Thursday, December 5, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Blog Post #12: The Rainbow Prose Essay Reflection
1. My initial essay score was a 6 and it was given by Fernanda Hurtado. After reading the rubric, Fernanda believed that my essay scored within the 6-7 range leaning towards a high 6 because my writing provided a "sustained, competent reading of the passage" and "a reasonable analysis" of the prose passage. She believed that I had some strong points and completely addressed the thesis by discussing literary devices and how they captured the woman's situation. I also "referred to the text for support" of my claims. What I could have improved on in my essay was showing more complexity and been more clear and in-depth on the ideas that I did bring up to support my thesis. Fernanda thought that I focused more on the second part of the prompt by discussing how literary devices added to the situation rather than how they characterized the women. I completely agree with the score that Fernanda gave my essay. I felt a little bit pressed for time at the end so I didn't really get to wrap up my point and finish addressing the last part of the prompt. After reading the rubric and discussing the essay in class, I feel like I was on the right track but there was a lot of things that I missed in the passage and did not address.
2. While reading the passage, I noticed that the word "blood" was repeated multiple times as well as references to blood pulsing through the body. I considered including this in my writing but I wasn't sure how to incorporate it into my understanding of the essay. Taking advice from 5 Steps to a 5, I should pay more attention to the "certain categories that will begin to pop out to you" because "these can be the basis for the development of the body of your essay," (Rankin, Murphy 65). After finding out more information about D. H. Lawrence and his idea of "blood knowledge", I was introduced to a whole new level of complexity that I had not known about before. Lawrence was writing from a perspective that he did not believe in. He may have believed that most women would be against his idea that natural things and things of the earth were humanizing and wanted to look at things from another perspective. I think that I could have used this complexity to better elaborate on some of the ideas that I started to propose in my body paragraph.
Looking back on what I wrote now after norming other essays that answered this prompt, I realize that there were some better literary devices that I could have identified and explained. One of the devices that I brought up was imagery which I think was solid but I could have been more specific as to what kind of imagery was used. In my essay, I also said that the imagery showed a contrast between the views of men and women. It would have made more sense if I started by directly stating contrast as a literary device. When I first read the passage, I also noticed the parallelism with in the prose's structure. I again underestimated the importance of it to the complexity of the passage and couldn't really find a place to fit it in amongst the ideas that I had already written down. One way that could help me improve on what to include and look for when quickly reading through the passage is to "check the models and rubrics for guidance for self-evaluation," (Rankin, Murphy 76).
One literary device that I did mention was rhetorical questions. I said that the use of rhetorical questions helped to characterize the woman and her desire to achieve more but also her frustration and confusion over how to get there. While I think that I was getting somewhere with my thinking, I don't think that I touched the full purpose of rhetorical devices in this passage. The last paragraph containing the rhetorical questions is one of the most critical parts of the prose passage and I felt like I didn't completely analyze it. After having a quick discussion of the rhetorical questions in class and seeing them mentioned in the essays that we normed, I probably should have brought up the point that the women is ambitious and is confused as to why her husband is so complacent with his unchanging status of just tending to the land. The women would rather be embracing the new and ever changing world of modern society but cannot because she is bound to her husband. Through her questions, she also vaguely wonders what it would be like if women could have power and wishes that she could have the status of a men. This point would lead to more complexity because D. H. Lawrence believed that if women that desired to have men's status were given some of the roles of men, they would find that they didn't like them. I believe that I had the right general idea in my essay but could have incorporated some more important ideas and literary advices that I noticed into my writing as well as added more complexity into my analysis of the passage.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Final Portfolio Assessment
1. This trimester, I put the most time into the American Drama Assignment. My group and I all collaborated well together and had the same vision for how the project should turn out. We used the time given to us productively by working together on the written assignments and also the mis en scene decisions and filming of the scenes in the play. Everyone in my group put in 100% effort into getting the project done to the best of out abilities. Although we worked extremely hard, we also had a good time. The strengths of our project ended up being our filming, acting, and how we used mis en scene techniques to convey meaning in each shot. What we lacked in was our communication with the audience. We were not as clear as we could have been in our thesis and why we chose each scene to act out in support of our thesis. Everyone in our group understand and could defend the choices that we made, we just did not portray this as effective in our presentation. We could have added some shots with words before our actual film or framing to greater emphasize our thesis. After working with "Death of a Salesman" for so long, I got a very in-depth understanding of what the theme of the play was and messages that it conveyed about the American Dream.
The project that I am most proud of how it turned out was my group's fairytale presentation. It was the fifth and final group poetry presentation that we did. I feel like everything that we had learned and struggled with on the previous presentations all came together and clicked for us. Throughout the entire process, my group had been working so hard and putting in so much effort and even though we all worked well together, I felt like we were never all of the same page with each other and where we should be with analyzing and interpreting our poems. When we were assigned "Little Red Riding Hood" as our fairytale, we all could immediately understand and discuss the meaning of the poem that went with the fairytale. With our united understanding, we used our creativity to make the PowerPoint itself and tweet to present what we had learned in a more interesting and catchy way. The only weakness is that we may have been able to dig a little bit deeper into what the author was trying to convey in her poem. Overall, this final presentation earned my group not only our best presentation grade, but also the confidence that we had gotten what skills we needed to analyze and interpret poetry from all of our previous presentations.
