Prufrock Seminar Notes

We only had the last five minutes of class to discuss the poem so please excuse the lack of content on this post.

- poem illustrates the stages of his life, what he has accomplished, what he wished to accomplish, and what he hopes to accomplish some time in the future

- compares himself to Hamlet because of their indecisiveness but clearly states that he is not him because Hamlet actually carried out the actions he planned for so long

- the yellow smoke/fog resembles something in a sick state and sets us up for his frame of mind

- the part mentioning the women speaking of Michelangelo serve as fillers to show the differences in the social gap and how something as extraordinary as Michelangelo is used in such a short, informal fashion 

- Prufrock is hesitant to speak to those ladies as he never actually approaches them in the poem and complains how he doesn't think that the mermaids will sing to him at the end (he has horrible luck with the ladies)

- I found it a bit ironic that Michelangelo was referenced in this poem because his most famous sculpture "David" is extremely masculine and encapsulates everything that a man should physically be and essentially everything that Prufrock is not

- He masks his first name in the title of the poem with a single letter to show that he is ashamed of himself and constantly wants to hide from everything that he is not

Literature Analysis #3 - The Picture of Dorian Gray by: Oscar Wilde

1. Dorian Gray is a man in his early twenties who has lived his life as a relatively innocent soul. After Basil, one of his best friends, paints a portrait of him that ages instead of his body, he becomes self-centered and starts listening to the ideas of a man named Lord Henry. Lord Henry is a close friend of Basil that has captured Dorian’s fascination because of his insightful, witty responses and original outlooks on life.  Through Henry’s influence, Dorian finds Basil annoying and blames him for the guilty conscience he now has because of the painting. Lord Henry knew the power he had over Dorian and continued to take advantage of him by feeding him dark outlooks on life that appeared to make perfect sense to him. Dorian then kills Basil and unknowingly takes his own life by stabbing his portrait.

2.  The universal theme of this story is to not let the influence of others and society ultimately mold the person you truly are. Everyone is placed in a unique body for a reason; embrace the purest form of your soul and those who accept you for the truth are really the only ones who matter.  

3.  This particular book had a very ominous tone to it. The reader often feels every character is a pessimist at times and there seems to be a remarkable lack of positive incidents with a surplus of malicious actions. For instance, Dorian not only dies but he also murders the one person who actually cared for him. There is not one positive incident that I can think of while reflecting on the story, which gives validity to the ominous tone.

4. - Wilde uses irony by allowing Dorian's gift of endless youth to save himself from James Vane, but it turned out to be the one thing that killed him in the end.
- Dorian's portrait was actually very hideous because it symbolized the nature of his soul.
- Oscar Wilde also foreshadowed the death of Dorian when he decided to murder Basil Hallward. 
- The setting of this book takes place in London, which is very gloomy and always raining (adding to the ominous tone).

 5. The syntax seemed to remain the same throughout the book as both the descriptions were lengthy as well as the dialogue between the characters. The diction, however, became more sophisticated when the members of the elite social class spoke to reflect the major gap between the classes.

6. The protagonist, Dorian Gray, is both dynamic and round because of his vast change in character. At the inception of the book he was an innocent man with an optimistic view on life, but that all changed once he met Lord Henry. He went from a humble, good-looking, young man to an arrogant jerk who turned on every person that showed him even the simplest forms of love. 

7. After finishing this story I felt as if I had met Dorian Gray in the flesh. The book gave much insight into his thoughts and feelings and also showed us the timeline from his heroic glory days until the day he died as a villain. I was very angry with him as I watched him transform into a monster and turn on innocent Basil because he felt like a man I knew in reality.
 

Comparative Poetry Essay

Not all poems are created alike. Although many poems are inspired by identical topics or occurrences, the style and perspective of the authors vary as it is apparent when reading their poems. Some are purposed to persuade while others are a simple form of informative writing allowing them to uncap the bottle of their feelings. David Whyte and Derek Mahon creatively entwined interchangeable material in their poems while managing two various themes.

