Great Expectations First Stage

At the end of chapter 9 of Great Expectations, it closes with the following paragraph:

That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with and life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.

The day that Pip is referring to in this quote is the day where he first meets Miss Havisham and Estella. After this day, he is no longer willing to live his life as a mere blacksmith. Estella spends the day bringing him down with her comments on her thick boots and coarse hands. He is determined to be worthy of Estella and this day will forever change the course of his life.

My experiences in life have been very different then those of Pip, but there have been some days that seem to shape the rest of my life. One day that I particularly think of is a day in the fourth grade. When children are young, they rarely think of how they compare to others in terms of school work. Before this day I didn't really think of my self as smart, or that I was good at math or reading. Our fourth grade class had so many students and the fifth grade had so few, that our teachers decided to move some of the fourth graders on in reading, math, or both. I never thought that I might be one of those lucky students, let alone one of the four that got moved on in both subjects. From that day on, I realized that I could succeed and was good at school.

Three Points

The three points that I am making in my body paragraph are how similar Miss Prism and Chasuble's personalities are, how they both have occupations that encourage their formal personalities and don't encourage them to express how they truly feel. Also I included how they also have different experiences before they met that, even though are discouraging, shows them that even when they make mistakes in their lives, they are still the same people that they thought they were before Chasuble knew that Miss Prism lost a baby that she was taking care of. I believe that my points and my commentary elaborates on our thesis and help make our point.

The Importance of Being Earnest and the Victorian Era

When reading The Importance of Being Earnest which was written and takes place in the Victorian Era, research on the Victorian Era helped me understand more of what happens in the book. One example of this is the relationship between Lady Bracknell and her daughter Gwendolen. When researching, I found out that it was mainly up to the mother to teach the daughter. This information helps when understanding lines that Gwendolen says like when she says that her mother raised her to be shortsighted as well as the relationship between them in regards of Gwendolen wanting to marry Jack.

Lady Bracknell's thoughts on Gwendolen's engagement to Jack are also easier to understand with previous research. Marriage in the Victorian Era was pretty much only to improve your social standing. Though Jack is wealthy and has been raised in a wealthy family, Lady Bracknell refuses to allow Jack and Gwendolyn to marry because he does not know who his family is since he was found in a handbag. To Lady Bracknell it doesn't matter that they want to marry, family is too important to her and she does not want someone in her family who has unknown lineage.

Seven Commandments

Commandments

One: Whatever goes upon two legs

is an enemy.

A fundamental principle

The start of a

Revolution.

They are evil;

They
abuse
us
but

we will trade with

Them

and befriend

Them.

Two: Whatever goes upon fore legs,

or has wings,

is a friend.

Animals are the

better creatures.

Except

for

one.

Snowball.

He worked with the

Enemy.

He betrayed us.

He is one of

Them.

He is not a

friend.

Three: No animal shall wear

cloths.

The mark of

humans

we

are

not

like Them.

But we need

to show

that we are equal to

humans.

Put ourselves forward.

Pigs can wear

clothing

sometimes.

Four: No animal shall sleep

in a bed.

A sign of humanity.

We are better then

Them

But

we

need

our

rest and health.

We can sleep in beds

without sheets.

Five: No animal shall drink

alcohol.

It causes Their

cruelty and

weakens

their

mind.

We

are

wiser and

stronger then they are

None shall drink

to excess.

Six: No animal shall kill

any other animal.

We shall not be

slaughtered like

we

were

before.

We

are

not

creatures without a

mind

we won’t make

Their mistakes.

None

shall be killed

without cause.

Seven: All animals are

equal.

Our equality runs the farm

and keeps

us moving

We

are

all

equal.

We

are

not ruled over. We

govern ourselves.

But some animals

are more

equal

than

others.

Siren Song- Teal Van Dyke; I am Waiting- Madison Niermeyer

When watching Teal Van Dyke perform "Siren's Song", the first thing I noticed was her presence. She didn't use excessive hand motions, but you could see in her face and hear in her voice the true meaning of the poem. Just by the way she stood, she commanded the stage with her physical presence. Her voice and articulation was spot on. Emphasizing the word in the sentence that should be noticed and playing on the satirical tone of the poem made it wonderful to watch.

My interpretation of this poem's meaning is that people want to be able to help others, even if it harms them. They think that they are so special, but truly they are just being lured into harms way. People will say anything to make you believe them and help them, when they don't truly mean it. Everyone wants to be special and noticed, enough that they will die for it.

Mockingbird Motif

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a mockingbird motif is used to show innocence and good. Boo Radley is an example of a mockingbird. He only helps people, he doesn't harm them. It is said after he saves Jem and Scout's lives that it would be unfair to tell people that he saved them because he obviously wants to be left alone (he hasn't been seen for many years), it would be unright to harm someone by forcing attention on him when he has only helped people.

The mockingbird motif also used to illustrate the major themes, such as growing up. Throughout the book, Scout's perspective on Boo Radley has been constantly changing. She slowly relises that he isn't the phycopathic criminal that the town makes him out to be. He is just someone who does nothing to promote the rumors other than stay in his house instead of put up with all of the wrongs in the world. He does nothing but make beautiful music; he is a mockingbird.

Life Lessons

My mom has always wanted me to succeed in life. Whether it's getting a good grade in a hard class or doing well in a game, she always tells me "Visualize a good result. If you don't believe it will happen, it won't." I have to picture the best outcome in my mind. If I think that something won't turn out well or I won't get a good grade on something, then I won't. It pushes you to do better and remember what you need to remember so that you can meet your goals.

This was brought up for the first time with sailing. I wanted to do well, but I didn't think that it would be possible. She told me that if I kept that attitude, I wouldn't do well. I would have to believe that it would happen before I could. It's not just visualizing, but also hard work. I worked hard to do well, and I did. I got tenth out of eighty four competitors for the whole season. I know that some of the people I beat, I only beat because they only sailed a few regattas, but I still beat them. Its because of my mom. This technique will help me for the rest of my life.