ClassyU

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Seventh Reading

Overall, I have to say that reading poetry out loud really does help! When I read the first poem in my head I was so confused but when I read it the second time out loud it was much clearer!

1) Bright Star by John Keats
Out of the three poems, I found this one to be the most difficult. After reading it seven times I noticed the rhyming schemes but I'm still having a bit of trouble with the meaning of the poem.

2) Hope by Emily Dickenson
This was my favorite! During the first reading I picked up on the rhyming scheme. By about the fifth reading I started to understand the poem a little more. In the first and second stanza Dickenson introduces hope while in the last stanza she shares her experience with hope.

3) We'll go no more a-roving by Lord Byron
 I picked up the rhyming scheme on the second reading. The meaning of the poem I picked up after the seventh reading was that we should rest at night and give ourselves a break even if it's still bright outside and we aren't tired.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Macbeth Act 5 Notes

  • A doctor and gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking habits
  • Lady Macbeth comes in with a candle in her hand (sleepwalking) talking about the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo saying she has blood on her hands that won't wash off
  • Scottish leaders discuss the military situation of the English army approaching led by Malcolm and the Scottish army meeting to join forces near Birnam Wood
  • Lennox and other lords call Macbeth a "tyrant" and say he has fortified Dunsinane Castle and is making military preparations in a mad rage
  • Macbeth comes into hall of Dunsinane saying he is not scared of the English or Malcolm army because "none of woman born" can harm him 
  • His servant Seyton confirms an army of 10,000 Englishmen are approaching and Macbeth puts on his armor even though the battle isn't happening
  • the doctor tells him Lady Macbeth is kept from rest by "thick-coming fancies" and Macbeth tells him to cure her
  • Malcolm talks with English lord Siward and his officers about Macbeth's plan to defend the castle
  • They decide each soldier cut down a bough of forest and carry it in front of them so their numbers are hidden
  • Macbeth orders banners be hung and says his castle will repel the enemy
  • Seyton tells Macbeth the queen is dead and Macbeth says the tomorrow soliloquy
  • a messanger says the trees of Birnam Wood are approaching Dunsinane
  • the prophecy says Macbeth could not die until Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane and he says he is tired of the sun and will at least die fighting
  • Macbeth battles vigorously because no man born of woman can harm him and he kills Lord Siward's son
  • Macduff can't find Macbeth whom he wants to kill himself
  • Malcolm and Siward emerge and enter castle
  • Macbeth and Macduff are battling and Macbeth says he is invincible because of the witches' prophecy
  • Macduff says he was not woman born because his mother's womb was ripped and Macbeth is scared but says he will not surrender "to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feed/ And to be baited with rabble's curse'
  • Malcolm and Siward walk the castle they have captured
  • Ross tells Siward his son is dead
  • Macduff enters with Macbeth's head and says Malcolm is King of Scotland
  • Malcolm says all his thanes will be made earls  and will be first such lords in Scottish history
  • Malcolm calls all those around his friends and invites them to see him crowned at Scone while cursing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Friday, April 11, 2014

The Crossroads Between Should and Must

(Article Link)

     I never really thought about life being two different paths of Should and Must. This article really opened my eyes and got me thinking about all my decisions and whether they fell into the Should category or the Must category.
     If I'm being totally honest with myself, I'd have to categorize a lot of my past experiences in high school into the Should category. I've fallen into the routine of just doing what my teachers ask me to do in order to receive the A, and nothing else. It's almost time for graduation and I've found myself asking the same question in my head, "I've already been accepted to college is all this really necessary?". I feel it's time to stop going with the flow and doing mediocre work.
     I hope to see myself going down the Must path a lot more in the future. Going to college is the perfect opportunity to start fresh and start doing what I believe in instead of what others want. If I find myself not liking my chosen major, I hope that I listen to myself and branch out to try something different. My biggest fear is to find myself in a job I hate and don't look forward to go to every morning. Something I'd like to see myself doing in the future is co-owning my own boutique and marketing the name out to the world. After reading this article, I know that I shouldn't give up if things don't work at right away. Instead, I should keep on pushing through even harder until I see the results I want.
      In conclusion, this was a very eye-opening, stunning article. It really left me looking at life differently and making sure that everything I am doing and will be doing, is for myself and not for anybody else.

