Shakespearean Stories.

William Shakespeare has written plays that have influenced many modern movies. Most involve love, death, etc. which make good plots for many films currently. Many movies that I have seen I now realize have been a somewhat parallel to some Shakespeare plays, and there was one in particular that I favored the most. I have seen this movie probably a couple more times than necessary, (lol), 10 Things I Hate About You. This movie is not listed under one of the categories Mrs. Gilman mentioned, but is actually based off of the play, "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare..

I think that Shakespeare has influenced the cinemaas greatly. There are many concepts that he took from everyday life, (sort of) and transformed them into plays using his Shakespearean language and with a little, (and by little I mean usually a lot) more drama.. Shakespeare invented some interesting plots that many people love to read, recite, or watch many times because of how wonderful his stories are. William Shakespeare's stories were so popular, that when movies became remakes of these plays or parallel to their stories attracts a lot of the general audience. Many people who maybe think Shakespeare is boring and complicated will be suprised when they may have actually liked a movie based off of his plots and translated to modern language, but then again1 they may not. Shakespeare has most deff influenced movies nowadsays and are really great!

:)

Shakespeare

Watching A Midsummer Night's Dream in class was actually a lot easier than I anticipated. I expected (from what I have heard about Shakespeare) that it would be extremely difficult to understand the Shakespearean language and I also assumed for some reason that this movie would be really boring. After pausing the movie a few times, discussing what was going on, and taking notes (although I hate taking notes) I found the story to be pretty entertaining.  The language has become more understandable to me every day and I actually enjoyed it. Apparently the movie was set in the 19th century when Shakespeare's plays were really set in the 17th century, so I don't really know what to think about the setting. The characters are kind of interesting and I thought the language was understandable and I didn't mind it too much, although it definitely wasn't like the writing we read in books now.

Well now that I have understood Shakespeare isn't as tough as I thought, I am actually kind of looking forward to reading Romeo and Juliet. We are apparently going to read the play aloud in class and I have heard many things about it. I have heard it's very dramatic with the ending, and the fact that Romeo and Juliet are not allowed to be together. Another thing I have heard about this play is that is really beautiful yet really sad. So I am not quite sure what to expect yet, but I am looking forward to trying it out!

:]

:(

So far in Animal Farm there have been some happy times.... and some not so happy times. But beside the part in the book where Napoleon slaughters animals even of his own kind in front of the entire farm, there was another section in chapter nine that particularly disturbed me. Boxer had been injured from working so hard hence his motto, "I will work harder" and is sent to the barn to heal. So he is visited by Clover and spends most of his days there rehabilitating so he can get back to work on the windmill and working on the farm. But when unsupervised, a few animals catch a van driving up to the very barn Boxer is living in. They see him being loaded into a van with the label, "Alfred Simmons, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels Supplied". When the car is driving off, they cry out for Boxer hoping he will realize his fate and try to break free. By the time he thinks of this, the car has already driven out of the farm and is heading for the factory.

But Squealer on the other hand believes that this was compliments of Napoleon and that Boxer was arranged to go to a hospital to get better. Once everyone is convinced on the farm, they get news that Boxer has died and are very upset. They believe that he lived a happy life and at least he died a happy horse. I don't think this was the case, though. From that title on the car, that made me upset because he seems like if he was a human, he'd been a really nice person. I think that it is obvious he was not going to a hospital, and I thought it was terrible when Napoleon agreed to the animals believing he sent Boxer away to a hospital. He obviously didn't do anything to help, but wanted credit... and that made me upset. 

Freewrite/ Insight... hey that rhymes.

Currently in class, we've been reading a classic book called Animal Farm, by George Orwell... We left off in class today reading about the animals and how they are trying to fix the situation with the windmill. It was blown over by the wind and there would be further construction after their hard work already that year. We have also gotten through meeting the characters, debates between animals and everything in between. From what we've read so far, I enjoy this book. I imagine if I would have read it on my own, though, that it would be harder to understand. I like the fact that this story is a parallel situation with the Russian Revolution. 

Besides this, I also enjoy reading about how the animals react with each other. My favorite character so far would be Snowball. He seems to be the most friendly, realistic, and just wants to make everything okay on the farm. I think the characters Squealer and Mollie are really amusing- Squealer has such a big mouth and likes to repeat what people say and is completely ridiculous, while Mollie couldn't care less if she is mistreated and isn't fed as long as she gets to keep her ribbons... ? ... I think the characters personalities and who they reflect really tell you what happened during the Revolution and I think the way it is written and the events that occur are really creative. 

:)

My Expectations of HS

As I went through elementary and middle school, I didn't think much about my goals and expectations for high school or beyond. The only thing I really expected in myself was to maintain good grades... and in return get at least two days free, called a 'weekend'. :]  But now as I realize there are four years ahead of me that will effect at least the earliest part of my life, I feel I should do more to be prepared. I have new expectations in myself and goals that I'd like to be reached by the time I graduate from high school. And yes, the answer to the question asked so often to people in high school, after I graduate from high school I plan on going to college.

My expectations in high school include getting good grades, doing some extra curricular activities, sports, some art classes, a language class, etc. Pretty basic things in order to graduate, but of course these expectations will change along with my interests in high school. I realize that the things I do in high school have the ability to effect the career path I choose and how qualified I will be for certain things. Along with these expectations, I am thinking about doing the Running Start program, and other ways to earn some extra credits. I hope to do very well in school, and experience great things along with it. 

:]

POETRY OWWWT LOUD

For the upcoming Poetry Out Loud competition, I chose the poem Barter, by Sara Teasdale. As I was scrolling down the list looking for titles that appealed to me, I found a few that sounded interesting... But I wanted something different. I went through the list again and found this poem and then remembered singing it in choir last year. When I read through it, I can't help but sing along because I think it is pretty song, as well as a poem, and also has really nice imagery. (ha!) I  get kind of nervous when speaking in front of the class, (even though I am hardly nervous when I act, which is weird) and so I am getting a little anxious that I won't screw it up. 

To prepare for this competition, I practice a couple minutes a day acting out how I will recite this poem to convey its true meaning (ha). Occasionally, I read it out loud to some of my friends... This poem means a lot to me also which helps practicing and the reciting easier. I think it is a metaphor for all the beautiful things in life and how we kind of take them for granted so we should do all we can to keep things beautiful and admire stuff. I think it teaches a lesson and kind of makes you realize that maybe we shouldn't take all the nice things in life for granted and appreciate them. 

yay :] 

...kbye.

The Road Not Takenn

This week we read poems by Robert Frost, Fire and Ice, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening and The Road Not Taken, Mrs. Gilman was talking about. Each of these poems are very well written and can relate to anyone. However, The Road Not Taken related to somethings in my life and most likely relate to many other people in everyday life. To me, this poem meant that we have to make important decisions- whether we want to 'follow the crowd', or be independent and 'travel' a different way. Most people like to be in a crowd, but many people like to be unique and not do something they may not want to do but is expected to be done. 

I chose this poem because I thought the metaphor was very good. It was also something that was relative to many things in life, I have mentioned before. "I shall be telling this with  sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." (Stanza 4) Sometimes when I am at school, there are some decisions I have to make, a choice between whether I should be with my friends, or whether I should be with new people. It really depends on the situation, but everybody makes choices like this.