Both "Working Together" and "Everything is Going to be Alright" create a sense of optimism about the future. At the inception of these poems, the authors recognize and state that there are many fatalities in this world, often times ones that are impossible to avoid. They encourage people to not let them bring them down because nothing lasts forever and life really is what you make of it. Sure it's easy to let negativity encapsulate your mind and body, but that doesn't solve anything and with a positive frame of mind, the world is your oyster and the future will  look promising. 

Even though both poems incorporated the same elements of optimism, the themes varied with the specifics of the optimism that they contained. In David Whyte's poem, he stresses the importance of collaboration. He recognizes our human potential if we were to all work together instead of associate ourselves based on our differences. He claims that we are all different and yet similar in a simultaneous fashion, one that could potentially revolutionize the world and the way we function. Derek Mahon's poem stresses the importance of being enthusiastic about the future, even when life presents itself in the most unfavorable of manners. His poem focuses more on an individual's mindset and emphasizes optimism on the gloomiest days. It is very difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel when the darkness seems to last for an eternity, but it will eventually turn up and all the adversities previously encountered will be in the past. 

Not only do these poems have diverse themes, the format in which they are written differs as well. "Working Together" was written with extremely short stanzas and multiple gaps in between. Whyte does this to serve as an inspirational piece of literature, comparable to a motivational speech. The short lines and pauses allow the audience to really think about the possibilities that the future could hold if we listened to what he was saying. They permit the audience to really comprehend the message he is attempting to get across in a persuasive manner. The short stanzas are meant to be read in a slow fashion, as if they were being read to them by a speaker."Everything is Going to be Alright" takes a completely divergent course when it comes to format. This poem is condensed into twelve single spaced lines with more content than Whyte's poem. This is due to the fact that Mahon seems to be describing a single day and all of the things that can happen within the short 24 hours. The time span could also be seen as a year because of the fact that life moves so quickly and everything can change in the blink of an eye. This really helps with the theme of the poem as the darkness can shift to daylight in what seems like an instant, but only if you stay positive and allow the past to remain in the past. 

These poems are very relatable today as everyone continues to deal with the hardships of being a human and the distance growing between us all due to the social media that is supposed to be doing the opposite. Optimism seems to be dying out as more and more riots break out or successful terrorists make headlines, which is why these poems are actually more important than ever.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Questions

This poems appears to mention time throughout the majority of it. He seems to think that there is an abundance of time to participate in social events as he likes to describe. However he only seems to think about the present as the simplest decisions give him such anxiety and present themselves as dilemmas. Elliot alludes to Hamlet to put in perspective how indecisive Prufrock really is. Hamlet was attempting to decide whether or not to murder his step-father, among other serious contemplations, whereas Prufrock didn't know whether or not to eat a peach or simply where to part his hair for example, but they were all complex situations to him that required much reflection. When he alludes to his when his greatness flickered, he is explaining that when he was a part of social gatherings hosted by the wealthy class and saw how the footman (servant/butler) would snicker when giving him his coat. He mentions this "eternal Footman" to reiterate the theme of time and that life is what you make it as well as reminisce on the past. After reading the poem once, the image that remained in my mind was the one Eliot painted of the yellow smoke. It appeared to swallow everything in its path in a worn down neighborhood at night through the manner it was described. It was a bit odd to me as the rest of the poem chronicles superfluous events and although his life seems to be barely adequate, he never describes creepy settings again. This shows that as time goes on, so does life and that nothing lasts forever if you are determined enough to alter your existing situation.

A translation of the Italian at the poem's inception:

If I believed that my reply was
A person who never returned to the world ,
This flame staria no longer shock .
But because of this never end
I do not return alive any , s'i'odo true ,
Without fear of infamy I answer .

Poetry Remix

"Working Together"
- David Whyte

We shape our self

To fit this world

And by the world

Are shaped again.

