Meet Macbeth

How is Macbeth introduced through in/direct characterization?

The first time that Macbeth is mentioned in the play is through indirect characterization by the witches and later the Captain, who praises him as a brave warrior. This is shortly followed by Duncan referring to the tragic hero as ‘noble Macbeth’. However, when we meet Macbeth ‘in person’ for the first time in the third scene of Act 1, he almost immediately notices the presence of the three witches and based on his reactions to them and the message that they uncover about him becoming Thane of Cawdor and King, more is revealed about who he is. This occurs repeatedly throughout the script.

What elements of foreshadowing do the witches provide?

In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the three witches as main sources foreshadowing. In the play they are conveyed as prophecies. The audience experiences a little of these prophecies almost immediately in the opening scene and act of the play. When they talk about meeting Macbeth they say they will greet him, "when the battle's lost and won." (Shakespeare, pgage1) And then they yell together, "fair is foul, and foul is fair."(Shakespeare, page1) These two examples foreshadow that some sort of evil will be coming and that there will also be a victory of sorts, but the audience doesn't know specifically what yet. These also suggest a great battle is to be fought against good and evil and the events that follow will unfold at a rapid pace. This foreshadowing can be detected by the audience because they can feel the emotion of doom and evil rising.

How does Shakespeare's approach to exposition give the reader background information about the setting and characters and a sense of what's to come without spoiling the play?

Shakespeare is good at providing a sense of what is going to happen without exactly telling you what is going to happen. He goes around the subject to give you more of a sense of the next big thing that is going to happen.

How does Shakespeare's characterization of Macbeth reflect a sense of tone (i.e., the author's attitude toward the character/s, audience, and/or subject matter)?

The attitude Shakespeare has toward the audience and characters is more somber or sinister. This play is not a happy play and always has something that will definitely go wrong.

What themes appear evident in Macbeth's character and conduct?  To what extent do you think these themes will drive the rest of the play? 

A theme is between cruelty and masculinity. I am sure everyone will end up hurt or dead or wishing they were dead. I am sure something will happen whereas everyone will regret it.

Seeking Mentor

Well my mentor is not exactly identified yet. Although I do have questions prepared for them. Some questions would be is my blog and work appropriate for how my masterpiece going? How did you get to where you are today? What steps did you take to achieve your goals? 

Resource of the Day #8

My resource of the day for my masterpiece is Pinterest. Pinterest is so helpful especially for our project and it allows us to look up and create new things to bring to the table. 

My Macbeth Resources

The five resources I think that would be useful in our study of Macbeth are:

1. Getting in touch with people who teach Shakespeare and constantly think about this. 

2. A book that translates Macbeth so it is more understandable. 

3. Playing a useful game to help understand certain tricky parts of the play. 

4. Acting out the play is also a very useful technique. 

5. Also letting us discuss the play ourselves is pretty helpful and a lecture where we take notes is also a useful resource. 

Resource of the Day #7

My resource of the day would be twitter. Twitter has so many useful tools to help reach out to people and get our project out there. I love twitter and what it's capable of doing by helping us connect to people. 

Is there an expert in the house?

       For the masterpiece our expert would be someone who is in marketing, fashion, and makeup. It would make them an expert because what they are qualified for.

       An expert in my career field would be a makeup artist and they would be able to guide me in my makeup skills and teach me other tricks and ideas to create and learn. 

This is only a test

My field of study is cosmetology I have been challenging myself and working on a YouTube channel to get my work out there. Also I started a makeup Instagram and made it strictly for makeup. I have some work I will post below:

The Test

My test is focusing on my career field. 

There are so many ways to create a test avoiding multiple choice questions and essays. My career field is makeup artistry/cosmetology. I think it's very helpful to create looks based on what the instructor may want. 

1. Create a natural day makeup look. 

2. Turn that natural makeup into a night look. 

3. Create a fun everyday up-do. 

4. Create fun beach waves. 

5. Create a smokey eye using glitter. 

All of these are very good ways to test what you know and how you can do it. 

