неделя, 24 януари 2010 г.
Reflection
To be honest, when I heard from my teacher Ms.Potash that we had to do an internet portfolio and keep working on it throughout the whole semester, I was very skeptical. However, now that I finished it , I have different views about it. Even though, I had to work very hard to organize it and complete all of the assignments , the sense for accomplishment that is engulfing me while I'm writing this reflection is priceless. I had a lot of fun while creating it and I had the chance to interact with people outside of my school -mostly with Joshua , who's poems I really liked. I often found myself reading other people's portfolios and comparing my work to theirs or simply admiring which has been both educational and amusing.
Othello Reputation Video Clip
english project Audrey- Iago Natalie- Brabantio/ Othello/ Montano Gianna- Cassio Christie- Desdemona This project shows the themes of reputation and nature of honor in Othello. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB6wygsM11M
To be Great is to be Misunderstood
“To be Great is to be Misunderstood”
True greatness could be interpreted in many ways. Different people with their different values give different names to what they think exceptional. Some consider beauty equals greatness; others may think a graceful mind and soul is what really matters. People often believe that greatness is found where money, power, and fame exist. However, there is always one thing in common: great people seem to always end up misunderstood and lonely.
Greatness goes hand by hand with loneliness. People love to stand out, they long for others’ approval and attention. In the presence of an overpowering personality, however, ordinary people feel insignificant. They either worship or mock those who rise above the ordinary. Most frequently, they simply envy them.
True greatness tends to have its ups and downs the way everything does. It is all about taking sides. Sometimes people have the opportunity to choose between being average and therefore fitting well in the society they live in, or being more than that and lonely. Those who have the courage to want to be different simply live with their choice all along the way.
In the presence of a great person, all these ordinary people start feeling insignificant with their little imperfections that make them feel as if out of place. Nobody wants to feel small and neglected. People are only human at the end. They want it all: to be pretty, smart, rich, sometimes even famous. But since they cannot have it all, they eventually involuntary punish the ones that posses these qualities by simply isolating them, and leaving them alone and misunderstood.
People are only human. It is naïve to expect heroic deeds of them. It is unfair to them to expect to be understood. Being great in itself is supposed to be enough. However it is not. It will never be: that is the price of being great. In life, it all comes with strings attached.
True greatness could be interpreted in many ways. Different people with their different values give different names to what they think exceptional. Some consider beauty equals greatness; others may think a graceful mind and soul is what really matters. People often believe that greatness is found where money, power, and fame exist. However, there is always one thing in common: great people seem to always end up misunderstood and lonely.
Greatness goes hand by hand with loneliness. People love to stand out, they long for others’ approval and attention. In the presence of an overpowering personality, however, ordinary people feel insignificant. They either worship or mock those who rise above the ordinary. Most frequently, they simply envy them.
True greatness tends to have its ups and downs the way everything does. It is all about taking sides. Sometimes people have the opportunity to choose between being average and therefore fitting well in the society they live in, or being more than that and lonely. Those who have the courage to want to be different simply live with their choice all along the way.
In the presence of a great person, all these ordinary people start feeling insignificant with their little imperfections that make them feel as if out of place. Nobody wants to feel small and neglected. People are only human at the end. They want it all: to be pretty, smart, rich, sometimes even famous. But since they cannot have it all, they eventually involuntary punish the ones that posses these qualities by simply isolating them, and leaving them alone and misunderstood.
People are only human. It is naïve to expect heroic deeds of them. It is unfair to them to expect to be understood. Being great in itself is supposed to be enough. However it is not. It will never be: that is the price of being great. In life, it all comes with strings attached.
To be Great is to be Misunderstood
“To be Great is to be Misunderstood”
True greatness could be interpreted in many ways. Different people with their different values give different names to what they think exceptional. Some consider beauty equals greatness; others may think a graceful mind and soul is what really matters. People often believe that greatness is found where money, power, and fame exist. However, there is always one thing in common: great people seem to always end up misunderstood and lonely.
Greatness goes hand by hand with loneliness. People love to stand out, they long for others’ approval and attention. In the presence of an overpowering personality, however, ordinary people feel insignificant. They either worship or mock those who rise above the ordinary. Most frequently, they simply envy them.