The visible 

And the invisible

Working together 

In common cause,

To produce

The miraculous.

I am thinking of the way

The intangible air

Passed at speed

Round a shaped wing

Easily

Holds our weight.

So may we, in this life

Trust

To those elements

We have yet to see

Or imagine, 

And look for the true

Shape of our own self, 

By forming it well

To the great

Intangible about us.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrbUfYSt0E

Intro to Poetry

1. The title "Working Together" signifies that we all must cooperate to create our ideal world; we already cooperate to mold ourselves after the world that has already been created for us. It shows that we have already proven the ability to work together and that we can use it to change our perspective on life.
2. The tone of this poem is optimistic and imaginative. The author appears to be a very creative guy and is excited about future possibilities if we all worked as one.
3. The author's tone carried over to my mood while reading this particular poem. I was excited just thinking about the possibilities as I too, am interested in what the future holds for us.
4. A shift occurs after the author talks about what we have been able to accomplish when we work together to discussing our future capabilities. The tone changes from admirable to optimistic during this shift as well.
5. This poem's theme is that the possibilities are endless if we unite and work together because we could accomplish beautiful things never before imagined.
6. Answering these questions made me realize that there is always hope for the future. It also made me realize that humanity is not reaching its full potential simply by accepting the rules we are given, not trying to encourage an uprising here or anything, but our creativity has been sucked right out of us and it's time to get it back.

Hamlet Essay

(Aside) "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." This particular line spoken by Polonius basically describes the entire play in merely nine words. He utters this while speaking to Hamlet only a few minutes after he discussed with Claudius and Gertrude his beliefs as to why Hamlet was acting insane. So then Hamlet walks in while reading a book and describes to Claudius that he is reading about old men with grey beards, wrinkled faces, weak thighs, and no wisdom, in which Polonius responds with the quote mentioned. Both of these men are indirectly talking about each other as Hamlet has no respect for Polonius and his lack of intelligence and Polonius knows that there is a reason why Hamlet is acting like a mentally unstable person. This line spoken by Polonius can apply to virtually any character in this play as an outsider would view them all as deranged.

This line most clearly speaks to Hamlet as he appears to react crazily after hearing about the true account of his father's death. However, he even tells some of his friends that he is going to be acting mad and for them not to worry because it is all part of his plan. For instance, the death of Polonius felt cruel as Hamlet was initially disappointed to find he was not Claudius instead of grief for the innocent life he had just taken. Hamlet was justified in his shock as he only wanted revenge for what Claudius did and is not a naturally dispassionate person. This was just a single account of Hamlet's strange actions in a play revolved around the rest of them in which all of them have explanations as well.

To many, the death of Ophelia appeared to be one with purpose. They believed that she committed suicide and immediately judged and looked down upon her for such actions. The majority of them, however, probably were not aware that her father was restraining her feelings for the man that so deeply loved her and was not allowing her to be herself. Soon after, Hamlet became crazy in the eyes of many and was even rude to his fair Ophelia who was distressed and confused about this man who she loved and who drastically changed for the worst. As if that wasn't heart-breaking enough, her father was then murdered and not by just anyone; Hamlet was responsible for the final stab that stopped his heart. All of this was just too much for Ophelia to take, her brother was now angrier than she could have ever imagined and she had no one else to turn to as the people she kept dearest were slowly evolving and turning against one another. She most likely felt abandoned and thought the only answer was to end her life as she had no one left, but to outsiders she was a weak girl undeserving of a proper Christian burial.

One would think that a man would be filled with grief the day after his brother's murder instead of celebrating and hosting a party. Many thought this to be strange of both Gertrude and Claudius, but they had their reasons. Both were guilty and responsible for Hamlet Sr.'s death, which is why they did not take any time to grieve. They were both extremely selfish individuals and resorted to the most gruesome option that would allow them to publicly be in love with the acceptance of the civilians and comfort of Elsinore. They did not kill Hamlet just for the fun of it, they wanted to be able to bask in each other's love and Claudius was thirsty for power. This is no justification for murder, but they did have a reason for their madness.

