In class, we just finished reading King Lear by William Shakespeare. I love anything by Shakespeare! He is so wonderful.
In relation to my Big Question, I looked at the character Cordelia, Lear's youngest daughter. While her evil sisters, Goneril and Regan brown nose to their father to gain his land, only to exile Lear and take literally everything from him, Cordelia does not suck-up to her father. She only states her honest and pure love for her father. But Lear does not thinks she does not love him, and therefore she is exiled.
But it took a lot of courage to stand alone in saying that she truly loved her father, while her sisters lied. She did the right thing while others did wrong.
Here is a song from Othello by Shakespeare that I think relates to King Lear in many ways. I hope you enjoy it! It's called "Willow, Willow".
http://www.shakesongs.com/player/player.htm
And here's a little cartoon for your enjoyment. Of course, it's much funnier if you've already read the play :)
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/jsi0016l.jpg
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Now on to the nitty- gritty stuff! (I apologize for the length of my posts. I promise they won't all be this long!)
Over the summer, our big assignment was to choose a novel from a list of literary works. The novel I chose was Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, and I absolutely loved it! I cried all the way through the book, and then watched the movie and promptly cried again. It was so beautiful in every aspect from exciting plot, to intriguing characters, to eloquent language.
But not only was this a fantastic book, I found that it related to my Big Question. For instance, in the book, the character of Inman is fighting in the Civil War on the Confederate's side. He has been fighting and killing men left and right, while his true love, Ada, struggles to take care of her deceased father's farm and keep her faith strong. After Inman is injured from a shot to the neck, he can't take it anymore. He can't kill another man, or listen to others dying around him. So he desperately does the one thing that he thinks is right; he runs away. He starts running to his home on Cold Mountain and his love waiting for him.
Now, in those times, if you ran away from fighting, you were considered a deserter and a traitor. So men from the army, or law enforcements would track you down and shoot you, if they ever caught you. So Inman is running for his life, while running into all kinds of obstacles. I think many people would agree with me when I say that I think Inman did the right thing. Regardless of what anybody thinks, war is wrong, and killing another human being is even worse, in my opinion. It took Inman a lot of courage to run away, especially when everyone around him was either killing or dying. It took a ton of courage to turn the other way, away from the killing. Now, some might say that that was the cowardly thing to do instead of being brave and facing the danger, but I personally think he was more righteous and victorious to run away. Inman showed incredible courage to do what was right when everyone around him was doing wrong. If only we all had that courage; to go against the crowd, to turn the other cheek, to realize what is victorious and right.
Just recently this semester, we read Oedipus by Sophocles. Now, this book was a little hard to find a connection to my Big Question, but here it goes.
When Oedipus basically kills his father, marries his mother, and has children/sisters and brothers, he is doing the wrong thing. Except, he has no idea he is doing the wrong thing because he is ignorant of the fact that the woman he is married to, is indeed his mother. Twisted, right? Ew...In the end of the book, FINALLY Tyricius tells Oedipus his story and then Oedipus gouges out his eyes, his mom/wife kills herself, Oedipus exiles himself, and it's all really gross and bloody and horrifying...but you get the idea.
Anyway, relating back to my question; Tyricius is the only one who stands up to Oedipus and tells him his story. It probably took him a lot of courage to tell Oedipus about his past, and ultimately destroy his future. Of course, nobody else really knew, or didn't care to look further into it by putting together the pieces. But regardless, it was still Tyricius who stood alone in confronting Oedipus.
Over the summer, our big assignment was to choose a novel from a list of literary works. The novel I chose was Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, and I absolutely loved it! I cried all the way through the book, and then watched the movie and promptly cried again. It was so beautiful in every aspect from exciting plot, to intriguing characters, to eloquent language.
But not only was this a fantastic book, I found that it related to my Big Question. For instance, in the book, the character of Inman is fighting in the Civil War on the Confederate's side. He has been fighting and killing men left and right, while his true love, Ada, struggles to take care of her deceased father's farm and keep her faith strong. After Inman is injured from a shot to the neck, he can't take it anymore. He can't kill another man, or listen to others dying around him. So he desperately does the one thing that he thinks is right; he runs away. He starts running to his home on Cold Mountain and his love waiting for him.
