Hamlet. My first impression when I received my copy was, good lord. I never knew Shakespeare had a large text published and quite frankly, I was a little apprehensive to dig into its pages. Maybe. But the fact is that I did it. We did it. And I should probably give a big thanks to Sparknotes...thank you.
We've watched a good number of adaptations of Hamlet in these last few weeks and there have been some I've liked and some I haven't liked. After the last page was finished in the Hamlet text we began our movie watching with the Branagh Hamlet. In this version I had a problem with certain characters and character appearances. The men were all so very old and bleached out looking that their appearances instilled in me the state of corruption that Elsinore was in. Creepy. Perhaps this was the point, but I had trouble connecting with the characters and the story line of the play. This could also have to do with the fact that I hadn't began annotations yet. My bad. Ophelia bugged me in most of the productions, but in this one and the Tenant production the most as I wanted more than anything for the actors playing her character to try a bit harder. I guess they felt a bit weak to me. On another note, the ghost in this production was probably the most terrifying to me as the scene set up between the ghost and Hamlet occurred in such an ominous way that I felt and saw the forces of darkness warring with the Earth as Hamlet hurried to keep up with his dead father.If the theory that the ghost is not heaven-sent is true then this scene works well to showcase the dark revengeful state of old Hamlet and the possibility that Hamlet's power came from Satan instead of God.
The Tenant Hamlet version was the more comical production as it dealt with the state of Hamlet's obvious insanity and the constant suspicion and spying that transpired within the mansion walls, especially with the genius use of security cameras to indicate these issues. I don't know how discussions went in other classes, but in my class we discussed the importance of the stairs in the Olivier Hamlet. The higher up the characters ascend the closer in proximity they are to heaven and God and the lower they descend the closer they are to hell and its ruler Satan. As I did my annotations I saw more clearly Hamlet's struggle to be decisive and to figure out if his power to purge the world-Elsinore- of Claudius's evils were ordained from God himself or from some other less heavenly power. Also in this production, we saw Gertrude deliberately take a big gulp of the poisoned cup in order to pick/side/ protect her son. I would like to think Shakespeare meant for this to happen. I mean Gertrude loved her son and remained concerned for his mad/plaintive state throughout the course of the play. For her to choose Hamlet and leave her temptation-Claudius-makes for a much more interesting viewing.
Although Jacobi is a talented actor, his production of Hamlet did not bode well with me.Terrible of me, I know. But well, I felt less engaged watching this film and although it was more traditional, I felt it progressed slowly and well dryly...well the incest bit was out there and far from dull, but that's another matter. I would have liked to see more discussion over this film as I thought we focused more on the Hawke production. This production, although displaying a more peaceful ghost, most likely heaven-sent, didn't stick in my mind that much either. I did like the actress who played Ophelia though. Her "I'm crazy" scene was quite moving.
Recently we read an article by Philip Edwards, the "Tragic Balance in Hamlet", which helped me to realize that I was actually sympathizing for Hamlet.What? The David Tenant documentary asked me to consider all that Hamlet had suffered and I did, feeling sorry for the poor kid. Oh wait, thirty-year old grown man. Sure, his dad was murdered and most of us would think of revenge if the same were to happen to us, but Hamlet's right does not make his actions a moral right. Murder is murder. Both Claudius and Hamlet are guilty. Guilty. How can they not be, Edwards, as you "praise" Claudius in your essay?