Each major character in this play is responsible for committing some type of crime, but none of them are just for the heck of it. They all believed that their actions made logical sense to them or else they would not have contracted them. The theme of this play is that everyone believes their own thoughts and opinions are justified if it makes sense to them. People do crazy things on a daily basis, but if you were to accuse them of being crazy, they would immediately accuse you of the same thing for thinking them to be. The characters in this play were not necessarily crazy, they simply experienced traumatic events that altered the way they thought and their judgment. They all were mad, but they all had their reasons.

Hamlet (The Madman?)

Hamlet is not a demented, deranged, or mentally disturbed individual as most like to portray him as. Supporters of this view simply look at the acts he commits rather than his reasoning behind them as they explain what is really going on inside his head. It is easy to title a young man as mad if he plots to kill his uncle, but what they fail to realize is that he has motives that make sense to him. They are not random acts of violence done for recreational purposes; they are actions of vengeance for the one man he idolized.

Hamlet is a very self-calculating guy as he spends much time planning out all of his actions. He has a clear idea of what he needs to do and how he is going to be successful. Not only does he think out  what he needs to do, he is also aware of its extremity and the repercussions associated with it. Hamlet is aware that his plans are not morally acceptable, but he also knows that the recipients never contemplated whether or not their actions were principled. A true madman would act on impulse without considering its effects and quite simply, without caring. The only time so far that Hamlet has acted on impulse was when he verbally attacked his mother and killed Polonius. In his defense he thought it was Claudius, who he had planned to kill for a while now, but he immediately felt bad that it was a different person than he envisioned. When he went off on Gertrude he just opened the bottle that contained all of his feelings about his father and her role in his death. In that moment he never thought about physically injuring her based on his impulse like a madman would, he was just getting everything off his chest that had been suffocating him since his father's heart stopped beating.

The death of Hamlet's father affected him more than he could ever imagine. Through his comparisons of his father to gods and his mother to prostitutes, it is safe to say that Hamlet idolized his father very much and was extremely close to him. The fact that this man was now gone forever shocked Hamlet into no return. He was so upset with the whole world and couldn't understand why he was the only one actually grieving over the King's death. Hamlet was in a very fragile and vulnerable state which is why the ghost was visible to him. Hamlet Senior knew that his son couldn't think clearly at the time and that he would be more focused on uncovering his father's mysterious death and getting revenge on the murderer rather than focusing on the fact that a ghost was the source of information. Had Hamlet seen a ghost confessing such scandalous secrets prior to the death of his father, he would convince himself that it was merely a figure of his imagination. Hamlet even warns his friends that he is going to be acting strange and is not in denial that he is not acting completely sane. The death of his father influenced him in such a way that due to the dissolving of his previous reality all he could do was question his new normal. Hamlet is a very intellectual individual and thus all his "madness" was actually a series of calculated moves in his game of revenge.

Hamlet Act II Notes

- Polonius wants to know which Danes are in Paris because he is trying to find information about his son
- Polonius wants to send Reynaldo to Paris to get people to talk about Laertes to see what he is up to
- Polonius: "By indirections find directions out."
- Ophelia is scared of Hamlet's frame of mind, which is that he is a mess/blind man who is lost
- Hamlet could be lovesick, it's a part of his plan, Ophelia could be lying, or Hamlet is just cracking under the pressure
- Claudius is using Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to get information out of Hamlet by paying them
- Polonius: "... brevity is the soul of wit."
- Polonius convinced Gertrude of the origins of Hamlet's insanity
- Hamlet calls Polonius a fishmonger
- Polonius: (Aside) "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
- Hamlet is on to things and is toying with Polonius
- Hamlet: "For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
- Hamlet catches on as to why his "friends" are there
- Hamlet: "What a piece of work is a man."
- Hamlet is half admitting that he is sane but is also testing what the two report back to Polonius
- Hamlet says the play has good meaning but that it wasn't meant to please the masses
- First player is alluding to a queen watching her husband murdered
- Hamlet is offering to write a little bit for each player to recite in the play
- Hamlet's soliloquy: his discontent has taken shape and compares himself to others (actors) and is showing major emotion even though reciting lines from another play. Feels that he is not honoring his father's with real emotion. Kind of wishes someone showed him tough love because now no one will call him out on it. Says he's barely fit to be food for birds (judging himself very harshly) doesn't have enough integrity to voice his opinion and that talk is cheap (compares to prostitutes). Wonders if the play makes Claudius and Gertrude feel guilty about what they have done. Hamlet needs proof to show that Claudius is guilty especially if he tells others he is basing his suspicion off of what a ghost has confessed to him
- Hamlet: "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." He knows people won't believe him if he tells them that he got his information from a ghost.