Huxley's Brave New World

-Haunted by a vision of hell on earth

-Someday the entire world would live under a dictatorship

-enemies of freedom in United States/forces and devices (impersonal)

•   Overpopulation

-birth of Christ and landing of Mayflower population doubled

-under developed countries will cause social unrest with gain in intervention of central gov't

-catholic church is pushing us into hands of communism because of their disbelief in birth control

-we practice death control in most intensive matter without balancing control of births

•  Over organization

-more technology causes more organization

-advance in technology has caused advance in organization

-devices: propaganda linked to Hitler who used radio and impose his will on a mass of people

-methods available that could be used in bad situation

-our own advancing technology should not catch us by surprise in a situation we didn't foresee

-technology is distracting people all the time

-communist countries rely on TV and that's where it's at

-potential misuse of instrument

-soma: versatile drug

-drugs will profoundly change our mental states without doing any harm: pharmaceutical revolution

-need the consent of the ruled through drugs, new techniques of propaganda, by bypassing rational side of man appealing to subconscious and deeper emotions, making him love his slavery

-BNW could come to our shores

-start thinking about these problems i.e.. advances in technology & drugs
-think about/foresee the outcome of these new devices
-attacks advertising agencies
-democracy depends on individual voter making rational decision
-propagandists try to bypass rational decisions of these voters

-children are television and radio fathered
-children are susceptible/"brainwashing" used by communists
-fears the right people will not use devices and wrong people will use these devices in the wrong ways
-instruments for obtaining power
-power is dangerous in democracies
-devices limit power
-insist in education and individual values
-group morality/ethic contradicts genetic make up of people
-decentralization is important to give back to the voter for the power that comes with it
-Jefferson suggested break up units into smaller unites for democracy
-freedom is necessary for productive society
-need considerable measure of individual freedom
-scientists are given more freedom (Soviet regime)
-drones work for queen bees above
-Huxley supports democracy

Lit Analysis #3 Wuthering Heights

  Wuthering Heights By: Emily Bronte

 GENERAL

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

Anna Karenina is a tragic love story in which the protagonist (Anna) is trapped in a false, loveless marriage when she is truly in love with another man. She commits adultery and becomes pregnant and the rest of the story is her dealing with the repercussions from social society (in the end she commits suicide). I believe the author fulfills his purpose of the pressures of social society by making Anna the protagonist. It makes us root for her even though she was not being faithful, and also causes the reader to resent society for being so harsh on a woman for trying to stop living a lie and be with the one she loves. Are we not entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

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

In this novel there is a theme of love – and not just the “mushy” kind. Yes there is Anna’s adulterous love affair with Vronsky, but there is also the love within a family (for example Anna’s love for her son). It is actually these two loves that come in conflict with each other and lead to Anna’s inability to love. In contrast to Anna’s love triangle, there is another example of love within this novel: that of between Kitty and Levin who obtain happiness through a wholesome marriage.

3. Describe the author's tone.

Although the novel centers around a protagonist that commits adultery, we still come to pity and feel
sorry for her. Yet the author drops hints of disapproval and makes his tone seem that of a moralist. He does not approve of all the actions made by Anna Karenina. He also criticizes others for their hypocrisy and judgmental behaviors.

“[Anna] felt herself so criminal and guilty that the only thing left for her was to humble herself and beg forgiveness; but as she had no one else in her life now except [Vronsky], it was also to him that she addressed her plea for forgiveness.”

“Looking at him, she physically felt her humiliation and could say nothing more.”

“And [Vronsky] felt what a murderer must feel when he looks at the body he has deprived of life.”

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers.
Analysis- Tolstoy was very analytical of how people felt for example he uses about 4 chapters just to describe a single feeling. I found this to be over analyzed, but you really understood what the character was going through.

Imagery- Somewhat going along with analysis, Tolstoy was always very descriptive of everything in the novel including how Anna felt and what was perceived around her.

Contrast- The author contrasts the negative results of Anna’s love (adultery and suicide) with the happy ending that results from the marriage of Kitty and Levin.

Dialect- the author uses different dialects to disyinguish between different classes and emphasiz the pressures in social society. For example the higher classes are more articulate and educated sounding than that of the lower classes.

Elegy- after Anna commits suicide Vronsky reflects on how much he really loved Anna and mourns her suicicde.

Foreshadowing- Anna seeing someone who was ran over by a train in the beginning of the novel foreshadows her committing suicide (by throwing herself in front of a moving train) towards the end of the novel.

Soliloquy- as Anna drives to the train station to commit suicide she talks to herself and contemplates the events that have led to this decision.

Anaphora- there are a lot of repeated phrases throughout the novel such as Anna and her “dark curls” and “light step”

Metaphor- compares transportation like how people are transported by trains with the suicide of Anna and how it transported her away from her family and society.

Motif- adultery is a topic that frequently reoccurs in the novel (most of the plot is based off of Anna’s adultery) and by so doing also brings in the views of social society. It is really odd that when it comes to adultery, it is more of a social issue than that of a moral or religious one.

