1st Semester

Allegory of the Cave

The allegory of the cave involves several elements that helps the reader put themselves in the situation of he prisoners. Plato used imagery such as the sun and the fire and he cave. These symbols represent different ideas that reflect plato's theme of education. He cave symbolized the limits that people put on themselves. The sun and fire illustrate education that breaks those limitations. Once the people were out of the cave it opened their see to a whole new world that never 'existed' before. I put existed in quotes because that leads Plato to his next point. Reality is only what we think we see. The shackles on the prisoners held hem back from seeing that he puppets were not really their own shadows. Therefore, everything they saw on the wall was really just an image in their mind of what by thigh was reality.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Hamlet Notes

ALL Hamlet Notes

Hamlet notes

Quotes: 

• “Stay, passenger, and wail the best of kings…”
• "A little more than kin, and less than kind."
• "But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue."
• "This above all: to thine own self be true."*
• "...One may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
• "Neither a borrower, nor a lender be."

Themes

• Madness
• There is a lot of talk about madness and who is going mad and there is a lot of speculation about why Hamlet and various other characters go mad. 
• Is there something that we are missing as readers? Maybe Shakespeare wants us to assume things..
• Hamlet is pretending to be mad! - During his faking  of being mad, does it end up backfiring on him, and does he REALLY go crazy??
• The theme of madness could be trying to send us a message. 

• Conscience 
• The church- according to the church anyone who commits suicide or homicide (for no reason…) would not make it into heaven
• None of the characters are turning out to be “noble and honorable men”
• At first it seemed like everyone was honorable and speaking to their truths..

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Notes:

• Hamlet is often interpreted about someone who was indecisive
• Has so much power, but never uses it to for revenge
• “Hamlet is able to speak but not to do”

J.L. Austin’s theory of performativity: language does not “merely describe action but acts in being spoken”

• 3 main forces of language: 
• Locutionary force- ability of language to deliver a message
• The illocutionary Force- denying a request, giving an order
• Perlocutionary Force- what is achieved by being said, consequences 

Hamlet does not come to the realization that he is an agent change in the world.

Q: Why are Shakespeare’s characters ‘self-overhear’?

A: His plays were meant to be entertaining. The characters had to present themselves with soliloquies. 

• We got a mindset from the characters through their speech

• Hamlet does not swear to avenge his father
• Motifs: drama and playacting
• What is sincere  and what is not?
• He sees a performative act as being a powerful emotional force
• He cannot act on his emotions

• Claudius’ fake prayer: 
• Hamlet does not know that his prayer failed

• Hamlet’s interaction before with Horatio and Laertes suggest that Hamlet has changed and grown as a person and gained sympathy for others
• He has no empathy for the deaths of Rozencrants or Guildenstern 
• His last words with Horatio suggest that Hamlet came to an understanding and acceptance

Hamlet was never going to get revenge on Claudius?

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Hamlet Essay - Language

1. Post an AP Exam-worthy essay to your blog in which you describe how Hamlet's use of language differentiates him from epic heroes such as Beowulf. Support your analysis with three textual examples (you may use your textbook and/or Hamlet; even though you already know it by heart I'm including the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy below)

One would not necessarily categorize Hamlet as an epic hero, because of their previous standards of what a hero should be like. Language separates all types of people, from different cultures to types of heroes. Hamlet's use of language differentiates him from any other type of hero. Shakespeare created a masterpiece that recreated a genre of writing. Most other epic heroes such as Beowulf created their character through their classic heroic actions. Hamlet stands out among the traditional heroes however, because of his intellectual use of language. 

"To die, to sleep...and by a sleep to say we end the heartache..". Hamlet's thoughts often portrayed a type of man that over thought everything. He contemplates whether it would be better to live or die, and what consequences would come from his decisions. "But that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country..". Again we see Hamlet thinking about the same topic over and over again even though we know he already made a decision to live. This illustrates how different Hamlet is from other epic characters; Hamlet was not a man who was conveyed as being big and strong and fearless. Before I had seen the videos of Hamlet I thought he was just an ordinary man. This is because of the language that Shakespeare embedded in Hamlet's character. 

When people think of the word "epic", words like powerful and mighty and courage come to mind. How is it that Hamlet could have close to none of these characteristics and still be an epic hero? It is all due to his use of language. Not only does Hamlet sound more intelligent than other epic heroes, but he thinks differently. Shakespeare used Hamlet's language as a tool of indirect characterization. "No traveler returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have..". Unlike other epic heroes, Hamlet dissects every detail of his problems instead of acting right away. 

Shakespeare broke the barrier that all epic heroes have to be giant nostril flaring creatures always ready to fight. Hamlet is one of the few heroes that stands out against the rest because of his language and how he intellectually thinks. 

Monday, November 7, 2011

Video

I thought this video was really funny and showed how people can do just about anything on the computer. There are other videos that have been remade after this but I decided to put on the original one. This video taught me that anything can be done and there are no limits with technology. Hope you guys enjoy!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Roy Christopher Notes

Background:

• never intended to become an expert in computers
• started his business when he was making magazines for his biking hobby
• has a very casual perspective on the internet and relates to kids

Mash-ups

• mash up culture with a mix of hip hop and other elements of todays society characterizes his findings
• made a really good point about how everything in today's culture is blended and essentially "mashed" together

Knowing what we don't know

• *how are we supposed to use computers if we don't know how to fix them?
• it is SO very important that today's society is educated in the tools that we use about internet use
• the older generation challenges the younger people's way of thinking and is not optimistic of our future because they are scared of change
• - older generations tend to be more conservative than younger liberal people
• Do we program or are we programmed? - the more we use technology the more we need to be aware of how it affects our daily lives

Distractions/Multitasking

• FACEBOOK- yes it does challenge us to focus but it also gives us an opportunity to focus on more than one task at a time which is not always a bad thing
• Is this part of the reason that the older generation doesn't have much faith in us? 
• There are so many things going on in our life at once that it becomes impossible to only focus on one thing at a time when overwhelmed

I took away a lot of useful information from this class discussion. I think it is really fortunate for our English class that we get to talk about topics with scholars from around the world. I took away a different perspective on internet media and I learned how to protect myself as well as learn to know what I don't know. This class has taught me so much about useful skills that I can take out of this class and use them further than just my senior year. I am taking what I learned and applying it to my everyday life, which is not something I can say about most classes.