Hamlet Act I Scenes IV and V Notes

- Once Claudius has taken the throne he is partying nonstop
- Horatio: "Custom?"   Hamlet: "Yeah."
- Hamlet thinks it makes them look like drunkards and takes from their achievements as they are now seen as irresponsible
- Claudius is adding to Hamlet's suspicion because he is super happy but should still be grieving
- Hamlet recognizes the ghost as his father because of their close resemblance
- Hamlet asks why something so bizarre has happened and basically asks the reason for the ghost's presence
- Horatio warns Hamlet that the ghost might make him do something insane and sees him as a threat
- Marcellus: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." This is now a cliche accusation of wrongdoing
- Ghost is in a state of purgatory/limbo and says that Hamlet is bound to take revenge when he hears and that it will shock him into no return
- The ghost confirms that he is Hamlet Sr.'s spirit and was killed suddenly without a chance to correct all his previous wrongdoings
- Ghost: "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." - directive
- Denmark has been told that Hamlet Sr. was killed by a serpent in an orchard with a crown (Claudius)
- Claudius seduced Gertrude before Hamlet died and she lost affection for him
- When he was sleeping in orchard, Claudius poured poison in his ears that stopped his blood from flowing (everything stolen by him) and is a metaphor for his seduction of Gertrude
- Because he was killed without doing right, he was sent to a really torturous place in the afterlife
- Tells Hamlet to avenge because it's right (keep honor) and not let feelings interfere
- In giving burden to Hamlet, he tells him not to let it bring him down
- Tells him not to do anything to Gertrude, let God judge her in heaven and let her guilt eat her alive
- Hamlet now knows exactly what he has to do
- Hamlet doesn't say what he doesn't want to say since he is a calculating guy and ducking the question
- Hamlet: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." (Talking to the audience as well)
- Hamlet: "The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!"
- Tells the players not to do anything to give it away and is warning that he will be acting weird to make people think that he has lost his guard

"The Performative Utterance in William Shakespeare's Hamlet" Notes

- Hamlet is not confused but is rather in a state of cognitive paralysis
- Throughout much of the play he is able to speak and not do, but he has many great and varying powers
- J.L. Austin said that certain language doesn't merely describe actions but acts in being spoken
- Austin divided performative ability of language into: locutionary force (ability of language to deliver a message, the force of mutual intelligibility), the illocutionary force (what is done in being said), and the perlocutionary force (what is achieved by being said and its consequences)
- This represents a bridge between the business of language and the business of "real"
- Harold Bloom stated that Shakespeare's characters overhear themselves speaking and thus gain self- knowledge
- Hamlet's utterances allowed him to be successful in his actions as throughout most of the play he could not actually perform what he envisioned in his mind but his utterances aided this
- This had to occur as in Shakespeare's plays, his characters needed to voice their innermost thoughts to the audience due to the nature of his dramatic plays
- First Player's verbal, and not physical, action moves him accompanied by outward demonstrations of emotion
- States that the main problem of this play is that characters represent their feelings and intentions in a manner that opposes reality
- Hamlet describes exactly to the players what he would consider to be a convincing performance
- He tells them to act natural without overacting
- Polonius is vulnerable to Hamlet because of his mechanistic view of human nature