2. In class this trimester, I feel that as I grew more confident with the material, I participated more. From the beginning, I did all of the assignments that I was asked to do and kept my blog updated. I also took personal notes during all of the poetry and literary analysis presentations and while reading Hamlet. When it came to my own work, I steadily put in my best effort throughout the trimester. When working in groups, the situation was a little bit different. While working on our group presentations in the first part of the trimester, I worked hard and tried to contribute my best effort to the group. The only problem was that there were people in my group that understood what we were doing better than I did so they often stepped up and took control. Despite that, I still did my share of the work although I did not feel like I was contributing as much as I could have. For example, usually I was not responsible for doing anything but information slides and occaisionally a topic sentence. As we moved on to our last couple of group presentations, I felt more comfortable with analyzing poetry and felt more satisfied with my role within our group's work. I actually helped come up with the thesis statement and one of the topic sentences for the fairytale presentation.
After changing groups for the American Drama assignment, I kept up my strong group participation. I put forth a lot of effort into both the written and filmed part of the project. For example, I organized my whole group for filming at my house, drew and wrote a couple of the story boards, choose which scenes we would act out and their framing, and also helped come up with the thesis for the theme of the play. In my new group, I found myself helping out the other members by sharing my opinion and giving them advice whereas I felt like I was the person recieving all of the advice earlier in the trimester. The reversal of roles shows how far I have come in my understanding of literature. My in class participation has remained fairly steady throughout the trimester. I share my opinion and ask questions occaisionally when I feel like there is something that I need to say. Overall, I think that my participation in class discussions has been average and it is something that I hope to improve on next trimester.
3. Looking back on the measurable goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the trimester, it is evident that I have improved greatly. On the first practice AP test that we took, I recieved a 55%. On the practice AP test that we took for our Unit 1 test, before test corrections I got a 67%. On the practice AP test that we took for our final exam, before test corrections I got a 72%. In just one trimester, my performance on the practice AP exams has improved by 17%! And I still have almost all of second trimester to improve as well. If I show as much improvement next trimester that I did this trimester, then a reasonable goal would be to get around an 87% on the second trimester final exam which is a great score to go into the real AP test with.
To break down and access my specific goals for improving on my AP test performance, I have been doing well so far. On the first practice AP test, I counted 14 words that did not know. On the most recent practice AP test, there where only about 7 or 8 words that I did not know. My goal at the beginning of the year was to know 3 or 4 more vocab words on each test than I did on the previous one. This means that I am right on track for my goal of not knowing only 1 or 2 words on the actual AP exam. I have learned these new words by writing down and looking up any unfamiliar words that I have come accross in class. Another goal that I had set for myself was to not rush through the test but rather spend more time analyzing the text and thinking about the questions. The first time that I took a practice AP test, I finished in 30 minutes. This time it took me about 40 minutes when we get 50 minutes on the actual test so I am getting closer to using most of the time that I am given. There are also some goals that I would like to set for myself for class next trimester. I would like to participate more in class discussions. To turn that into a measurable goal, I would like to make at least one comment or ask one question every time that we have class discussions. Overall, I am proud of my progress in this class so far. I think that as of now, I am on a solid path to be able to achieve most of my goals by the time I take the AP exam.
The project that I am most proud of how it turned out was my group's fairytale presentation. It was the fifth and final group poetry presentation that we did. I feel like everything that we had learned and struggled with on the previous presentations all came together and clicked for us. Throughout the entire process, my group had been working so hard and putting in so much effort and even though we all worked well together, I felt like we were never all of the same page with each other and where we should be with analyzing and interpreting our poems. When we were assigned "Little Red Riding Hood" as our fairytale, we all could immediately understand and discuss the meaning of the poem that went with the fairytale. With our united understanding, we used our creativity to make the PowerPoint itself and tweet to present what we had learned in a more interesting and catchy way. The only weakness is that we may have been able to dig a little bit deeper into what the author was trying to convey in her poem. Overall, this final presentation earned my group not only our best presentation grade, but also the confidence that we had gotten what skills we needed to analyze and interpret poetry from all of our previous presentations.
2. In class this trimester, I feel that as I grew more confident with the material, I participated more. From the beginning, I did all of the assignments that I was asked to do and kept my blog updated. I also took personal notes during all of the poetry and literary analysis presentations and while reading Hamlet. When it came to my own work, I steadily put in my best effort throughout the trimester. When working in groups, the situation was a little bit different. While working on our group presentations in the first part of the trimester, I worked hard and tried to contribute my best effort to the group. The only problem was that there were people in my group that understood what we were doing better than I did so they often stepped up and took control. Despite that, I still did my share of the work although I did not feel like I was contributing as much as I could have. For example, usually I was not responsible for doing anything but information slides and occaisionally a topic sentence. As we moved on to our last couple of group presentations, I felt more comfortable with analyzing poetry and felt more satisfied with my role within our group's work. I actually helped come up with the thesis statement and one of the topic sentences for the fairytale presentation.
After changing groups for the American Drama assignment, I kept up my strong group participation. I put forth a lot of effort into both the written and filmed part of the project. For example, I organized my whole group for filming at my house, drew and wrote a couple of the story boards, choose which scenes we would act out and their framing, and also helped come up with the thesis for the theme of the play. In my new group, I found myself helping out the other members by sharing my opinion and giving them advice whereas I felt like I was the person recieving all of the advice earlier in the trimester. The reversal of roles shows how far I have come in my understanding of literature. My in class participation has remained fairly steady throughout the trimester. I share my opinion and ask questions occaisionally when I feel like there is something that I need to say. Overall, I think that my participation in class discussions has been average and it is something that I hope to improve on next trimester.
3. Looking back on the measurable goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the trimester, it is evident that I have improved greatly. On the first practice AP test that we took, I recieved a 55%. On the practice AP test that we took for our Unit 1 test, before test corrections I got a 67%. On the practice AP test that we took for our final exam, before test corrections I got a 72%. In just one trimester, my performance on the practice AP exams has improved by 17%! And I still have almost all of second trimester to improve as well. If I show as much improvement next trimester that I did this trimester, then a reasonable goal would be to get around an 87% on the second trimester final exam which is a great score to go into the real AP test with.