Now I have to consider all the books and movies I've ever read or seen in my life where the protagonist has been wronged by the antagonist. You know how many times I've sat reading a book or watching a movie waiting for that bloody scene were justice is served? WAY too many times. This folks shows the shift in values. Our modern culture has changed us humans so much that we(well me) can sit without a thought watching the most gory video jumping up and down, cringing, rooting for, whatever, for the evil doer to be brought to death. It's crazy how I don't take time to think about these things. I think "well he tried to kill that guy with a gun and ended up dying himself, too bad for him....should have been more careful. Karma gets ya." But really, how do we have the power to say God has given us the divine right to rid the world of evils? I don't want to be a usurper of some possible deity like Hamlet. I'm human. A tiny individual. What do we know? And there's this problem-evil cannot just be allowed to continue on without the care of those who are innocent. We like our happy endings after all.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Prompt Time
2006 Open Prompt-Country Setting as a Source of Values
Student 3A
As I write this first post I have yet to read the AP Reader's commentary, and so my thoughts... So far the flow of this student essay is quite simple and easily understandable as he/she considers Jane Austen's Persuasion. As I read I am far from intimidated as this student analyzes the influence of the country setting-UpperCross. In his/her thesis this student argues that Jane Austen uses this rural setting to help impact the character development of the plain yet intelligent main character, Anne by endowing "her countryside with a nurturing, virtuous, and peaceful quality." This essay contains well developed body paragraphs agruing the appeal Uppercross brings to Anne and the growth she experiences in the small area, as she is indeed far from the city Bath that judges her more harshly. And the score... was a lovely 8. I can agree with this score because this student provides the details in his/her paragraphs to show how Uppercross supports and welcomes Anne's "qualities of intelligence, kindness and modesty... " Also, direct sentences and colloquial type diction help benefit the reader to the student's argument that in Uppercross's "the reader better understands Anne's qualities, for she is constantly undergoing self-reflection and self-examination..."
Student 3B
Immediately I became a bit concerned while reading the introductory paragraph of this essay where this student introduces two settings. Sure, he/she has the intent to contrast the influence that both the countryside and city settings have upon main character Jack, but his/her observance that the city is just as influencing as the countryside is left briefly in a sentence without being further expanded upon. To further clarify in quote, "He[Jack] lives lives a life by the name of Earnest in the city..." That's it. Fortunately, in the following body
paragraphs the student further illustrates how both settings play a role in Jack's life providing the details to point out how Jack struggles to live between his two lives. The life in the city with his
fiancée and his life in the countryside with his family members. Although this student provides this information, he/she fails to accurately take from the text the necessary values that are needed to answer the prompt. The countryside being a needed safe haven for Jack is not enough. I was further concerned with this essay when the student tried to tie in "comedic confusion" into the prompt. Honestly, I didn't see the point and in no way did the random argument help to support his/her thesis. This essay received a 6.
Student 3C
Alright the first sentence of this introductory paragraph urged me to read on...but then I read the thesis. "Such happens on William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying". "Such" being that settings allow certain characters to establish values. And I'm assuming here that that is the desired message. As you can tell from the thesis, very underdeveloped, as is the rest of this essay. All this student had to do here was include a couple noteworthy values and they may have raised their score of a 4 to a possible 5. The next paragraph of this essay, in an out of the blue fashion, attempts to link stream of consciousness to setting. I am more than confused at this moment because so far this student has yet introduce a character or a setting. And so I'm thinking, not good. But then he/she finally introduces the setting to be the backward south of the United States from years past. This student then introduces three characters, Dewey Dell, little Vardaman, and Anse, who all display some backwardness of the south but in introducing three characters the organization of this essay becomes a hectic and trying read as readers try to understand how the setting of the story supports the entire work and these so-called backward values.
Student 3A
As I write this first post I have yet to read the AP Reader's commentary, and so my thoughts... So far the flow of this student essay is quite simple and easily understandable as he/she considers Jane Austen's Persuasion. As I read I am far from intimidated as this student analyzes the influence of the country setting-UpperCross. In his/her thesis this student argues that Jane Austen uses this rural setting to help impact the character development of the plain yet intelligent main character, Anne by endowing "her countryside with a nurturing, virtuous, and peaceful quality." This essay contains well developed body paragraphs agruing the appeal Uppercross brings to Anne and the growth she experiences in the small area, as she is indeed far from the city Bath that judges her more harshly. And the score... was a lovely 8. I can agree with this score because this student provides the details in his/her paragraphs to show how Uppercross supports and welcomes Anne's "qualities of intelligence, kindness and modesty... " Also, direct sentences and colloquial type diction help benefit the reader to the student's argument that in Uppercross's "the reader better understands Anne's qualities, for she is constantly undergoing self-reflection and self-examination..."