Hamlet Rap

1. Ghost why you disruptin'? We didn't do nothin' - Tia
My dad just died, slice me up revenge pie. - Tia
2. You come without a voice, but we ain't got no choice. - Bridgit
3. We need Hamlet here before you disappear. - Stephanie
4. Gertrude is a hoe and everybody knows. - Chrystal
Her new husband blows, and he ain't your average Joe cause he rollin' in that dough. - Chrystal
5. You'll never be my father so don't f****** bother. - Connor
6. You give Denmark a bad name, stop putting us to shame. - Yun
7. I met up with a ghost in which my father's soul was host. - Eric
8. I was warned twice but the truth I had to entice. - Laike
9. You ripped my family apart by stopping my father's heart. - Will
10. So now I'll act insane even if it puts my name to shame. - Jeff
11. I know what I'm doing but you're just misconstruing. - Terry
12. You think I want the throne, but I'm just in the love zone. - Chase
13. She thinks my frame of mind isn't so aligned, - Sean
That's only cause she's blind to what I've been assigned. - Sean
14. My parents wanna know the truth so they went back to my youth. - Jhaicelle
15. They paid two of my friends to see what's wrong with my head. - Edgar
16. They think I'm senseless but soon they'll be defenseless. - Edgar
17. I know this comes off tough but it's all just really fluff. - Jisu
18. I need more real emotion so his legacy receives notion. - Sophia
19. Disgrace has put my thoughts to sleep but I know that talk is cheap - Taylor
20. The one thing left to do is prove that he is liable with hard evidence that will be undeniable. - Me
21. HAMLET! - Substitute

Literary Fiction and Empathy

Reading literary fiction can help you understand others because it allows your imagination to fill in the gaps that aren't provided. In literary fiction, authors don't give you a superfluous amount of description for each character, so just based off what relatively little information they have given you, you are expected to interpret how they will react or what they are actually feeling. This skill can then be carried over into real life as you go to interviews or on blind dates and can act as a huge help. In Hamlet, Shakespeare doesn't directly describe him as an emotional character who is in control of his feelings, we have to infer that based on his soliloquy and reactions to previous occurrences. Literary fiction thus challenges us to become more observant and empathetic people as we try and decipher the world around us.

Literature Analysis #2 - Great Expectations by: Charles Dickens

1. This story takes place in London in the middle of the nineteenth-century and the main character, Pip, is a young boy who was orphaned but is now raised by his sister along with her husband. One day, he visited the graveyard that was home to his deceased family members and was attacked from behind by a man who threatened to kill him. The man's name was Magwitch and was a criminal who escaped from jail. Later on Pip discovers wealth from an anonymous benefactor who he later on discovers was this man that threatened to take his life. Pip's uncle takes him to Ms. Havisham's creepy old house and there he meets Estella, a stunning young lady assigned to break boy's hearts at the request of the bitter Ms. Havisham. Pip quickly falls in love with her and never stops this pursuit, even after the day she marries an abusive man. Pip later on discovers that Estella is actually Magwitch's daughter, which doesn't alter his feelings for her as they eventually live happily ever after.
2. The theme of this novel is that love can truly blind a person. Pip spent his entire life focused on attaining a girl who appeared to be a goddess to him. He was never able to start a relationship with her until later on in both of their lives and primarily focused on trying to get her rather than understand the type of person she was and her character. He spent the majority of his life fixed on this young lady and that sometimes interfered with his life and caused him to make poor decisions.
3. The tone of this novel is a simultaneous mixture of both affliction and sanguine.
- “Nothing was needed but this; the wretched man, after loading wretched me with his gold and silver chains for years, had risked his life to come to me, and I held it there in my keeping! If I had been attracted to him by the strongest admiration and affection, instead of shrinking from him with the strongest repugnance; it could have been no worse. On the contrary, it would have been better, for his preservation would then have naturally and tenderly addressed my heart.”