To break down and access my specific goals for improving on my AP test performance, I have been doing well so far. On the first practice AP test, I counted 14 words that did not know. On the most recent practice AP test, there where only about 7 or 8 words that I did not know. My goal at the beginning of the year was to know 3 or 4 more vocab words on each test than I did on the previous one. This means that I am right on track for my goal of not knowing only 1 or 2 words on the actual AP exam. I have learned these new words by writing down and looking up any unfamiliar words that I have come accross in class. Another goal that I had set for myself was to not rush through the test but rather spend more time analyzing the text and thinking about the questions. The first time that I took a practice AP test, I finished in 30 minutes. This time it took me about 40 minutes when we get 50 minutes on the actual test so I am getting closer to using most of the time that I am given. There are also some goals that I would like to set for myself for class next trimester. I would like to participate more in class discussions. To turn that into a measurable goal, I would like to make at least one comment or ask one question every time that we have class discussions. Overall, I am proud of my progress in this class so far. I think that as of now, I am on a solid path to be able to achieve most of my goals by the time I take the AP exam.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Hamlet Blog Assignment #5: I Can't Be Held Responsible For This Story
"The Freshmen" by The Verve Pipe
Video:
Lyrics:
"The Freshmen"
Video:
Lyrics:
"The Freshmen"
When I was young I knew everything
And she, a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt-stricken, sobbin' with my head on the floor
Stopped a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice, no
Can't be held responsible
She was touchin' her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me
I can not remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die
For these sins
We were merely freshmen
My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her
His girl took a week's worth of valium and slept
And now he's guilt-stricken, sobbin'
With his head on the floor
Thinks about her now and how he never really wept he said
Can't be held responsible
She was touchin' her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me
I can not remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die
For these sins
We were merely freshmen
We tried to wash our hands of all of this
We'd never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt-stricken sobbin' with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip we'd say
Can't be held responsible
She was touchin' her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me
I can not remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die
For these sins
We were merely freshmen
We were merely freshmen
We were only freshmen
I have finally chosen the song that I will play at Hamlet's funeral. At his time of death, Hamlet made me promise that, "If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile, and in this harsh world draw they breath in pain, to tell my story," (Shakespeare V. ii.310-113). While I do intend on telling of what a brave and great man Hamlet was and the legend of how he avenged his father, I also want to let his story be told from a neutral point of view. The repeated line from the song, "Can't be held responsible," emphasizes my third party frame throughout the story that occurred at Elsinore. This line also has a dual meaning in that it clears my guilt of the death of Hamlet because I had actually warned Hamlet against following the ghost which started all of this. I had told him, "What if it tempt you toward the flood my lord, or the dreadful summit of the cliff," (Shakespeare I.iv.69-70). But despite my words of caution, Hamlet went forth to follow the ghost.
The next verse of the song strongly relates to Hamlet and Ophelia's love tragedy. When it says, "His girl took a week's worth of valium and slept," it is very similar to Ophelia's death as she drowned and was,"Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay to muddy death," (Shakespeare IV.vi.180-181). The grave diggers are almost positive that she drowned herself as they asked, "Is she to be buried in Christian burial when she willfully seek her own salvation?" (Shakespeare V.i.1-2). Another interesting parallel between this and Hamlet's story is that the song refers to death as sleep just as Hamlet used sleep as a conceit for death when he said, "To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end," (Shakespeare III.i.59-60). The line following that in the song is "Now he's guilt-stricken, sobbin' with his head on the floor," which somewhat describes poor Hamlet's reaction when he realized that Ophelia has died. He cried out, "I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?" (Shakespeare V.i.214-216). He did not blame himself quite as much as the guy in the song but I'm sure that he did realize that he was partly the cause for Ophelia's madness. The song also somewhat encompasses this as it says "She fell in love in the first place" which almost puts the cause on Ophelia. Hamlet may not have felt this way at the funeral but he did once tell Ophelia, "You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not," (Shakespeare III.i.115-116). By saying this, he was quite basically telling her that she should never have fallen in love with her although he didn't really mean it.
Another part of the song that I found strikingly familiar were the lines,"We tried to wash our hands of all of this. We'd never talk of our lacking relationships." This reminded me of that there is "Something rotten in the state of Denmark," (Shakespeare I.iv.90) and especially in the royal family. The relationships between the family were most certainly lacking as the ghost told Hamlet, "The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown," (Shakespeare I.iv.38-39) and are rarely spoken of. The final line that I can most directly relate to in this song is, "For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die for these sins".It all came about from the sin that Claudius committed which led to Hamlet's sin of killing Claudius in order to avenge his father's death. I of course did not end up dying, but most others involved in the chaos did end up dying from their own sins or actions. I did not know that when I uttered the words, "Before my God, I might not this believe without the sensible and true avouch of mine own eyes," (Shakespeare I.iv.55-57) after seeing that ghost that it would lead to the death of many of my companions and my loyal best friend.