Student 3B
Immediately I became a bit concerned while reading the introductory paragraph of this essay where this student introduces two settings. Sure, he/she has the intent to contrast the influence that both the countryside and city settings have upon main character Jack, but his/her observance that the city is just as influencing as the countryside is left briefly in a sentence without being further expanded upon. To further clarify in quote, "He[Jack] lives lives a life by the name of Earnest in the city..." That's it. Fortunately, in the following body
paragraphs the student further illustrates how both settings play a role in Jack's life providing the details to point out how Jack struggles to live between his two lives. The life in the city with his
fiancée and his life in the countryside with his family members. Although this student provides this information, he/she fails to accurately take from the text the necessary values that are needed to answer the prompt. The countryside being a needed safe haven for Jack is not enough. I was further concerned with this essay when the student tried to tie in "comedic confusion" into the prompt. Honestly, I didn't see the point and in no way did the random argument help to support his/her thesis. This essay received a 6.
Student 3C
Alright the first sentence of this introductory paragraph urged me to read on...but then I read the thesis. "Such happens on William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying". "Such" being that settings allow certain characters to establish values. And I'm assuming here that that is the desired message. As you can tell from the thesis, very underdeveloped, as is the rest of this essay. All this student had to do here was include a couple noteworthy values and they may have raised their score of a 4 to a possible 5. The next paragraph of this essay, in an out of the blue fashion, attempts to link stream of consciousness to setting. I am more than confused at this moment because so far this student has yet introduce a character or a setting. And so I'm thinking, not good. But then he/she finally introduces the setting to be the backward south of the United States from years past. This student then introduces three characters, Dewey Dell, little Vardaman, and Anse, who all display some backwardness of the south but in introducing three characters the organization of this essay becomes a hectic and trying read as readers try to understand how the setting of the story supports the entire work and these so-called backward values.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
"Death From the Skies!" Close Reading
Link
It's not often that a title births the need for one to do a double-take, and yet in this article's title "Death From the Skies!" by Nicholas Duchesne, such a feat is most certainly achieved, allowing one to eagerly continue reading . As of recently brown tree snakes have become a nuance to the animal species and human inhabitants of Guam, eliciting the cry for change . In an effort to decrease these lethal snakes, poison mice have been dropped into Guam's jungles to reduce and eliminate the harm that's already been done.And through his engaging style, Duchesne uses literary techniques such as: diction, details, and syntax to describe the measures that are being taken to underwhelm Guam of it's current brown tree snake population.
The use of diction in this article although largely colloquial, does at times play with the informal diction to add more emphasis to the overall message, that being the need to destroy these brown tree snakes. For example when Duchesne writes: "After the seemingly tasty snack is dropped on their arboreal doorstep, the snakes choke down their medicine," the weight of the word "arboreal" immediately catches a readers eye. In this sentence it serves to specify the habitat of these snakes. Their location is key to where these poison mice need to be dropped in order to have the desired affect. More interestingly, to describe the type of mice, in this particular sentence Duchesne writes: "Dead neonatal mice." Despite being young, these mice are most likely easily accessible and small, and therefore an important poison sacrifice adding to the effort to rid Guam of brown tree snakes. From there the everyday language becomes dominate where Duchesne plants recognizable words such as: war, invasive, and culprits to lesson ones view on brown tree snakes. They are harming the jungles and these aforementioned words help to place them in the wrong.
Without details a reader would not be able to comprehend the severity that these brown tree snakes present to Guam's native species population and economy. To alarm readers, Duchsene's details focus on numbers in order to factually relate the dangers of these snakes. He writes: "Though relatively harmless to humans, the tree-dwelling snakes have devastated Guam’s jungle ecology,driving eight species of native birds extinct. They also are the frequent culprits behind power outages on the island, which they trigger by wriggling into power substations." From this information a reader easily understands the trouble these snakes initiate and to know that they've wiped out eight bird species, creates a concern for those readers who value bird populations. And then when Duchesne relays the information that "Within 60 hours the snakes, which grow to between 3 and 6 feet in length, are dead," from the poison pills, relief is palpable and some assurance in these poison mice ensues.