True greatness tends to have its ups and downs the way everything does. It is all about taking sides. Sometimes people have the opportunity to choose between being average and therefore fitting well in the society they live in, or being more than that and lonely. Those who have the courage to want to be different simply live with their choice all along the way.
In the presence of a great person, all these ordinary people start feeling insignificant with their little imperfections that make them feel as if out of place. Nobody wants to feel small and neglected. People are only human at the end. They want it all: to be pretty, smart, rich, sometimes even famous. But since they cannot have it all, they eventually involuntary punish the ones that posses these qualities by simply isolating them, and leaving them alone and misunderstood.
People are only human. It is naïve to expect heroic deeds of them. It is unfair to them to expect to be understood. Being great in itself is supposed to be enough. However it is not. It will never be: that is the price of being great. In life, it all comes with strings attached.
True greatness could be interpreted in many ways. Different people with their different values give different names to what they think exceptional. Some consider beauty equals greatness; others may think a graceful mind and soul is what really matters. People often believe that greatness is found where money, power, and fame exist. However, there is always one thing in common: great people seem to always end up misunderstood and lonely.
Greatness goes hand by hand with loneliness. People love to stand out, they long for others’ approval and attention. In the presence of an overpowering personality, however, ordinary people feel insignificant. They either worship or mock those who rise above the ordinary. Most frequently, they simply envy them.
True greatness tends to have its ups and downs the way everything does. It is all about taking sides. Sometimes people have the opportunity to choose between being average and therefore fitting well in the society they live in, or being more than that and lonely. Those who have the courage to want to be different simply live with their choice all along the way.
In the presence of a great person, all these ordinary people start feeling insignificant with their little imperfections that make them feel as if out of place. Nobody wants to feel small and neglected. People are only human at the end. They want it all: to be pretty, smart, rich, sometimes even famous. But since they cannot have it all, they eventually involuntary punish the ones that posses these qualities by simply isolating them, and leaving them alone and misunderstood.
People are only human. It is naïve to expect heroic deeds of them. It is unfair to them to expect to be understood. Being great in itself is supposed to be enough. However it is not. It will never be: that is the price of being great. In life, it all comes with strings attached.
Harry Potter Series Book Review
Harry Potter is the protagonist in J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter series, an English author famous for her children’s fantasy literature. He along with his friends, Hermione and Ron, possess magical powers and are a part of a secret society of magicians. Harry’s parents were killed by a dark magician called Voldemort or “"You-Know-Who", a pseudonym acquired thanks to the fear and terror he unleashed. Only an ancient spell fueled by the love of Harry’s parents was able to protect him and accidentally put an end to Voldemort’s reign. Forced to live with his revolting muggle, or ordinary people without magical powers, relatives, Harry felt left out and desperate until the Hogwarts School of Magic contacted him and allowed him to be a part of the secret society. The plot is mainly organized around Voldemort’s return and lust for revenge. However, the simple “hero versus villain” routine is intertwined with morals and stories disguised by enchanting magic which makes these books unique and great. J.K. Rowling has made a perfect job in recreating a world and presenting the problems of the real word in it. From the beginning of the first book until the last sentence of the last book, I was completely lured by the magical connotation and felt a part of a different, yet realistic world. The series are in chronological order illustrating Harry’s transformation from an ignorant child to the most capable and famous wizard alive, the only one who could stop “You-know-who”.
I identify the story of Harry to be an allusion to the life of a teenager struggling with life which; even though veiled masterfully, makes the book entertaining and helps the addressed audience-namely that of children and teenagers, identify their problems with those of the characters.
I identify the story of Harry to be an allusion to the life of a teenager struggling with life which; even though veiled masterfully, makes the book entertaining and helps the addressed audience-namely that of children and teenagers, identify their problems with those of the characters.
понеделник, 30 ноември 2009 г.
Untitled
I wrote this after i read The Catcher in the Rye, my favorite book for sure;) I decided to do something one evening and then write about it.
Last night I was just going to bed when my mobile rang. It was my best friend.