- “Well then, understand once for all that I never shall or can be anything but miserable unless I can lead a very different sort of life form the life I lead now.”

- "I walked away at a good pace, thinking it was easier to go than I had supposed it would be. But the village was very peaceful and quiet, and the light mists were solemnly rising, as if to show me the world, and I had been so innocent and little there, and all beyond was so unknown and great, that in a moment with a strong heave and I sob I broke into tears." 

4. - Dickens identifies Pip both as the main character and narrator on the first page: "...I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip."

- Dickens uses innuendo to explain that Pip is an orphan without a direct statement on the first page of the novel as well."I give Pirrip as my father's family name, on the authority of his tombstone and my sister..."

 - First person point of view on page 5: "I looked all around for the horrible young man, and could see no signs of him."

-  The chains and flowers acted as metaphors for what would hold the characters back from pursuing their passion if they allowed them to on page 82 "... think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."
- During this time period, coachmen were a commonality and since they no longer exist, they give us a great frame of reference on page 139 "Nevertheless, a hackney-coachmen, who seemed to have as many capes to his greasy great-coat as he was years old.."

- The setting of this novel was a crucial aspect because London was where Pip needed to travel in order to collect his fortune on page 142 and fun fact; Dickens grew up in London as well. "As I was looking out at the iron gate of Bartholomew Close into Little Britain, I saw Miss Jaggers..."
- Even though Estella said this about herself on page 415, I feel like the change is a symbol for the entire change that occurred throughout the novel because it felt as if nothing remained the same or came out to be what you expected. "I am greatly changed. I wonder you know me."
CHARACTERIZATION
2. Dickens' syntax changes when he focuses on the characters because he narrates the story with such graceful and eloquent English whereas the characters use common English that is often times unintelligent or even incorrect.
3. Pip is both a dynamic and round character because he changed so much throughout the novel. At the inception he was a small orphaned boy who was attacked by an escaped convict and basically had no chance of making something of himself. However, as he grew up he realized that he could become successful and in fact did because he was so determined. He also went from hating the man that threatened to take his life, Magwitch, to actually helping him escape.
4. After reading this story I felt like I had simply read about a character. I felt as if everything that happened to him was actually quite rare and thus hard to relate to. I know children are orphaned every single day and that more and more people are brutally attacked, but those kinds of things rarely happen to people I know in the small little bubble that I inhabit. Also, who randomly gets a chance to collect a gargantuan fortune and travel to London to collect it from an anonymous benefactor? People just don't give out free money from the good of their hearts anymore like they used to. Although it is not impossible, but now it is highly unlikely for criminals to escape from jail and the fact that Pip helps him later on in life as well makes it even more unbelievable to me as he committed a heinous crime towards Pip himself. And last but not least, Pip gets his dream girl at the end of the novel because of his constant persistence. This continues to be a recurring theme even with today's movies, but it has to be one of the most unrealistic happenings. Pip was a cool dude, but the fact that it was hard to relate him made it difficult for me to come away from the novel feeling like I had actually met him.

Hamlet Act I Scene II

- Hamlet Sr. died recently because everyone is still in grief
- Gertrude was queen (married to Hamlet Sr.), then when he died she wasn't queen anymore, and then she married King Claudius and became queen again
- Claudius was Hamlet Sr.'s brother
- Hamlet: "(Aside) A little more than kin, and less than kind."
- (Referring to Claudius) He means that they're related a little but doesn't want him to call him son and doesn't know how he feels about him yet
- Gertrude takes Claudius' side when he argues with Hamlet
- Claudius is insensitive to Hamlet but Hamlet wants to grieve to get back at Claudius
- Claudius publicly shames him for grieving his father
- Hamlet gives us insight into his own thoughts (first time ever in literature)
- Hamlet wants to commit suicide so he doesn't have to witness what is going on (w/ Claudius)
- Hamlet asks what the point of everything is
- Basically calls Gertrude a slut
- Hamlet asks straightforward questions when they are telling him about the ghost (like a cop) and we have seen three sides of Hamlet so far
- This suggests that he is in great control of his character based on what the situation demands; he is disciplined, humble, loyal, and smart
- Gertrude begs him to stay and not go to Wittenburg and Hamlet said he will try his best to obey her
- Horatio told Hamlet about them seeing his father as a ghost and Hamlet said that he would visit them later on that night to see if he returns to talk to his deceased father's ghost
- What are Hamlet's thought on possibly conversing with this ghost? What are his expectations?

