations, sexual orientation, sources for collaborations, authorship of and chronology of the plays and sonnets are all known but in speculation. Also, the dates of birth and death is something that is still a mystery since back when Shakespeare was alive, they weren't dated. We do know when he was baptized and who his parents were but that's about it. Also what church he attended and when he began to write but the exact dates are unknown. I guess I can say that I understand Shakespeare's writing way more than I did before when I had barely started reading his work. I'm sure I'll never fully understand it but it'll be enough to know what I am reading about.

Notes on Hamlet

  In the beginning, honestly, I thought Hamlet was going to be one of those boring pieces of literature books that we are forced to read in an English class but now that I'm actually reading it, I have all my interest in it. This play is actually really nothing that I had expected, it has a great plot in my opinion. I do think that it is hard to understand but once I know what's going on, I don't want to stop reading. I actually do not think that Hamlet is going to end up killing anyone I mean he really wants to kill King Claudius but I doubt that he will do it. I just think that he may make sure that King Claudius lives that miserable life he deserves and feels more and more guilt as days come.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

  When Facebook was first out, I really just thought it was plain stupid but then again there was Myspace going on too. Finally though Myspace was over so I moved on to Facebook and at first I had no idea how to use it but then little by little I began to like it. I guess it was a much easier way to communicate with people; I have met so many people with it so I think that would be one of the benefits. Another thing I'd say is a benefit is the fact that you can keep in touch with people that have moved away or like family that is not from here. In addition to this, Facebook also helps throw out messages that many people can't easily get from somewhere else or like even nowadays instead of people making invitations in paper, they make events on Facebook which are announced to all or certain people who have one. Facebook recently though has changed dramatically. The privacy has decreased overtime and now you can literally see like every move that your friend makes and the worse part is that you can't remove the side bar that allows you to see all the information. Also, I post some stuff on Facebook through my phone and on the settings which I can't change, it allows everyone to see what I have posted. Privacy to me is the biggest risk. Cyber bullying is also one big thing that goes on on Facebook, throughout the comments, you can see many people just talking shit to each other or like even just people getting into fights. This article actually just had me wondering if any of the information I have posted on Facebook is one that would catch the attention of others but then again, I am sure my information that I have posted is decent. I pretty much no the standards of what to and not to post on Facebook.

(Don't) Be Hamlet

   Marisol Zepeda

 Monday, October 10, 2011

 Period 6

  

  Many people today all have inside conflicts about there life in which they do not know what's wrong or what's right. Hamlet from the play Hamlet by Shakespeare is a great example of those kind of people. He is in the middle of deciding whether he should commit suicide or just man up and deal with all his problems. In my opinion, if I was Hamlet, I would choose to man up and just deal with all the drama that is going on in my life.
  Committing suicide to me is not the best answer. Hamlet by choosing to do that would only end up losing the most valuable thing in life. This man is so religious too and of course if he decided to take his life away it'd be one of the greatest sins he has ever committed. Hamlet would end up in hell and pretty much be damned either way. Death to me just doesn't solve anything; it'll just most likely bring happiness to everybody since right now people are just worried about why Hamlet is depressed. In addition, if Hamlet decided to murder himself, King Claudius would pretty much win the war since Hamlet right now is his only enemy.
  The problem to me, I don't think is that big of a problem in which he should choose to die. He should man up! I'm the kind of person that believes in KARMA (what goes around comes back around). If King Claudius was really the one who killed King Hamlet then obviously he's going to get payback for what he did. To me something can't just happen like that and then not get something out of it. Something will end up happening to the person whether it's good or bad but in King Claudius' case, it'll most likely bad. Hamlet doesn't even have to dirty his hands with blood, something will happen to King Claudius eventually.
  Hamlet, he is a young man who I'm sure has a whole life ahead of him. He is a prince and can easily become successful. Yes he might care so much about his father and his death but I'm sure his father wouldn't want him to die. Hamlet is in love with Ophelia as it says in the play and to me if he really was in love with her then he should focus more on making their love happen than on trying to kill himself. Hamlet can grieve for his father but at the same time forget it little by little and move. He should just let things happen and eventually fall into place. This man  can do so much with his life; he doesn't necessarily have to stay where he is at now if he's unhappy, Hamlet should make choices of his own.
  Sometimes even if life gives us the worst problems ever we got to know how to deal with them and just look for different solutions not just go straight to committing suicide. Nobody said life was going to be easy; it's hard. Hamlet by choosing to take away his life is just trying to go the easy way out but doesn't really think about the positive outcome of his life if he were to stay alive.

Literature Analysis

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
            Esperanza, she's a girl living with her family and starts off by saying that she has moved houses many times and eventually ended up in the house of mango street. It was a house she did not really want to live in and always dreamed of moving into a big house with a big back yard and many restrooms. Once she moves in there, she meets two other girls named Rachel and Lucy who then become her closest friends. As days go by, she begins to mature and starts learning new things each and everyday about life. She experiences what she has never experienced before like her crushes and even the kiss that she got from an older man at her first job. Throughout the novel, Esperanza tells us different stories of each of her neighbors and family members. 

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

          The theme of The House on Mango Street would be, appreciate the things you have in life.

3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

             The author's tone in this novel would be "hopeful". Throughout the whole novel, Esperanza expresses herself with hope of somehow her life changing into the better. She is tired of not being able to stick to one thing and always has dreamed of living in nice big house. For example, there's a time where she says "I want a house on a hill like the ones with gardens where papa works". There's also a time where Mama says "When we win the lottery..." and in the beginning, Esperanza says "They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn't have to move each year." These three excerpts express hopefulness in each character; they are all hoping that they'll get a new house that will not look like the house on mango street.

4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.

           Five literary elements/techniques that strengthened my understanding of the theme/tone would be setting, point of view, protagonist, imagery, and symbols. The setting mainly helped me in the understanding of the theme because the novel took place in mango street and the entire time she would express herself in a negative way about it and that was the place that ended up to be where she learned new things and met so much people but she still did not appreciate it at times. At the end she says "Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember most is Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong to but do not belong to" this quote talks about the setting as well as the protagonist and how she felt. Symbolism is another literary element that was part of my understanding of the tone and theme. In the book, Esperanza made a connection with four  skinny trees, she thought that those trees did not belong there just like she didn't belong in that street. Her point of view also was a big part of my understanding, she dislike living on mango street which of course made her keep hoping that she'd one day move out of that street so hopeful that she ended up going to a palm reader.