He had just finished meeting with his girlfriend. He invited me to his place. His parents were out of town and he was bored or something. I hesitated for a while, it was a school night but I did not care, and I said I’d go. I got dressed and started thinking about what classes I had tomorrow. I thought about it for a while but I could not figure it out, so I put a notebook in my bag and got out. I don’t know why I took my bag, it would have been easier if I had only taken the freaking notebook. My parents were sleeping, so I did not bother waking them up. They probably would not have noticed anyways. At the time they normally wake up I’m already at school or in the restaurant across from it, depending on my mood. I got a cab and drove off to my friend’s. I forgot I did not have any cigarettes on me, so I tried to bum one from the cab driver. He let me take one. Like ninety percent of the cab drivers smoke, it’s hilarious. I don’t normally ask people for cigarettes, its not that I’m ashamed I just don’t want to ask them. I can’t explain it. After I put it out in the ashtray, I told him to stop at the next open shop. I couldn’t last the whole night without any.
When I finally arrived, after I tipped the cab driver, even thought I hate cab drivers; they always smoke,even when you are trying to stop smoking, they still smoke, my friend’s sister opened. She was three years younger than us and was going to attend our school next year along with my brother. She was beautiful for her age and I bet you could have mistaken her for 16 or even 17 year old when she was only 14. I sat down next to her on the couch and lit a cigarette. My friend came with a bottle of 24 year old whiskey. He poured it into these coffee glasses. I did not like it really. Maybe it was because of the damn coffee glass I had to drink it from. Why the hell did he bring the expensive whiskey and the cheap coffee glasses? It makes no sense. Anyways , we did not have anything to do so we ordered food and downloaded a movie . The movie was called “Finding Forrester” . It was about this writer William Forrester that wrote a very successful novel and then got pissed at the world and started living incognito or something. This basketball Kid from the ghetto finds him and they start writing together. It sounds phony but it isn’t. It is really touching if you ask me. By the time it ended it was almost morning, the sky was starting to clear and the sun was showing from the mountain across. I fell asleep on the sofa. I cannot remember what happened with my friend, whether he fell asleep on the chair, or he went to his bed.
Last night I was just going to bed when my mobile rang. It was my best friend.
He had just finished meeting with his girlfriend. He invited me to his place. His parents were out of town and he was bored or something. I hesitated for a while, it was a school night but I did not care, and I said I’d go. I got dressed and started thinking about what classes I had tomorrow. I thought about it for a while but I could not figure it out, so I put a notebook in my bag and got out. I don’t know why I took my bag, it would have been easier if I had only taken the freaking notebook. My parents were sleeping, so I did not bother waking them up. They probably would not have noticed anyways. At the time they normally wake up I’m already at school or in the restaurant across from it, depending on my mood. I got a cab and drove off to my friend’s. I forgot I did not have any cigarettes on me, so I tried to bum one from the cab driver. He let me take one. Like ninety percent of the cab drivers smoke, it’s hilarious. I don’t normally ask people for cigarettes, its not that I’m ashamed I just don’t want to ask them. I can’t explain it. After I put it out in the ashtray, I told him to stop at the next open shop. I couldn’t last the whole night without any.
When I finally arrived, after I tipped the cab driver, even thought I hate cab drivers; they always smoke,even when you are trying to stop smoking, they still smoke, my friend’s sister opened. She was three years younger than us and was going to attend our school next year along with my brother. She was beautiful for her age and I bet you could have mistaken her for 16 or even 17 year old when she was only 14. I sat down next to her on the couch and lit a cigarette. My friend came with a bottle of 24 year old whiskey. He poured it into these coffee glasses. I did not like it really. Maybe it was because of the damn coffee glass I had to drink it from. Why the hell did he bring the expensive whiskey and the cheap coffee glasses? It makes no sense. Anyways , we did not have anything to do so we ordered food and downloaded a movie . The movie was called “Finding Forrester” . It was about this writer William Forrester that wrote a very successful novel and then got pissed at the world and started living incognito or something. This basketball Kid from the ghetto finds him and they start writing together. It sounds phony but it isn’t. It is really touching if you ask me. By the time it ended it was almost morning, the sky was starting to clear and the sun was showing from the mountain across. I fell asleep on the sofa. I cannot remember what happened with my friend, whether he fell asleep on the chair, or he went to his bed.
Othello Passage Analysis
Othello Analysis:Act II, Scene 3
Lines 280-310
CASSIO
Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!