And she, a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt-stricken, sobbin' with my head on the floor
Stopped a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice, no
Can't be held responsible
She was touchin' her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me
I can not remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die
For these sins
We were merely freshmen
My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her
His girl took a week's worth of valium and slept
And now he's guilt-stricken, sobbin'
With his head on the floor
Thinks about her now and how he never really wept he said
Can't be held responsible
She was touchin' her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me
I can not remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die
For these sins
We were merely freshmen
We tried to wash our hands of all of this
We'd never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt-stricken sobbin' with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip we'd say
Can't be held responsible
She was touchin' her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me
I can not remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die
For these sins
We were merely freshmen
We were merely freshmen
We were only freshmen
I have finally chosen the song that I will play at Hamlet's funeral. At his time of death, Hamlet made me promise that, "If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile, and in this harsh world draw they breath in pain, to tell my story," (Shakespeare V. ii.310-113). While I do intend on telling of what a brave and great man Hamlet was and the legend of how he avenged his father, I also want to let his story be told from a neutral point of view. The repeated line from the song, "Can't be held responsible," emphasizes my third party frame throughout the story that occurred at Elsinore. This line also has a dual meaning in that it clears my guilt of the death of Hamlet because I had actually warned Hamlet against following the ghost which started all of this. I had told him, "What if it tempt you toward the flood my lord, or the dreadful summit of the cliff," (Shakespeare I.iv.69-70). But despite my words of caution, Hamlet went forth to follow the ghost.
The next verse of the song strongly relates to Hamlet and Ophelia's love tragedy. When it says, "His girl took a week's worth of valium and slept," it is very similar to Ophelia's death as she drowned and was,"Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay to muddy death," (Shakespeare IV.vi.180-181). The grave diggers are almost positive that she drowned herself as they asked, "Is she to be buried in Christian burial when she willfully seek her own salvation?" (Shakespeare V.i.1-2). Another interesting parallel between this and Hamlet's story is that the song refers to death as sleep just as Hamlet used sleep as a conceit for death when he said, "To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end," (Shakespeare III.i.59-60). The line following that in the song is "Now he's guilt-stricken, sobbin' with his head on the floor," which somewhat describes poor Hamlet's reaction when he realized that Ophelia has died. He cried out, "I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?" (Shakespeare V.i.214-216). He did not blame himself quite as much as the guy in the song but I'm sure that he did realize that he was partly the cause for Ophelia's madness. The song also somewhat encompasses this as it says "She fell in love in the first place" which almost puts the cause on Ophelia. Hamlet may not have felt this way at the funeral but he did once tell Ophelia, "You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not," (Shakespeare III.i.115-116). By saying this, he was quite basically telling her that she should never have fallen in love with her although he didn't really mean it.
Another part of the song that I found strikingly familiar were the lines,"We tried to wash our hands of all of this. We'd never talk of our lacking relationships." This reminded me of that there is "Something rotten in the state of Denmark," (Shakespeare I.iv.90) and especially in the royal family. The relationships between the family were most certainly lacking as the ghost told Hamlet, "The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown," (Shakespeare I.iv.38-39) and are rarely spoken of. The final line that I can most directly relate to in this song is, "For the life of me
I can not believe we'd ever die for these sins".It all came about from the sin that Claudius committed which led to Hamlet's sin of killing Claudius in order to avenge his father's death. I of course did not end up dying, but most others involved in the chaos did end up dying from their own sins or actions. I did not know that when I uttered the words, "Before my God, I might not this believe without the sensible and true avouch of mine own eyes," (Shakespeare I.iv.55-57) after seeing that ghost that it would lead to the death of many of my companions and my loyal best friend.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Hamlet Blog Assignment #4: The Ballads of Poor Ophelia
The whole castle mourns for dear Ophelia's death. It was most tragic and unexpected. She was a bit mad before though, we believed it to be due to her beloved father's abrupt passing but words have been going around lately that some gentleman named Peter Seng believes that there was reason behind her bawdy ballads. Ballads are often love songs and are formatted in quatrains.
Although much of Ophelia's songs express the unjust terms of her father's death and burial such as when she sings, "He is dead and gone, at his head a grass-green turf, at his heels a stone" (Shakespeare IV.v.30-32), she speaks of the cause of insanity as well. Seng directs the root cause for Ophelia's corruption back to Polonius and Laertes ruining her belief that every man is as he seems while trying to protect her. Laertes had told Ophelia that Hamlet's love for her was only, "A violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permenant- sweet, not lasting, the perfume and the suppliance of a minute; no more" (Shakespeare I.iii.6-9). Ophelia tells Laertes of his cause in her downfall through her song when she sings, "false steward that stole his master's daughter" (Shakespeare IV.167-168). According to Seng, "[Laertes] fails to recall that it was just such false lovers that he had once warned her against" (Seng) because is so set on avenging his father's death and sister's madness.
The most tragic part about poor Ophelia's circumstance was that Hamlet did indeed love her and that it was she acting upon the words from her father and brother that drove Hamlet to mistrust her. Seng says, "For indeed, she had believed Hamlet; and as it turns out, though tragically and too late, her trust was not misplaced" (Seng). Hamlet may have overreacted in Ophelia's slight attempts of distrust towards him of her by commanding her to, "Get thee to a nunnery: why would thou be a breeder of sinners? (Shakespeare III.i.118). Because Ophelia lived only to please her father, brother, and Hamlet, she toke Hamlet's cruel words to heart and expressed her hurt in her song when she sang, "For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy" (Shakespeare IV.v.177). Seng believe that this is from a ballard from Robin Hood and that Ophelia is comparing herself to Maid Marian. It is well-known knowledge that Marian is a model of promiscuity. Although Ophelia was not promiscuous, she believes herself to be because Hamlet accused her of it in his anger.
