O Brother, Where Art Thou

My favorite part of the movie was when Delmar believed Pete had changed into a toad. I thought it was funny when he and Everett were watching the collar of Pete's shirt, thinking there was some sort of monster inside of it, and then the toad crawled out. I liked how Delmar treated the toad; it was amusing how he put it into a box and talked to it, and even took in the restaurant. I also liked how when they actually found Pete again, Delmar told him about the toad. That was funny, too.

Epic Simile

A cat is like a quality pillow, calming and relaxing, easy to find when you need it, and always willing to sit and offer its refreshingly soft and fluffy surface.

Statistics About the 1930s

Statistics About The 1930s

Project Checkpoint

I've found a few websites listing various statistics from the 1930's. The best one is a site solely about the 1930's economy, which I think would help a lot. It has information about average income/employment/poverty/etc., which pertains to the book quite a bit. I've put that and the other sites I've found into MLA format citations already, so I won't have to do that later.

My only problem possibly will be deciding what to put on the slides. There are lots of statistics about the 1930's around relating to various topics. I'll have to go through and decide which information is important and which isn't. Of course I'll include economic and census data, but the rest of it probably won't be so easy to choose.

Romeo and Juliet Poster

Extra Credit Blog

The final scene of Romeo and Juliet was actually probably my favorite. I really liked the dramatic nature present in it, and I enjoyed how the action kept building. A lot of characters' lines from that scene appealed to me as well, especially Romeo's monologue before he commits suicide. I also thought the last lines from the Prince were very good; the rhyming in particular made them a great conclusion to the play.

I thought the entire story was very interesting and creative. Shakspeare's poetic language added a unique, artistic feeling to the book that kept my attention through every scene. Romeo and Juliet obviously has had a large influence on pop culture; there are tons of stories and movies today with similar themes to the play. Romeo and Juliet's names are also quite abundantly referenced in most any form of media.

Romeo and Juliet Photo Post

I think that this image could symbolize a part of Romeo and Juliet. It's kind of abstract, but the slightly raised walls on either side of the heart remind me of each house, Capulet and Montague. The heart is representative of Romeo and Juliet's love, which has managed to cross the "barriers" set by their families' feud.



I got the picture from a stock photography site. I'm not precisely sure who to credit, but this is its page in the gallery: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1083039

Romeo and Juliet: Act Two

I found Scene 2 very interesting. For one, it's probably the most famous scene in the entire play, with Juliet talking to Romeo from the balcony. I really enjoyed reading this scene; it was very poetic and deep. I liked the fact that Romeo and Juliet were both speaking in long passages, which is a little odd, I guess, but I prefer the longer lines in the book. This was my favorite scene out of all of Act 2, followed by Scene 4.

I've never had any experiences like this, and I'm not exactly sure how I'd react to one. I just liked to read it, and I thought it was very romantic. I believe it will affect Romeo and Juliet's future quite a lot, as they proposed to each other in that scene. It already has, actually, because they married in the last scene of Act 2.

Characters in Romeo and Juliet: Juliet

To me, Juliet seems like a mature and thoughtful person, but in some ways still a bit childish. I think she'd look like a normal thirteen-year-old girl, probably not wearing any sort of make-up, and due to the setting of the book, I imagine her in a dress. If I met her in person, I think she'd be quiet and kind. She seems like the type of person to try to get along with everyone.

I have a friend who has a personality a bit like hers. This friend is very good at negotiating and conversing with other people, much like Juliet while she is speaking to her mother. My friend also cares about her image in the eyes of others, and she would probably react similarly to Juliet at the telling of an embarassing story involving her.

Premonitions

The last premonition I remember having was about a week before school started. Obviously, because it was close to the start of school, I was expecting something bad to happen. I wasn't precisely sure what, but I was certain something would, and something did.

It turned out that one of my cats went missing for a few days shortly after that. She was somewhat of a loner to begin with, so none of us thought anything of it. However, a few more days later, we decided to go for a walk and happened to find that she had died a little ways down the block from our house. I probably couldn't have done anything to prevent it; it was basically all just bad luck, but I still hold the start of school partially responsible, if only as some sort of omen.

That's a bit of a depressing story, yes, but it was the only bad premonition that readily jumps to my mind now. I've had a few good premonitions recently, too, one of which also coincidentally involves cats.

Shakespearean Stories

I don't really watch all that many movies, (the last one I saw was around six months ago) so the only one I can recall enough to discuss involving Shakespearean themes is this TV movie on the Lifetime channel called Perfect Romance. It's about a mother who sets her daughter up with a man on the internet, and they finally meet, but he realizes that he doesn't love the daughter, because it was her mother he was corresponding with. The daughter sets up her own plan to get the man together with her mother: she fakes kissing another person when he walks in the room, who she actually ends up falling in love with. At the end, the mother loves the man she talked with online for her daughter, and her daughter loves the man she pretended to kiss.

I would say that fits the theme of love triangle and the theme of mistaken identity. It's definitely a case of mistaken identity; the man thinks he has been talking to the daughter the entire time. It's a love triangle, because the mother has secretly fallen in love with him, but she wants her daughter to have a lover, so she stays out of their "relationship". The play the movie seems most similar to is As You Like It. I can't say for certain if the producers were inspired by anything related to Shakespeare, but it's fairly obvious they were trying to use some of the common themes in his plays.

Anticipating Shakespeare

I was able to understand A Midsummer Night's Dream fairly well. I think that the language in Shakespeare's plays is hard to understand at first, but gets easier if you listen to it for a little while. So far, I have a good perception of his work. I think that I would enjoy reading or seeing more of it. I liked all of the characters and ideas in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

As for Romeo and Juliet, I've read the play once before, but it was quite a while ago, so I've forgotten a lot about it. However, I remember the basic storyline, and I think I'll enjoy reading it again. I consider Shakespeare quite a good writer for creating two plays as different as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet. One is a tragedy, and the other has a very happy ending; I believe it shows a considerable amount of skill to write both well.

The Worst Part of Animal Farm

I think that the worst part of Animal Farm is when Boxer is taken to the slaughterhouse. Boxer was the most hardworking and loyal animal on the farm; it's very sad to learn that Napoleon doesn't care even a little for him. I think this part of the book demonstrates very well exactly how corrupt the pigs have become. What makes it so sad is that Napoleon and Squealer have no objections to lying to every animal on the farm, even going so far as to say Boxer died in the vet hospital.

There were several other sad events of the book, but Boxer's death was the most tragic. I thought Napoleon's mass slaughtering of farm animals was fairly sad as well, especially when he started changing the commandments to match his own interests. Throughout the last two chapters of the book, especially, it becomes clear that the pigs have no concern for Animal Farm, but rather only for themselves.

Freewrite: Animal Farm

I like Animal Farm so far. I like the fact that it puts a twist on the "talking animals" idea by targeting adults as an audience, as talking animals are widely considered to be for children. I also think it's a creative idea to write a story like the one in this book; to me, it's not exactly a fable, but it's not exactly realistic, either. I like that mix. The story conveys a serious meaning, but it is still kind of whimsical.

Even though the characters are based off of figures during the Russian Revolution, they can still convey a strong message now. Animal Farm's real-life parallel doesn't exist anymore, but the book still retains its morals. I think that the characters, collectively, are meant to show the danger in unmediated power.