Syntax works to create pauses in this article and to add more excitement, more so in the areas where Duchesne asks a question. Fragments and the occasional question in these sentences, "Their cargo? Dead neonatal mice. Their mission? Get eaten," have this build up affect. Question? Pause, and the reader considers and wonders, "Whatever could the solution be?" Also, these shorter sentences benefit in keeping the reader's focus in order to keep their attention on how these brown tree snakes are being taken out throughout the entire article. Punctuation also shows up in the position of commas, especially in this sentence, "The parachutes, however, are made of cardboard and green tissue paper, and they’re designed to get snared in tree branches." These commas create effective pauses drawing the intended message in the role that the cardboard and tissue paper play to reach the infamous brown tree snakes.
The role of diction, details, and syntax in this editorial article by Nicholas Duchesne allow for the creative message that poison-pill mice have currently been working to decrease the brown snake population in Guam. These techniques help to support this article's focus on the irritatingly harmful brown tree snakes and the even more harmful poison mice that have been dropped into Guam jungles. One is easily enraptured and interested by this article and because of these literary techniques, the reader has no issue articulating the message of this short piece.
It's not often that a title births the need for one to do a double-take, and yet in this article's title "Death From the Skies!" by Nicholas Duchesne, such a feat is most certainly achieved, allowing one to eagerly continue reading . As of recently brown tree snakes have become a nuance to the animal species and human inhabitants of Guam, eliciting the cry for change . In an effort to decrease these lethal snakes, poison mice have been dropped into Guam's jungles to reduce and eliminate the harm that's already been done.And through his engaging style, Duchesne uses literary techniques such as: diction, details, and syntax to describe the measures that are being taken to underwhelm Guam of it's current brown tree snake population.
The use of diction in this article although largely colloquial, does at times play with the informal diction to add more emphasis to the overall message, that being the need to destroy these brown tree snakes. For example when Duchesne writes: "After the seemingly tasty snack is dropped on their arboreal doorstep, the snakes choke down their medicine," the weight of the word "arboreal" immediately catches a readers eye. In this sentence it serves to specify the habitat of these snakes. Their location is key to where these poison mice need to be dropped in order to have the desired affect. More interestingly, to describe the type of mice, in this particular sentence Duchesne writes: "Dead neonatal mice." Despite being young, these mice are most likely easily accessible and small, and therefore an important poison sacrifice adding to the effort to rid Guam of brown tree snakes. From there the everyday language becomes dominate where Duchesne plants recognizable words such as: war, invasive, and culprits to lesson ones view on brown tree snakes. They are harming the jungles and these aforementioned words help to place them in the wrong.
Without details a reader would not be able to comprehend the severity that these brown tree snakes present to Guam's native species population and economy. To alarm readers, Duchsene's details focus on numbers in order to factually relate the dangers of these snakes. He writes: "Though relatively harmless to humans, the tree-dwelling snakes have devastated Guam’s jungle ecology,driving eight species of native birds extinct. They also are the frequent culprits behind power outages on the island, which they trigger by wriggling into power substations." From this information a reader easily understands the trouble these snakes initiate and to know that they've wiped out eight bird species, creates a concern for those readers who value bird populations. And then when Duchesne relays the information that "Within 60 hours the snakes, which grow to between 3 and 6 feet in length, are dead," from the poison pills, relief is palpable and some assurance in these poison mice ensues.
Syntax works to create pauses in this article and to add more excitement, more so in the areas where Duchesne asks a question. Fragments and the occasional question in these sentences, "Their cargo? Dead neonatal mice. Their mission? Get eaten," have this build up affect. Question? Pause, and the reader considers and wonders, "Whatever could the solution be?" Also, these shorter sentences benefit in keeping the reader's focus in order to keep their attention on how these brown tree snakes are being taken out throughout the entire article. Punctuation also shows up in the position of commas, especially in this sentence, "The parachutes, however, are made of cardboard and green tissue paper, and they’re designed to get snared in tree branches." These commas create effective pauses drawing the intended message in the role that the cardboard and tissue paper play to reach the infamous brown tree snakes.
The role of diction, details, and syntax in this editorial article by Nicholas Duchesne allow for the creative message that poison-pill mice have currently been working to decrease the brown snake population in Guam. These techniques help to support this article's focus on the irritatingly harmful brown tree snakes and the even more harmful poison mice that have been dropped into Guam jungles. One is easily enraptured and interested by this article and because of these literary techniques, the reader has no issue articulating the message of this short piece.
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