Overall, this Peter Seng fellow seems to have a solid point. He is knowledgeable on a lot of the background of what is going on here at Elsinore. He also seems to be an educated man as he uses elevated diction. I can really appreciate his argument because it is very logical and seems to lend support to his thesis. Seng also analyzes Ophelia's use of metaphors and symbolism to express how she feels and what she thinks over herself, her father's death, and her relationship with Hamlet. For example, she compares herself to Maid Marian from Robin Hood and also uses plants as symbols like rosemary to symbolize remembrance at weddings and funerals. One flaw that I can think of is that Ophelia may not know that Laertes took part in her downfall. She greets him happily as she sings to him, "I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died" (Shakespeare IV.v.175-176). By this, I would assume that she means that she would be happy to see him but her father's death has made her depressed. Ophelia did not seem to accuse Laertes because as fat as she knew at that point, Hamlet did not love and Laertes was right. It is only after her death that Hamlet admits, "I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum," (Shakespeare VI.i.216-218). Despite this one possible flaw in his argument that I have found, Seng has cleared up a lot of which has remained a mystery about Ophelia's end. We can now feel sympathy for the suffering that Ophelia had felt.
Although much of Ophelia's songs express the unjust terms of her father's death and burial such as when she sings, "He is dead and gone, at his head a grass-green turf, at his heels a stone" (Shakespeare IV.v.30-32), she speaks of the cause of insanity as well. Seng directs the root cause for Ophelia's corruption back to Polonius and Laertes ruining her belief that every man is as he seems while trying to protect her. Laertes had told Ophelia that Hamlet's love for her was only, "A violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permenant- sweet, not lasting, the perfume and the suppliance of a minute; no more" (Shakespeare I.iii.6-9). Ophelia tells Laertes of his cause in her downfall through her song when she sings, "false steward that stole his master's daughter" (Shakespeare IV.167-168). According to Seng, "[Laertes] fails to recall that it was just such false lovers that he had once warned her against" (Seng) because is so set on avenging his father's death and sister's madness.
The most tragic part about poor Ophelia's circumstance was that Hamlet did indeed love her and that it was she acting upon the words from her father and brother that drove Hamlet to mistrust her. Seng says, "For indeed, she had believed Hamlet; and as it turns out, though tragically and too late, her trust was not misplaced" (Seng). Hamlet may have overreacted in Ophelia's slight attempts of distrust towards him of her by commanding her to, "Get thee to a nunnery: why would thou be a breeder of sinners? (Shakespeare III.i.118). Because Ophelia lived only to please her father, brother, and Hamlet, she toke Hamlet's cruel words to heart and expressed her hurt in her song when she sang, "For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy" (Shakespeare IV.v.177). Seng believe that this is from a ballard from Robin Hood and that Ophelia is comparing herself to Maid Marian. It is well-known knowledge that Marian is a model of promiscuity. Although Ophelia was not promiscuous, she believes herself to be because Hamlet accused her of it in his anger.
Overall, this Peter Seng fellow seems to have a solid point. He is knowledgeable on a lot of the background of what is going on here at Elsinore. He also seems to be an educated man as he uses elevated diction. I can really appreciate his argument because it is very logical and seems to lend support to his thesis. Seng also analyzes Ophelia's use of metaphors and symbolism to express how she feels and what she thinks over herself, her father's death, and her relationship with Hamlet. For example, she compares herself to Maid Marian from Robin Hood and also uses plants as symbols like rosemary to symbolize remembrance at weddings and funerals. One flaw that I can think of is that Ophelia may not know that Laertes took part in her downfall. She greets him happily as she sings to him, "I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died" (Shakespeare IV.v.175-176). By this, I would assume that she means that she would be happy to see him but her father's death has made her depressed. Ophelia did not seem to accuse Laertes because as fat as she knew at that point, Hamlet did not love and Laertes was right. It is only after her death that Hamlet admits, "I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum," (Shakespeare VI.i.216-218). Despite this one possible flaw in his argument that I have found, Seng has cleared up a lot of which has remained a mystery about Ophelia's end. We can now feel sympathy for the suffering that Ophelia had felt.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Hamet Blog Assignment #3: To Be or Not to Be Analysis
Soliloquy Analysis
Imagery of the uncertainty of death:
Philosophical Questions:
Acting Analysis
Kenneth Branagh: Minimal editing is used in this scene as the camera angle is continuous until Hamlet is finished with his soliloquy. It makes the soliloquy smoother and emphasizes it's importance over other speeches in the play. The camera angle is very clever as it shows Hamlet's reflection in a large mirror with only the tip of his shoulder visible in front of the mirror. This shows that Hamlet is reflecting deep into his thoughts and analyzing his own sins and morality and whether or not he would go to Heaven or Hell. The camera also zooms in as the speech gets more intense. The only diegetic sounds in the scene are Hamlet's voice in a whisper and it's echo and the sound and echo of his footsteps as he walks closer to the mirror. The echoes create an eerie tone and the silence behind them emphasizes the seriousness of the words and leave no distractions that could turn their focus away from Hamlet. The only non-diegetic sound was soft classical music that played to signal the audience that Hamlet had reach the climax of his soliloquy in towards the middle-end of the speech. It also brings out the sorrowful aspect of Hamlet's predicament. The only props where the mirror and the castle background to add to the solemnness of the scene. He also holds a dagger which show the audience that Hamlet is serious and that it is a very close and tough decision to make whether or not to die. Hamlet was wearing his everyday costume and make-up which would show that he contemplates these thoughts amidst his daily life behind his disposition.