IAGO
As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some bodily wound. There is more sense in that than in reputation. Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you repute yourself such a loser. What, man, there are ways to recover the general again. You are but now cast in his mood, a punishment more in policy than in malice, even so as one would beat his offenseless dog to affright an imperious lion. Sue to him again and he’s yours.
CASSIO
I will rather sue to be despised than to deceive so
good a commander with so slight, so drunken, and so
indiscreet an officer. Drunk? and speak parrot?
and squabble? swagger? swear? and discourse
fustian with one's own shadow? O thou invisible
spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by,
let us call thee devil!
The play “Othello,” written by Shakespeare in the beginning of the 17th century is a marvelous example of a piece of literature that has survived the test of time because it discusses many things that are relevant in the modern world as well as in Victorian England, such as love and prejudice. This particular passage brings up one of the important themes in the play, namely that of reputation, and through it reveals much about the two characters and about aspects of their personalities. Cassio is shown as someone who cares a lot about the norms and opinions of the society and can be dubbed ordinary and normal; he is devoted to fulfilling his duty and does not seem to have any personal goals or real individuality. Iago, on the other hand, is shown to have a completely different way of thinking: he is more intelligent, more far-sighted and somehow distant from the expectations of the society and the way it is structured; he also has a better comprehension about human nature.
Shakespeare has created an ambiguous portrait of Michael Cassio, who, even though brave and honest (values that are celebrated and upheld), is also portrayed as somewhat dull and unintelligent, his morals overwhelming everything else. His position as lieutenant of Othello is the most important thing for him; he has no real personal goals or strivings besides to fulfill his duty and uphold his reputation. From a modern point of view, this way of life is limited and narrow. When he loses this reputation, he feels that he is no longer human, that his life is futile and pointless without his service of his master and the latter’s benevolence: “I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial” (Act II, Scene 3, 280-310). This exaggeration points out to the somewhat abnormal way society is structured, as the servitude to someone else appears to hold the highest value for this character, who is otherwise honest and brave. The way Cassio reprimands himself in the next lines shows his powerful sense of guilt, but there is an important nuance in it. He feels guilty not so much because he himself has done wrong, even though he suffers because of his lost reputation, but because his actions have brought shame on his master: “I will rather sue to be despised than to deceive so/good a commander with so slight, so drunken, and so/indiscreet an officer” (Act II, Scene 3, 280-310 ). The lieutenant even tortures himself by graphically describing his condition of inebriation with all its embarrassing aspects. Michael Cassio, a person who is exemplary in the Venetian society, has little regard for his own personality and his own self; he identifies himself with his duty and with his duty only.
Iago, on the other hand, is quite the opposite character. Doubtlessly he is a primarily negative character and the villain in “Othello;” nevertheless, in this passage the reader can see that he is the voice of sanity, a person who has a deeper understanding of the society and the flaws in its structure. He advises Cassio to be reasonable, to think clearly and to perceive the fact that reputation is changeable and, after all, not so important: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you repute yourself such a loser” (Act II, Scene 3,280-310). Iago voices the idea that how one feels about himself is much more important than reputation and what the society thinks; not only this, but he makes a huge accusation on the very way society is structured: it is illogical, and many people can have merit even though they do not deserve it. In this way, he provides the reader with a completely different vantage point from which to view the Shakespearean world. It is ironic that the character who is infused with evil and who is supposed to be completely repulsive, his words only lies, speaks rationally and clearly. True, the purpose behind his words is to harm Cassio, but his actual speech is, in fact, true from a modern point of view. It is important to note the word “honest” as it is used by Iago: “As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some bodily wound” (Act II, 280-310). In this context, it seems the word “honest” is meant to mean straightforward, simple, and without and hidden thought because Iago allegedly thinks that only material wounds matter. In other words, Cassio’s real trouble - losing his reputation - would be of little concern to Iago, who cares only about reality, facts, and material things.
In conclusion it can be said that this passage reveals much about Cassio and Iago, especially their attitude towards society. Cassio, even though a positive and amiable character, is shown to be limited in his perspective and to care too much about society’s opinion, whereas Iago, who is a villain, is revealed to be intelligent and adept at understanding the makings of the world. In this way, Shakespeare once again manages to create complex situations which are everything but black and white.
Lines 280-310
CASSIO
Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!