Macbeth Act 4

-the witches are chanting in a circle and Hecate comes by and compliments them
-"By the pricking of my thumbs/ something wicked comes this way"
-Macbeth comes and ask the witches to reveal the prophecies: 
-floating head says to beware Macduff
-bloody child comes and "none of women born shall harm Macbeth" 
-crowned child holding a tree says he is safe until Birnan Wood moves to Dunisane Hill
-lastly, eight crown kings walk by and the last one (Banquo's ghost) is holding a mirror
-Macbeth demands to know the meaning but the witches vanish
-Lennox enters and tells him Macduff fled to England
-Macbeth sends murderers to Macduff's castle to kill his wife and children
-at Macduff's castle Lady Macbeth demands Ross tell her why her husband has left because she feels betrayed and Ross says he trusts Macbeth
-Lady Macduff tells her son Macduff is dead but he doesn't belive it
-a messenger comes and tells Lady Macduff she is in danger and she says she has done nothing wrong
-the murderers come in and say Macduff is dead and the son calls him a liar so he stabs him and Lady Macduff flees and they chase after her
-Malcolm tells Macduff he doesn't trust him because he left his family so he's probably working for Macbeth
-to test his loyalty Macolm says he is not fit to be king because he is greedy and violent and Macbeth says he will be a good king 
-Macduff "O Scotland Scotland!"
-Macduff's loyalty to Scotland is proven when he agrees he's not fit to be king and he runs back
-Malcolm then trusts Macduff
-doctor says “crew of wretched souls” waits for King Edward so they may be cured
-Malcolm tells Macduff King Edward cures diseases
-Ross tells Macduff that his wife an children are well and says he needs to return to his country
-Malcolm says he will return there with 10,000 soldiers lent from King Edward
-Ross breaks down and says his wife and children were actually murdered
-Malcolm says to turn grief to anger and inflict revenge upon Macbeth 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Macbeth Act 3 Notes

  • Banquo thinks that the prophecy about his children sitting on the throne will come true since Macbeth's did
  • Macbeth is now King and Lady Macbeth is queen and they invite Banquo to attend a feast they will host that night and he accepts after his ride on his horse in the afternoon
  • Macbeth says they should discuss the problem of Malcolm and Donalbain because they fled Scotland and are probably plotting against his crown
  • Macbeth says Banquo is the only guy in Scotland he fears because his sons might overthrow Macbeth's family
  • Servant comes in with two murderers Macbeth has hired who Banquo did wrong with them in the past so Macbeth asks if they are angry enough to get revenge on Banqou
  • Murderers agree to murder Banquo and his son Fleance and to wait in castle for his command
  • Lady Macbeth is in despair and has a servant fetch Macbeth
  • Macbeth says his mind is "full of scorpions" and killing Duncan is not yet completed because there are still threats that need to be eliminated 
  • He has planned "a deed of dreadful note" for Banquo and Fleance and to be very kind to them in the feast so they don't think anything is up
  • Banquo and Fleance approach a wooded park on their horses and dismount and light a torch
  • The Murderers kill Banquo who dies urging his son to flee and avenge his death and the light gets put out by one of the murderers so Fleance escapes
  • Murderers leave Banquo's body to find Macbeth and tell him what happened
  • As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter for the feast one of the murderers tells him that Banquo is dead but Fleance escaped and Macbeth gets angry "the worm that's fled/ Hath nature that in time will venom breed"
  • Macbeth goes to sit at head of the royal table but Banquo's ghost is sitting in his chair and nobody else can see him but he starts to speak to the ghost
  • Lady Macbeth says excuse her husband he sometimes has visions so they should just ignore his behavior but then urges Macbeth to snap out of it and questions his manhood 
  • The ghost disappears and he tells the company "I have a strange infirmity which is nothing/ To those that know me"
  • Macbeth is going to toast but the ghost reappears and he starts freaking out again and Lady Macbeth makes more excuses for him and sends alarmed guests out of the room and the ghost disappears again
  • Macbeth says "blood will have blood"
  • he tells Lady Macbeth he heard from a servant-spy that Macduff intends to keep away from court behavior that verges on treason and he will visit witches again tomorrow in hopes of learning more about the future and who may be out to plot against him
  • Macbeth "I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o'er"
  • Lady Macbeth says he just needs to go to sleep
  • Witches meet with Hecate the goddess of witchcraft
  • Hecate scolds them for meddling in business of Macbeth without her consent and says she will take over as supervisor of the mischief and when Macbeth comes the next day they will summon visions and spirits whose messages will fill him with a false sense of security and make him confused
  • That night in Scotland Lennox walks with another lord talking about all that has happened
  • Banquo's murder blamed on Fleance who has fled
  • Both men suspect Macbeth who they call a "tyrant" for the murders of Duncan and Banquo
  • Lord says Macduff went to England where he will join Malcolm in pleading with England's King Edward for aid
  • News of plots prompted Macbeth to prepare for war
  • Lennox and lord hope Malcolm and Macduff will be successful and they save Scotland from Macbeth