Laurence Olivier: The scene begins with many choppy, edited shots of stairs up to a tower, tumultuous water, and Hamlet's head and face close up as he peers over the side of the tower. These images set the dark mood of the soliloquy to follow. After Hamlet begins to speak, there is little switching of angles or editing to interrupt his monologue. The first camera angle that we see of Hamlet is behind him as he stares over the edge of the tower and into the water which shows just how close he is death. The diegetic sounds in the scene are the sounds of the water and wind to set the mood and Hamlet's voice. His mouth is only moving for some of the words that he speaks to show that the contemplation is mostly in his thoughts. The non-diegetic sounds is violent violin music in the beginning to set the fearful mood and in the middle of the soliloquy when he brings the dagger close to him to create suspense and surprise. Intense violin music also plays at the end of the soliloquy as Hamlet is walking away to show that he has come to a conclusion to live. The main prop is the dagger which he moves farther and closer away from his body to show whether his thoughts are leaning closer to life or death. Hamlet doesn't appear to be wearing and makeup. And his costume is disheveled and distressed looking which shows his current mental instability.
Mel Gibson: The entire scene is clips edited together of Hamlet in different places and positions in what seems to be some type of mausoleum. This shows Hamlet's restlessness and changing of thoughts throughout the soliloquy. In some shots, the camera angle is of the room as a whole or Hamlet wondering around the room. These shots usually occur when Hamlet is changing his mind in his speech and going from life to death or from death to life. The other shots are close ups of Hamlet's face to capture his facial expressions in the peak emotional parts of his soliloquy. The diegetic sounds are the sound of Hamlet's voice and its echo as well as his footsteps and their echoes as he paces around the room. The silence interrupted by only the harsh sound of his voice and the echoes creates the solemnity and serious tone of the soliloquy. There are no non-diegetic sounds to distract the readers from the content and meaning within the words. The only props would be the tombs of dead bodies which are used to set a dark mood and show that Hamlet is close to death and also his envy of those that are dead. It looks as if Hamlet is wearing eye makeup to draw attention to his eyes and the emotions of sadness and melancholy that they will show throughout the soliloquy. Hamlet's costume is dark and blends in well with the shady background which shows his currently dark mood and thoughts.
Ethan Hawke: Hamlet is seen through edited shots of him walking through the aisle of a Blockbuster store. The setting makes the scene much more modern although Hamlet is still speaking in Old English which is a contrast. The shots of him walking show the continuity of the soliloquy until the end when the shot stays on a close up of his face as he stops walking and comes to a resolution. There is also a clip of death and destruction on the TVs in the store when Hamlet speaks of death with desire and envy. The camera angle mostly showed him in a somewhat close up shot of his torso and up with the aisle of the store behind him. The pacing and browsing through the aisles show that he is facing indecision. He is walking down the Action aisle most of the time because we can see the Action labels repeated in the selves at his sides. This is almost mocking him in the fact that he has not just taken any action to avenge his father. The diegetic sounds are the sound of his voice and foot step to create a solemn mood and limit the distractions as much as possible to keep the attention on Hamlet. Part of Hamlet's words are said out loud and part of them are just a voice over which indicates that his soliloquy is mostly full of thoughts. There is sad, violin-like music as a non-diegetic sound. The purpose of the music is to bring some seriousness into the scene that is taking place in a very ordinary place, usually a place of entertainment. The TV and the movies on the shelves in the background are props. The TVs show dark and violent scenes and create a fearful mood. The videos add to the averageness of the setting. Hamlet doesn't seem to be wearing any makeup. Hamlet is wearing a dark costume to create sorrow but then he also contrasts the soliloquy's dark and serious tone by wearing a funny looking hat which makes the scene almost comical and satire like.
After viewing all of the scenes of my friend Hamlet speaking his famous soliloquy, I have to say that Kenneth Branagh best portrays my friend and what he is feeling right now. I thought that it was absolutely ingenious the way that Hamlet is only shown through a mirror. I believe that this shows a level of self analysis and reflection that none of the other scenes did. The way that Hamlet spoke all of the words and did not rely on voiceover and also the harsh whisper that he used made the scene more relatable and believable. Not any one but Hamlet and I know of the show of madness that he is putting on and the raw emotion that Kenneth shows in this scene as Hamlet with the way he speaks the words and inches closer to the mirror and utilizes the dagger on his reflection show that he has brought down his walls for a moment and is actually falling apart behind his façade. Him being dressed in his normal attire also give the scene honesty and show Hamlet's humanness and vulnerability. The silence and the echoes, while present in many of the other scenes, spoke the most to me in this particular scene. The cold silence left you on the edge of your chair and your eyes glued on Hamlet. It also created an almost eerie but sincere solemn mood that would give you goosebumps and make you suspenseful for the critical words to follow. Overall, the scene was very tasteful and well thought out. It showcased not only Hamlet's words but his inter conflict and deep emotions of sorrow in his mental instability.
My favorite approach to Hamlet's soliloquy scene was Kenneth Branaghs. I thought that almost ever choice was well thought out and clever, especially the camera angle. The only thing that might not have been necessary was the soft classical music in the background. It was so quiet and brief that it was barely noticeable and it took away from the silence that emphasized the emotion in Hamlet's words. My least favorite scene was Laurence Olivier's scene. I thought that they beginning was overly dramatic and could be less choppy and loud. I also did not like the way that Hamlet was awkwardly positioned laying propped up on the tower. It seemed to strange and casual for the seriousness and importance of the scene. I would have had him sit upright or stand. I also did like how Olivier and Ethan Hawke's scene relied on both the actor speaking and voice overs to do the soliloquy. It was confusing and unrealistic and the words should either have been keep strictly in the thoughts or strictly out loud but preferably the latter. I like the setting for Mel Gibson's scene and the close ups on his facial expression to capture his emotions. What I would change about his scene would be to have him moving around less and changing camera angles less because I think that it left too many pauses in the speech and took away from some of the meaning. The modern interpretation of Hawke's scene was very interesting but also a little bit confusing. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be comical or not with the strange hat and Blockbuster background. If it was supposed to be comical then I think that there should be more props or sounds to show that. That scene was also lacking some emotion compared to the other portrayals which I am not sure was intentional or not.