IAGO
As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some bodily wound. There is more sense in that than in reputation. Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you repute yourself such a loser. What, man, there are ways to recover the general again. You are but now cast in his mood, a punishment more in policy than in malice, even so as one would beat his offenseless dog to affright an imperious lion. Sue to him again and he’s yours.
CASSIO
I will rather sue to be despised than to deceive so
good a commander with so slight, so drunken, and so
indiscreet an officer. Drunk? and speak parrot?
and squabble? swagger? swear? and discourse
fustian with one's own shadow? O thou invisible
spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by,
let us call thee devil!
The play “Othello,” written by Shakespeare in the beginning of the 17th century is a marvelous example of a piece of literature that has survived the test of time because it discusses many things that are relevant in the modern world as well as in Victorian England, such as love and prejudice. This particular passage brings up one of the important themes in the play, namely that of reputation, and through it reveals much about the two characters and about aspects of their personalities. Cassio is shown as someone who cares a lot about the norms and opinions of the society and can be dubbed ordinary and normal; he is devoted to fulfilling his duty and does not seem to have any personal goals or real individuality. Iago, on the other hand, is shown to have a completely different way of thinking: he is more intelligent, more far-sighted and somehow distant from the expectations of the society and the way it is structured; he also has a better comprehension about human nature.
Shakespeare has created an ambiguous portrait of Michael Cassio, who, even though brave and honest (values that are celebrated and upheld), is also portrayed as somewhat dull and unintelligent, his morals overwhelming everything else. His position as lieutenant of Othello is the most important thing for him; he has no real personal goals or strivings besides to fulfill his duty and uphold his reputation. From a modern point of view, this way of life is limited and narrow. When he loses this reputation, he feels that he is no longer human, that his life is futile and pointless without his service of his master and the latter’s benevolence: “I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial” (Act II, Scene 3, 280-310). This exaggeration points out to the somewhat abnormal way society is structured, as the servitude to someone else appears to hold the highest value for this character, who is otherwise honest and brave. The way Cassio reprimands himself in the next lines shows his powerful sense of guilt, but there is an important nuance in it. He feels guilty not so much because he himself has done wrong, even though he suffers because of his lost reputation, but because his actions have brought shame on his master: “I will rather sue to be despised than to deceive so/good a commander with so slight, so drunken, and so/indiscreet an officer” (Act II, Scene 3, 280-310 ). The lieutenant even tortures himself by graphically describing his condition of inebriation with all its embarrassing aspects. Michael Cassio, a person who is exemplary in the Venetian society, has little regard for his own personality and his own self; he identifies himself with his duty and with his duty only.
Iago, on the other hand, is quite the opposite character. Doubtlessly he is a primarily negative character and the villain in “Othello;” nevertheless, in this passage the reader can see that he is the voice of sanity, a person who has a deeper understanding of the society and the flaws in its structure. He advises Cassio to be reasonable, to think clearly and to perceive the fact that reputation is changeable and, after all, not so important: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you repute yourself such a loser” (Act II, Scene 3,280-310). Iago voices the idea that how one feels about himself is much more important than reputation and what the society thinks; not only this, but he makes a huge accusation on the very way society is structured: it is illogical, and many people can have merit even though they do not deserve it. In this way, he provides the reader with a completely different vantage point from which to view the Shakespearean world. It is ironic that the character who is infused with evil and who is supposed to be completely repulsive, his words only lies, speaks rationally and clearly. True, the purpose behind his words is to harm Cassio, but his actual speech is, in fact, true from a modern point of view. It is important to note the word “honest” as it is used by Iago: “As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some bodily wound” (Act II, 280-310). In this context, it seems the word “honest” is meant to mean straightforward, simple, and without and hidden thought because Iago allegedly thinks that only material wounds matter. In other words, Cassio’s real trouble - losing his reputation - would be of little concern to Iago, who cares only about reality, facts, and material things.
In conclusion it can be said that this passage reveals much about Cassio and Iago, especially their attitude towards society. Cassio, even though a positive and amiable character, is shown to be limited in his perspective and to care too much about society’s opinion, whereas Iago, who is a villain, is revealed to be intelligent and adept at understanding the makings of the world. In this way, Shakespeare once again manages to create complex situations which are everything but black and white.
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