Now, in those times, if you ran away from fighting, you were considered a deserter and a traitor. So men from the army, or law enforcements would track you down and shoot you, if they ever caught you. So Inman is running for his life, while running into all kinds of obstacles. I think many people would agree with me when I say that I think Inman did the right thing. Regardless of what anybody thinks, war is wrong, and killing another human being is even worse, in my opinion. It took Inman a lot of courage to run away, especially when everyone around him was either killing or dying. It took a ton of courage to turn the other way, away from the killing. Now, some might say that that was the cowardly thing to do instead of being brave and facing the danger, but I personally think he was more righteous and victorious to run away. Inman showed incredible courage to do what was right when everyone around him was doing wrong. If only we all had that courage; to go against the crowd, to turn the other cheek, to realize what is victorious and right.
Just recently this semester, we read Oedipus by Sophocles. Now, this book was a little hard to find a connection to my Big Question, but here it goes.
When Oedipus basically kills his father, marries his mother, and has children/sisters and brothers, he is doing the wrong thing. Except, he has no idea he is doing the wrong thing because he is ignorant of the fact that the woman he is married to, is indeed his mother. Twisted, right? Ew...In the end of the book, FINALLY Tyricius tells Oedipus his story and then Oedipus gouges out his eyes, his mom/wife kills herself, Oedipus exiles himself, and it's all really gross and bloody and horrifying...but you get the idea.
Anyway, relating back to my question; Tyricius is the only one who stands up to Oedipus and tells him his story. It probably took him a lot of courage to tell Oedipus about his past, and ultimately destroy his future. Of course, nobody else really knew, or didn't care to look further into it by putting together the pieces. But regardless, it was still Tyricius who stood alone in confronting Oedipus.
Hello everyone! This is my very first blog ever! Yes, Caitlin, welcome to the 21st century!
I am writing this blog primarily for an AP English Literature and Composition assignment for the wonderful Ms. Leclaire. We must as a "Big Question", or , in other words, we must ask a question that requires us to ponder not only a theme throughout the different works of literature we are reading, but a theme that is relevant throughout our everyday lives. My "Big Question" is fairly simple, but yet, is hard to comprehend:
What does it take to have the courage to do what's right when everyone around you is doing wrong?
If you think about it, standing up for what's right is hard. For instance, if someone is bullying another person, and you're a witness, what would you do? Of course, in your heart you know that the right thing to do is stop the bully from hurting the victim anymore, right? But would you actually do it? How brave do you have to be to stand up for the victim and potentially risk your own safety?
This question hits close to home for me and maybe for others too. I try not to be judgmental of others and I try not to gossip too much about certain people or things. I would like to say that I'm perfect and NEVER judge and NEVER gossip and NEVER give in to peer pressure, but I'm not perfect -nobody is. That's why it is hard to have the courage to stand alone and do what's right.
I believe in love, forgivness, and compassion. But as humans, especially teenagers, we tend to give in to gossip and peer pressure because we strive to fit in. But the real courage is doing the right thing even though it's different. If I'm nice to a person everyone hates, am I considered weird? If I don't go to a party where there might be drinking and drugs, am I a square? If I am the only one who will include a loner into a group, am I considered a freak as well?
Sometimes what is right may be the hardest thing to accomplish by yourself, but that's what courage is. Think about it.
I am writing this blog primarily for an AP English Literature and Composition assignment for the wonderful Ms. Leclaire. We must as a "Big Question", or , in other words, we must ask a question that requires us to ponder not only a theme throughout the different works of literature we are reading, but a theme that is relevant throughout our everyday lives. My "Big Question" is fairly simple, but yet, is hard to comprehend:
What does it take to have the courage to do what's right when everyone around you is doing wrong?
If you think about it, standing up for what's right is hard. For instance, if someone is bullying another person, and you're a witness, what would you do? Of course, in your heart you know that the right thing to do is stop the bully from hurting the victim anymore, right? But would you actually do it? How brave do you have to be to stand up for the victim and potentially risk your own safety?
This question hits close to home for me and maybe for others too. I try not to be judgmental of others and I try not to gossip too much about certain people or things. I would like to say that I'm perfect and NEVER judge and NEVER gossip and NEVER give in to peer pressure, but I'm not perfect -nobody is. That's why it is hard to have the courage to stand alone and do what's right.
I believe in love, forgivness, and compassion. But as humans, especially teenagers, we tend to give in to gossip and peer pressure because we strive to fit in. But the real courage is doing the right thing even though it's different. If I'm nice to a person everyone hates, am I considered weird? If I don't go to a party where there might be drinking and drugs, am I a square? If I am the only one who will include a loner into a group, am I considered a freak as well?
Sometimes what is right may be the hardest thing to accomplish by yourself, but that's what courage is. Think about it.
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