Imagery of the uncertainty of death:
- "The undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveler returns" (Shakespeare III.i.79-80).
- "Puzzles the will and makes us rather bare the ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?" (Shakespeare III.i.80-82)
- "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come" (Shakespeare III.i.66)
- "Suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take action against a sea of troubles" (Shakespeare III.i.58-59)
- "The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" (Shakespeare III.i.62-63)
- "Whips and scorns of time" (Shakespeare III.i.70)
- "To grunt and sweat under a weary life" (Shakespeare III.i.77)
- Pathos:
- Hamlet appeals to the emotional interest of the audience by showing them the difficultly of the decision that he is trying to make:
- "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against the sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?" (Shakespeare III.i.57-60)
- Hamlet also allows the audience to sympathize with him by telling them how depressed he is and how much he is currently suffering in life:
- "The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep" (Shakespeare III.i.62-64)
- Ethos:
- Hamlet establishes credibility with the audience when he shouts out with emotion so we can realize that although Hamlet seems to have control over is mad façade, he may not which establishes the honesty in his soliloquy:
- "And lose the name of action- soft you now!" (Shakespeare III.i.88)
- Logos:
- Hamlet appeals to logic by creating an opposition to his wish of death by contemplating the consequences of his actions:
- "But that to the dread of something after death, the undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveler returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?" (Shakespeare III.i.78-82)
- Paradox: In the soliloquy, paradox appears in the form of an invalid argument. He describes how terrible and painful life is but he also considers the fact that his afterlife could be just as bad or worse so he would put up with life.
- Parallelism: "Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay, the insolence of office and the spurns" (Shakespeare III.i.71-73). It emphasizes the struggle in life that Hamlet faces.
- Synecdoche: Hamlet uses synecdoche to characterize and focus on the question that Hamlet is pondering.
- Tone: The tone of this speech is depressed because Hamlet is struggling with his emotions of sorrow and fear of death.
- Diction: Words like "whips", "scorns", "spurns", "dread", "oppressor", and "sicklied" to create the depressed mood.
- Metaphors:
- Sleep: Hamlet compares death to sleep in order to make it seem more natural and less intimidating for him to try and ease his own fear of death. He also compares his uncertainty of his afterlife to the dreams that come in sleep.
- "To die, to sleep: to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come" (Shakespeare III.i.64-66).
- Slavery: Hamlet's compares the hardships of his life to slavery. He endures the pain of slavery everyday and wants to escape his "slavery" by death.
- "That makes calamity of so long life; for who would bear the whips and scorns of time, th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely" (Shakespeare III.i.69-71).
- Life on earth to the afterlife: "To grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveler returns" (Shakespeare III.i.77-80)
- Humans and thinking: "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; and thus the native hue of resolution is sickled o'er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action" (Shakespeare III.i.84-88)
- Hamlet is unsure if he will go to Heaven or Hell.
- He would not be able to avenge his father's death.
- It may be viewed as a cowardly thing to do to die.
Philosophical Questions:
- "To be or not to be: that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?" (Shakespeare III.i.56-60)
- "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come" (Shakespeare III.i.66)
- "To grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that to the dread of something after death, the undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveler returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?" (Shakespeare III.i.77-82)
- Hamlet decides that he will not kill himself because of his fear that this act will send him to Hell. We know this because in the last line of the soliloquy Hamlet says, "Be all my sins rememb'red" (Shakespeare III.i.89). This shows that Hamlet knows that it would be a sin to kill himself and he doesn't want to commit it. It also alludes to his intentions to instead of killing himself, go and kill his uncle which would also be considered a sin.
Acting Analysis
Kenneth Branagh: Minimal editing is used in this scene as the camera angle is continuous until Hamlet is finished with his soliloquy. It makes the soliloquy smoother and emphasizes it's importance over other speeches in the play. The camera angle is very clever as it shows Hamlet's reflection in a large mirror with only the tip of his shoulder visible in front of the mirror. This shows that Hamlet is reflecting deep into his thoughts and analyzing his own sins and morality and whether or not he would go to Heaven or Hell. The camera also zooms in as the speech gets more intense. The only diegetic sounds in the scene are Hamlet's voice in a whisper and it's echo and the sound and echo of his footsteps as he walks closer to the mirror. The echoes create an eerie tone and the silence behind them emphasizes the seriousness of the words and leave no distractions that could turn their focus away from Hamlet. The only non-diegetic sound was soft classical music that played to signal the audience that Hamlet had reach the climax of his soliloquy in towards the middle-end of the speech. It also brings out the sorrowful aspect of Hamlet's predicament. The only props where the mirror and the castle background to add to the solemnness of the scene. He also holds a dagger which show the audience that Hamlet is serious and that it is a very close and tough decision to make whether or not to die. Hamlet was wearing his everyday costume and make-up which would show that he contemplates these thoughts amidst his daily life behind his disposition.
Laurence Olivier: The scene begins with many choppy, edited shots of stairs up to a tower, tumultuous water, and Hamlet's head and face close up as he peers over the side of the tower. These images set the dark mood of the soliloquy to follow. After Hamlet begins to speak, there is little switching of angles or editing to interrupt his monologue. The first camera angle that we see of Hamlet is behind him as he stares over the edge of the tower and into the water which shows just how close he is death. The diegetic sounds in the scene are the sounds of the water and wind to set the mood and Hamlet's voice. His mouth is only moving for some of the words that he speaks to show that the contemplation is mostly in his thoughts. The non-diegetic sounds is violent violin music in the beginning to set the fearful mood and in the middle of the soliloquy when he brings the dagger close to him to create suspense and surprise. Intense violin music also plays at the end of the soliloquy as Hamlet is walking away to show that he has come to a conclusion to live. The main prop is the dagger which he moves farther and closer away from his body to show whether his thoughts are leaning closer to life or death. Hamlet doesn't appear to be wearing and makeup. And his costume is disheveled and distressed looking which shows his current mental instability.