Hamlet Act I Scene I

- Shakespeare wants his audience to want to know the answers
- The setting is in a castle, possibly Elsinore, in Denmark, and it is midnight
- exeunt: more than one person is leaving the scene
- read by the punctuation and not the lines
- the boys saw a ghost
- usurp: disturbed; disrupted
- Marcellus asks why is a ghost disturbing them?
- Hamlet and his father have identical names
- Hamlet Sr. killed Fortinbras Sr. who has a nephew with the same name as well
- Hamlet Sr. died but won Fortinbras
- Horatio is simply telling what he was told and was not actually there when it occurred
- King ghost appears because something is wrong
- alludes to Julius Caesar with  both the plot and writing style
- They all figure if the ghost won't talk to them then he will surely speak to his son, Hamlet

Vocab #6

1. abase: cause to feel shame, hurt the pride of
Ex: The defeat of her team abased her as she was their leader.
2. abdicate: give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations
Ex: He was forced to abdicate the thrown when the people threatened to murder him.
3. abomination: an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust
Ex: It was an abomination when she took the last ten scoops of ice cream just because there were excited children behind her waiting in line.
4. brusque: marked by rude or peremptory shortness
Ex: I simply asked her to pass the tissue box but she was very brusque with me in the morning as she had not drank her coffee yet or received more than four hours of sleep the previous night.
5. saboteur: someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader
Ex: The saboteur of their relationship was his jealous ex-girlfriend who was responsible for their break up.
6. debauchery: a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
Ex: There are always debaucheries on New Year's Eve to celebrate the inception of a fresh year.
7. proliferate: cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly
Ex: The weeds in her grass proliferated after she refused to cut them.
8. anachronism: an artifact that belongs to another time: a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could have not existed or occurred
Ex: My grandmother still asks what a "Facebook" is because she is an anachronism.
9. nomenclature: a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
Ex: An example of nomenclature is the language of sculpture.
10. expurgate: edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
Ex: I downloaded the clean version of the song for my little sister because I wanted to expurgate the explicit language.
11. bellicose: having or showing a ready disposition to fight
Ex: The angry rebels were bellicose and ready to storm the protest march.
12. gauche: lacking social polish
Ex: There was a hint of gauche when she refused to carry a conversation with the volunteer.
13. rapacious: excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey
Ex: I am always rapacious when I come home from school as the school day aggrandizes my hunger.
14. paradox: (logic) a statement that contradicts itself
Ex: An example of a paradox is going to war to create peace.
15. conundrum: a difficult problem
Ex: We faced a conundrum when he realized that he left his credit card at home after we finished eating our dinner at the restaurant.
16. anomaly: (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perhelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal order or rule
Ex: She was an anomaly because she kept all of her used tissues in her backpack and collected them.
17. ephemeral: lasting a very short time; anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
Ex: My hunger seemed ephemeral after we arrived at the buffet.
18. rancorous: showing deep-seated resentment
Ex: I could tell she was rancorous about the subject as she was the first person to get out of her chair and start yelling.
19. churlish: having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish
Ex: Her husband was very rude when he told her that she looked fat.
20. precipitous: characterized by precipices; extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation
Ex: The rock climber miraculously got to the top of the precipitous boulder.