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Macbeth Act 2

-Fleance is Banquo's son
-Banqou can't sleep because of cursed thoughts
-he is surprised to see Macbeth awake and tells Macbeth about how he dreams of the witches and thinks they may tell some truth but Macbeth says he hasn't thought of them since then and wishes to discuss it at a later time
-Banqou and Fleance leave and Macbeth has a vision of a dagger in front of him
-Macbeth reaches for dagger but fails and he thinks it's just his imagination when he sees blood
-vision shows his unease over killing Duncan but he will still do it 
-Lady Macbeth signals the chamberlains are asleep with a bell and Macbeth goes I Duncan's castle
-Lady Macbeth imagines Macbeth killing Duncan and she heard him cry out and is scared he failed but doesn't understand how he could because she set everything out perfectly for him
-She says she should've killed him herself
-Macbeth comes and says he has killed the king and he heard the chamberlains wake up and pray and then go back to sleep and Macbeth wanted to pray with them but he couldn't
-Lady Macbeth angry Macbeth sti has dagger cuz he was suppose to leave it and Macbeth refuses to go back so she does it
-Macbeth heard knocking and even when Lady Macbeth comes back be hears it again 
-A porter goes to answer the knocking and finds Macduff and Lennox who say it took him forever to open it
-porter says he was up late and says it's the effect of alcohol that makes you sleepy
-Macbeth enters and asks Macduff where king is and Macduff says he still sleeping so Macbeth offers to take him to him
-Macduff comes running back saying king has been murdered and Macbeth an Lennox run to look
-Lady Macbeth enters and is horrified to hear that such a thing happened under her roof
-Malcolm and Donalbain arrive saying they heard their father has been killed probably by chamberlains 
-Macbeth says he killed the chamberlains due to his anger which makes Macduff suspicious 
-Lady Macbeth faints and is taken away
-Malcolm and Donalbain say they will probably be killed next and flee the court
-Ross and an old man talk about what has happened
-foreshadowing?: an owl killed a falcon and Dancuns horses that were well trained were acting wildly and ate one another before all this
-Macduff enters and says Macbeth has been made king by other lords and is on his way to Scone to be crowned
-Macduff also tells them the chamberlains probably were paid to kill Duncon and ppl are suspicious of two kings Malcolm and Donalbain because they fled the scene
 

Look at my Brain

My blog and masterpiece represent both my creativity and inner thinking mostly because I created them. I created my blog and designed it the way I like in respects to the way I made my background and the widgets I added. Also, all my posts and essays I have on my blog show the way I write and how I think to formulate my work. My masterpiece project shows collaboration as I am working with four other classmates. Sarah and I got together to create the website which was very helpful because there were so many different ways to make a website. I have also collaborated with people outside of school in order to create posts for our website. 

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What About My Masterpiece

     Though we have been focusing a lot of our attention on Shakespeare the past couple of days, I have still found some time to work on my masterpiece. When we had some old Righetti students come talk to us about their lives in colleges so far, I took that opportunity to take some notes. I then compared my notes with Sarah and we made a post about that on our website. I have also been posting a lot of posts onto our website as well as scheduling posts for the future. Check out some of the posts here.
    Shakespeare had all day to write his great plays without having to worry about a time limit. Unlike Shakespeare, we seniors do in fact have a deadline in which our masterpieces are due. It's a bit of a struggle trying to have everything perfected in a certain amount of time, definitely when there are other work and classes we have to worry about. However, I believe my team and I have been doing very well in managing our time. We have been keeping up with both the work in our other classes as well as finding some time out of our days to work on our masterpiece.

Love Is Blind

There is a big contrast between the way the readers and Macbeth view Lady Macbeth. The readers get a sense that Lady Macbeth is a manipulative, wicked, selfish woman. When she learns Macbeth will be next in line for the throne, she immediately starts planning a scheme to murder the current king, Duncan. However, when Macbeth decides he no longer wishes to carry out with the plan, Lady Macbeth gets furious. She starts to downgrade Macbeth and talks him back into the plan. Macbeth seems to be blind to his wife's evil attributes. He still loves his wife and agrees with everything she says without question. Macbeth doesn't think twice when his wife tells him her plan and ends up praising her.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Macbeth Act 1 Notes

-Irish invaded Scotland, leader Macdonwald
-Macbeth killed Macdonwald
-Duncan says thane of Cawdor be put to death and Macbeth will be the new thane
-Macbeth and Banquo comes across the witches who address Macbeth as thane of Cawdor and say that Macbeth will be king one day and Banquo will not but his children will sit upon the throne
-Ross tells Macbeth the king has made him thane of Cawdor and Macbeth is impressed the witches prophecies came true
-Duncan says Cawdor died nobly, repenting free of his sins
-Duncan says Macbeth is now heir to the throne and Macbeth notes to himself that Malcom is in the way
-Macbeth goes to tell the news to his wife
-Macbeth's wife receives a letter of Macbeth's great news and she plans to tell him to do whatever it takes to make t happen 
-Lady Macbeth says she will put her femininity aside so she can get bloody to seize crown
-Macbeth tells her Duncan plans to leave the following day but Lady Macbeth says he won't live to see the day 
-Duncan comes to visit Macbeth
-Macbeth contemplates about assassinating Duncan and says he would only do it for his own ambition 
-Macbeth goes over why he shouldn't kill Duncon= he's a good ruler and well admired so he decides not to do it
-Lady Macbeth is angry an says to do it and stop being a coward
-as long as they are bold they will be successful
-Lady Macbeth will give Duncan's chamberlains wine while Duncan is asleep to make them drunk and then Macbeth and her will go in and kill him Duncan in his sleep
-smear his blood on the chamberlains so it looks like they did it
-Macbeth agrees and says he hopes she gives birth to sons and no daughters cuz of her plan