Mel Gibson: The entire scene is clips edited together of Hamlet in different places and positions in what seems to be some type of mausoleum. This shows Hamlet's restlessness and changing of thoughts throughout the soliloquy. In some shots, the camera angle is of the room as a whole or Hamlet wondering around the room. These shots usually occur when Hamlet is changing his mind in his speech and going from life to death or from death to life. The other shots are close ups of Hamlet's face to capture his facial expressions in the peak emotional parts of his soliloquy. The diegetic sounds are the sound of Hamlet's voice and its echo as well as his footsteps and their echoes as he paces around the room. The silence interrupted by only the harsh sound of his voice and the echoes creates the solemnity and serious tone of the soliloquy. There are no non-diegetic sounds to distract the readers from the content and meaning within the words. The only props would be the tombs of dead bodies which are used to set a dark mood and show that Hamlet is close to death and also his envy of those that are dead. It looks as if Hamlet is wearing eye makeup to draw attention to his eyes and the emotions of sadness and melancholy that they will show throughout the soliloquy. Hamlet's costume is dark and blends in well with the shady background which shows his currently dark mood and thoughts.
Ethan Hawke: Hamlet is seen through edited shots of him walking through the aisle of a Blockbuster store. The setting makes the scene much more modern although Hamlet is still speaking in Old English which is a contrast. The shots of him walking show the continuity of the soliloquy until the end when the shot stays on a close up of his face as he stops walking and comes to a resolution. There is also a clip of death and destruction on the TVs in the store when Hamlet speaks of death with desire and envy. The camera angle mostly showed him in a somewhat close up shot of his torso and up with the aisle of the store behind him. The pacing and browsing through the aisles show that he is facing indecision. He is walking down the Action aisle most of the time because we can see the Action labels repeated in the selves at his sides. This is almost mocking him in the fact that he has not just taken any action to avenge his father. The diegetic sounds are the sound of his voice and foot step to create a solemn mood and limit the distractions as much as possible to keep the attention on Hamlet. Part of Hamlet's words are said out loud and part of them are just a voice over which indicates that his soliloquy is mostly full of thoughts. There is sad, violin-like music as a non-diegetic sound. The purpose of the music is to bring some seriousness into the scene that is taking place in a very ordinary place, usually a place of entertainment. The TV and the movies on the shelves in the background are props. The TVs show dark and violent scenes and create a fearful mood. The videos add to the averageness of the setting. Hamlet doesn't seem to be wearing any makeup. Hamlet is wearing a dark costume to create sorrow but then he also contrasts the soliloquy's dark and serious tone by wearing a funny looking hat which makes the scene almost comical and satire like.
After viewing all of the scenes of my friend Hamlet speaking his famous soliloquy, I have to say that Kenneth Branagh best portrays my friend and what he is feeling right now. I thought that it was absolutely ingenious the way that Hamlet is only shown through a mirror. I believe that this shows a level of self analysis and reflection that none of the other scenes did. The way that Hamlet spoke all of the words and did not rely on voiceover and also the harsh whisper that he used made the scene more relatable and believable. Not any one but Hamlet and I know of the show of madness that he is putting on and the raw emotion that Kenneth shows in this scene as Hamlet with the way he speaks the words and inches closer to the mirror and utilizes the dagger on his reflection show that he has brought down his walls for a moment and is actually falling apart behind his façade. Him being dressed in his normal attire also give the scene honesty and show Hamlet's humanness and vulnerability. The silence and the echoes, while present in many of the other scenes, spoke the most to me in this particular scene. The cold silence left you on the edge of your chair and your eyes glued on Hamlet. It also created an almost eerie but sincere solemn mood that would give you goosebumps and make you suspenseful for the critical words to follow. Overall, the scene was very tasteful and well thought out. It showcased not only Hamlet's words but his inter conflict and deep emotions of sorrow in his mental instability.
My favorite approach to Hamlet's soliloquy scene was Kenneth Branaghs. I thought that almost ever choice was well thought out and clever, especially the camera angle. The only thing that might not have been necessary was the soft classical music in the background. It was so quiet and brief that it was barely noticeable and it took away from the silence that emphasized the emotion in Hamlet's words. My least favorite scene was Laurence Olivier's scene. I thought that they beginning was overly dramatic and could be less choppy and loud. I also did not like the way that Hamlet was awkwardly positioned laying propped up on the tower. It seemed to strange and casual for the seriousness and importance of the scene. I would have had him sit upright or stand. I also did like how Olivier and Ethan Hawke's scene relied on both the actor speaking and voice overs to do the soliloquy. It was confusing and unrealistic and the words should either have been keep strictly in the thoughts or strictly out loud but preferably the latter. I like the setting for Mel Gibson's scene and the close ups on his facial expression to capture his emotions. What I would change about his scene would be to have him moving around less and changing camera angles less because I think that it left too many pauses in the speech and took away from some of the meaning. The modern interpretation of Hawke's scene was very interesting but also a little bit confusing. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be comical or not with the strange hat and Blockbuster background. If it was supposed to be comical then I think that there should be more props or sounds to show that. That scene was also lacking some emotion compared to the other portrayals which I am not sure was intentional or not.
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