 CHARACTERIZATION

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

The author mainly uses indirect characterization through the actions of characters and he very rarely uses direct characterization. When describing Vronsky he used direct characterization: “He not only disliked family life, but a family, and especially a husband was, in accordance with the views general in the bachelor world in which he lived, conceived as something alien, repellant, and, above all, ridiculous.” Other types of direct characterization come from characters who voice their own opinions (although their opinions seem to change sometimes throughout the novel) such as Levin and his views on farming, god, and women. By using direct characterization in this way we are able to see the values of each character. Some indirect characterization examples include that of Oblonsky who claims to feel regret for his past sexual actions yet he doesn’t stop. This characterization makes us view his character as hypocritical and unable to keep his own word. Another example of indirect characterization shows Dolly as a loyal friend to Anna who appears to be indifferent to social society with her continued visits with Anna even after she has committed adultery.

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?

The authors diction changes when there are changes between different social statuses. For example the upper classes use more articulate and advanced diction because they are educated but the lower classes are not as educated and therefore their diction is inferior. I think it’s also important to point out that the subjects that they talk about are different too. For example, the upper classes that are more cautious of social status are enthralled in gossip.

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.

The protagonist, Anna, is a dynamic character. After she commits adultery and is confronted with all the social repercussions she becomes so depressed and these emotions and social pressure eventually lead her to commit suicide. She is also a round character because she experiences numerous emotions for example love (for her son and Vronsky) but is also subject to negative emotions like jealousy. She feels guilty for destroying her marriage and home but she still remains admirable. She is a martyr to social society but is devoted to her son. She experiences so many different emotions that she is characterized as a round character.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

Some of Anna’s logic made her seem unreal to me. She is stuck in a situation where if she stays in her marriage she will be unhappy but if she pursues her true love then she feels like she will lose her son and must deal with the repercussions from social society. But if she simply divorced her first husband there would be less repercussions and she could regain some of her pride by remarrying Vronsky – her true love. I felt the adultery aspect of this story could have been avoided but perhaps the author needed it to make his point in the novel and expose hypocrisy and social society.

Resource of the Day #6

Today my resource of the day is Instagram. I have a separate account for my makeup posts so I look on Instagram for inspiration and ideas to help the average college girl look ready to take on the day! 

Resource of the Day #5

My resource of the day is Blogger. We have finally decided on a website to use for our masterpiece. Blogger is super easy to use and it is something we all know about and can all access. People around the world know about blogger and I think it is a very helpful and useful tool which will be able to help get our idea out there.

10 Questions

1. What would help make our website appeal to viewers?

2. What do you recommend we include on the website?

3. How do we get the website out there so everyone around the world can see it?

4. How do we make it look really professional?

5. Should we add pictures and/or video?

6. What steps do we take to create our website?

7. What can we do to set it apart from any pre-existing website similar to ours?

8. What will make viewers want to take our advice?

9. Is there a way for us to know how many people viewed our website?

10. Can we embed a 'like' or 'comment' section on the website?

Benchmark Project

My group members are Micaela Hellman, Sarah Stevens, and Rachel Nolan. We are working on our guide to college life website. It is going pretty well and we are just trying to get the site started and up and running. I really like our idea because it is very helpful and it will be very useful for incoming college freshman.

Our project is going to be a website for college students on how to survive basically. The site is called "classyU", the 'U' stands for university and we all that it was a cool idea. We will incorporate tabs such as dorm décor, being on time, studying, using your time wisely and more. We are going to make it very interesting. Also, we will incorporate ways to avoid the 'freshman fifteen'. This is just a guide to help people incase they are scared and don't know how to handle college life. We just need to complete the site and make it up to our standards.

Resource of the Day #4

For this resource we all got together and went out to Starbucks and brainstormed. I would say my group and I were the resources. We came up with quite a few good ideas and I think that it helped us move on up in the masterpiece.

Resource of the Day #3

This resource again is the internet and it is to look up a bunch of names for the website itself. We got stuck quite a few times because the names we chose were never available. A couple people in my group came up with the name "classyU". I thought it was great.

Learning [in a] Brave New World

In the end of the book Brave New World John the savage can't seem to live the life everyone seems to. John takes the path that cannot be used by anyone else-- death. John hangs himself and he has come to realize that even as he punishes himself or does anything to atone for what he believes are less than human or less than noble actions become co-opted by the mass culture, converting his real and meaningful angst into entertainment. He even gets caught up in the orgy through the mass pressure, his anger and frustration.

Resource of the Day #2

Today my resource would have to be my sister. She is in college and it is really helpful to get some insight on what to expect in college. It is very helpful for our masterpiece and we could definitely put some of her advice on the website.

Resource of the Day #1

My resource of the day would have to be Google. My group and I have been researching free websites that allows us to start up our own website for our masterpiece. We found a few and they ended up having to be paid for monthly so we will keep looking.